Stereotypes in the Media free essay sample

Results interpreted showed news stereotypes are considered more socially acceptable, whereas comedy stereotypes can be viewed as offensive and not suitable for children. Drama was very similar to comedy. Stereotypes and their Pervasiveness in the Media The media these days is littered with stereotypes. These stereotypes portray a multitude of different categories, such as age, race, religion, sex and sexuality, mostly in a negative light. The aged, for example, have bad hearing; Muslims are all violent and suicidal; and the French have a snobbish attitude, love for frogs legs, and a hate for the English. While stereotypes tend to have a grain of truth within them (the French really do hate the English), they tend to overlook the differences between individuals, making them too generalised and unreliable. Despite this inaccuracy, the media still does this often. While stereotypes are used in comedy â€Å"for the lulz,† they are deliberately used in this manner, unlike in certain news and current affairs shows, where it is used out of ignorance and efficiency. We will write a custom essay sample on Stereotypes in the Media or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because of the way media has stereotyped minorities, society has absorbed this into everyday use and many find it socially cceptable to use offensive stereotypes in everyday conversations. While comedy shows are not trying to offend and proliferate stereotypes, they in fact cause more harm than news and current affairs programs. The Simpsons, a television show known well for its satirical voice and comedic social commentary, is scattered with stereotypes, many of immigrants. Apu, an Indian convenience store owner who appears often in the show, is stingy and has a recognisably Indian accent and prays to his Hindu god, Ganesh. This inaccurate portrayal of Indian immigrants is perceived to be humourous by the public, but they are likely to apply these stereotypes to real people if their misconceptions are not corrected. This research aimed to compare the frequency of stereotypes between different genres of prime time television shows. The genres compared were comedy, drama and news. The hypothesis is that comedy will have the most stereotypes, followed by news, then by drama. Method Participants The participants in this investigation were 36 fifteen to sixteen year olds in year 11 of high school. The students were all academically selective and were mostly Caucasian. The participants chosen were all psychology students, taught by the same teacher. Parents had given permission to participate in this research and signed a permission slip for students to watch at least 3 prime time television shows within two weeks, one to be news or current affairs, the other two being of their choice. Apparatus A log sheet was given (see appendix A) to record the amount of time watching television, and the number of stereotypes noticed. Televisions were to be provided by the participants. So were pens. Procedure The 36 participants were instructed to watch television between the hours of 5 and 10pm. While watching television, they were to record the number of times they saw a stereotype being portrayed and comment on what was being portrayed. This took place over two weeks, after which the results were collated and analysed. Results The results are shown in chart form in Appendix B and C. Once the results were graphed there was not much of a difference between the genres. The data in the graph is collected from a number of participants’ log sheets. 30 people watched news, 21 watched comedy, and 19 watched dramas. The graph didn’t show a single genre to contain significantly more stereotypes. [pic] The graph above shows that there seems to be less of a gap between different stereotypes in comedy, while news has more stereotypes of age and less of religion. Drama has less stereotypes than the others, even when the lack of viewers is factored in. Race and gender are the stereotypes most portrayed by television. Discussion The data partially supports the hypothesis. Despite drama being the genre of television with the least stereotypes, comedy came second to news. News portrayed a lot more stereotypes of age. This is probably a result of violent attacks on old people in their homes. The least portrayed were sexuality, most likely a result of complaints of sexually explicit material being aired. The results do show a large amount of stereotypes are present in television shows. The stereotyping has a tendency to make things quicker and less time-consuming. After all, how is it possible to list all the political, social, economic, ideological and theological differences of a population of about 6 billion? The accuracy of this investigation is to be questioned. While it is possible to rely on this data, it is not going to be completely accurate and it may not demonstrate the true amount of stereotyping done on television. If, for example, all the news shos watched were from the same network, this would affect the results. Other networks may be more biased or even more impartial. The lack of regulation of the programs and networks would have had some effect on the accuracy of the results. Also, the method of recording the stereotypes might also affect the results. With a very vague system, it is impossible to be exact on what stereotypes are displayed, and whether they are a simple comment on turbans, or a full-fledged attack on the habits of old people. Very little research has been done into the number of stereotypes portrayed on television, as opposed to countless studies into the harmfulness of these stereotypes on impressionable children and even adults. The research shows that there are a lot of stereotypes on television, at least 5 or 6 per program. This research is part of understanding how television networks design their shows, and how stereotypes are used as they are instrumental to making changes to unfair depiction of minorities in the media. If the stereotypes are deemed inappropriate then it would be unlikely to make things any better when it comes to international relations and even domestic relations. There has been a lot of rage aimed at the Australians who assaulted two Indian students in Sydney. The acts of violence against minorities have escalated recently. Further research may venture into stereotyping of specific minorities, to examine the details of stereotyping.

Health Issues of a Developed Country (The US) The WritePass Journal

Health Issues of a Developed Country (The US)   Abstract Health Issues of a Developed Country (The US) prescription charges are at 7.65  (Politics .co.uk, 2012).   Widespread protests against the prescription charges have contributed to several exceptions in the prescription drug charges including for children under 16, pregnant women, elderly people above 60, etc. More recently people with chronic conditions such as cancer have been included into those under the exempted category. While in Wales and Northern Ireland prescription charges have been completely abolished, the English government has, however, indicated that no further free prescription programs would be introduced but that the new policies would focus on brining more fairness into the prescription charging system (Politics.co.uk, 2012). Transition to a Market System Chronic underfunding and gaps in services and the pressures to improve the overall operating efficiency have gradually led to the NHS from being a total public ownership entity towards a market based system. In fact this shift towards a market based system could be traced way back to the Thatcher administration that introduced the policies of ‘general management’ and ‘outsourcing’ which bought about a fundamental shift.   General managers were people who were specialized in hospital management and provided a neat layer of interfacing between the health policy makers and the doctors and nurses who implement the policies. Outsourcing of non medical services such as hospital cleaning, catering saw for the first time the entry of the private sector into the NHS system (DH, 2005). Since then private sector participation in the NHS has improved significantly. By the late 1990’s, for instance, long term care by NHS was already taken over to a large extent and managed by private for profit service providers. Long term elderly care is no longer free of cost. Increasing private participation could be inferred from the statistics that from over 137,200 residential care homes in 1985 the numbers had dropped to 64,100 by 1998 (BBC, 1999).   Elderly care in these settings is not free and is totally means based with those earning more than  £16,000 per annum having to bear the entire expenses while the state provides maximum assistance for those under  £10,000 categories. NHS Spendings review points out that between 1998 and 2010 there was an average 5.75%   increase in health expenditure while the NHS is slated to receive .4% real terms growth between 2010 and 2014. This indicates the degree of financial pressure under which the NHS is operating. As (Appleby et al, 2009) points out, the pressure on NHS will continue to increase with growing challenges due to a mixture of factors including an aging demography, high cost pressure of new medical technologies, and the expectation for higher quality standards.   It is estimated that the NHS has to make considerable cost cuttings by way of improved operational efficiency to the tune of    £15 to  £20 billion in order for it to be able to continue providing equitable access to healthcare services to all the citizens(Nicholson, 2009). It is under these dire circumstances that the UK government proposed some fundamental structural and functional reforms to the NHS that are listed in the white paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’. One of the fundamental changes to the organization of the NHS as listed out in the White paper is the devolution of the ‘Primary care Trusts’ (PCTs) (Nuffield Trust, 2010). The PCTs which were instituted in 2002 to supervise primary care provision is no longer a valid entity. Its function has been taken over by Clinical commissioning groups (CCG) comprising mainly of local GPs. The idea behind such a reform is to increase local empowerment. Furthermore the PCTs were in the past struggling with frequent restructuring. One of the underlying motives behind such a transformation is to place greater responsibility with the local GPs as they are directly involved in service referrals. Also since GPs are directly involved in both commissioning and care provision they are better positioned to make effective assessments and to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and other services. In other words, the establishment of the GP consortia which is one of the highlights of the ‘ Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ white paper, is expected to increase the integration between the GP’s , specialists and other service providers paving way for an integrated care delivery mechanism that is both cost effective and efficient. Furthermore, the white paper also refers to the formation of a NHS commissioning board that supervises the overall equitable access to NHS services, commissioning, and the proper allotment of resources. This would ensure that micromanagement is not an issue at the NHS. The new policy framework also dissolves several quangos thereby resulting in greater operational savings. By these means the new reforms are slated to save up to 20 billion in terms of efficiency of operations by 2014.   Projections indicate that up to 45% savings could be realized in the form of management related cost savings (DH, 2010, pg 5). One of the distinctive factors of the current NHS reforms compared to the original NHS policies is the shift from a purely public system towards a more market centric healthcare system. The focus on increasing the participation of the patient and providing them the choice as to their service providers and the treatment that they want are particularly prominent aspects of the new healthcare bill. . The inclusion of the ‘choice of any willing provider’ in the ‘Health and Social Care Bill’ lays stress on the increased freedom for the health consumer (DH, 2010, pg 17). It also emphasizes the increasing competition among contracted health service providers which is ultimately good for improving the overall quality of health care delivery. Reduction in bureaucratic control and empowerment of the care providers imply that the primary care providers’ could function independently and effectively to meet the needs of the patients. Effective monitoring is the key to any functional system. For a huge organization such as the NHS monitoring the functioning of the various agencies and systems is very vital for achieving streamlining of operations, process efficiency and achieving high quality of care. One of the key aspects of the new reforms is entrusting local health watch organizations with the responsibility of managing and addressing the feedbacks from the health consumers. These organizations also support the patients in making their decisions about service providers. These organizations will directly report the performance measures of service providers and patient feedbacks to local as well as national authorities helping to address any consumer grievances and quality concerns at the earliest(DH, 2010, pg 19). While there are proponents for this new system there are also concerns expressed by politicians, professionals and general public who are worried that the competition between medical service providers would engender compromise on quality of services contrary to improving the same. This is particularly so when these decisions are made on the bidding approach and when lower cost of service provision is the main criteria. One particular instance is the drug and alcohol support services that are vastly privatized in the UK. These private organizations are paid  £3000 if the addicts are rehabilitated and remain free of drugs for 3 months and a further  £5000 if they remained drug free for a whole year. There are complaints that under these circumstances, in these private organizations, the focus is not entirely on rehabilitation and saving the patient is not the primary concern. As a case in point, an extreme heroin addict was just discharged from the clinic without any alternative in tervention. Methadone prescription for detoxification was not even tried as the private company would not be remunerated for such an intervention (Pemberton, 2013). . Furthermore since the entire drug and alcohol services is taken up by the private organizations there was no further referral or intervention possible for such cases. These are instances that point out the risks in adapting a privatized and highly fragmented setup.   Furthermore there are concerns that under the concept of ‘payment by results’ that is advocated under the new NHS policies, there is even more risk that the private agencies would just focus on achieving end points of care. While this approach would be okay for acute clinical conditions it leaves a lot to be desired in the management of chronic conditions where there is no visible endpoint. Conclusion From the time of its institution in 1948 to the current period, the NHS has undergone significant changes in its mode of operation. Presently, there is a distinct shift in healthcare focus as witnessed by a change from the fully public model of care delivery towards increasing private participation in the NHS system.   Growing elderly population and increasing strain on its health services have forced the NHS to adopt these new and novel approaches. These include a fundamental change in its mode of care delivery with the increasing private sector participation in care delivery. Though maintaining free point of access care delivery is one of the main mottos of the original 1948 NHS manifesto, the increasing health care consumption and cost pressures have, to an extent, compromised on this objective. Today many services such as prescription drugs, long-term care are no longer free and there is increasing private sector participation as contracted service providers. The purely fragmen ted approach of private sector service providers who are driven by a contractual obligation and cost centered focus, would definitely compromise the quality of services and the original advantages that the NHS offered.   While the growing needs and the changing demands have necessitated such drastic transformation of the NHS system, care should be taken in the form of having enough performance monitoring and quality checkpoints in place that ensure that private participation does not erode some of the fundamental strengths and qualities of the NHS, the most basic of which is to enable equity of access to quality healthcare. Bibliography Appleby J, Crawford R and Emmerson C (2009) How Cold Will it Be? Prospects for NHS Funding 2011–2017. The King’s Fund. Audrey Leathard, (2000), Health Care provision: Past, present and into the 21st century, Second Edition, Published by Nelson Thornes Ltd. UK. BBC (1999), What is Long-Term care? Viewed June 25th 2013, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/395760.stm CDC (2012), Overweight and Obesity : Adult Obesity Facts, viewed June 25th 2013, cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html CDC (2012), Alcohol and Public Health : Fact Sheets Binge Drinking, viewed June 25th 2013, cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htm Dinesh C Sharma (2010), India’s No 1 Killer: Heart Disease, viewed June 25th 2013, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Indias+no.1+killer:+Heart+disease/1/92422.html DH (2005), The NHS Plan: a plan for investment and reform, CM 4818-I, The Stationery Office, Annual Report 2005, p. 55 DH (2010), Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS, viewed June 25th 2013, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/135875/dh_117794.pdf.pdf ISRO (2005), Telemedicine: Enabling specialty healthcare to the rural and remote population of India, viewed June 25th 2013, isro.org/publications/pdf/Telemedicine.pdf Katherine A Webb (2002), From County Hospital to NHS Trust: Volume 1: History, University of York. Max Pemberton (2013), NHS reforms: From today the coalition has put the NHS up for grabs, viewed June 25th 2013, telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9962195/NHS-reforms-From-today-the-Coalition-has-put-the-NHS-up-for-grabs.html Politics.co.uk (2012), NHS Prescription charges, viewed June 25th 2013, politics.co.uk/reference/nhs-prescription-charges NHS (2011), NHS History, viewed June 25th 2013, nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/nhshistory/Pages/NHShistory1948.aspx NHS (2013), The NHS in England, viewed June 27th 2013, nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/overview.aspx Nicholson D (2009) The Year 2008/09. Department of Health, viewed June 25th 2013, www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_099689 Nuffield Trust (2010), NHS resources and reform: Response to the White paper equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS, and the 2010 Spending Review, viewed June 25th 2013, nuffieldtrust.org.uk/sites/files/nuffield/publication/NHS_resources_and_reform_Oct2010.pdf Tony White (2010), A Guide to the NHS, Radcliffe Publishing Ltd. The Economic Times (2013), India probably world’s third largest economy: OECD,   viewed june 25th 2013, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-05-30/news/39603030_1_gdp-growth-third-largest-economy-economic-growth-projection Victoria Barbary (2007), Primary Care Trusts: Tailoring Commissioning,   NLGN White Paper, Viewed June 25th 2013, nlgn.org.uk/public/wp-content/uploads/pcts_white-paper.pdf