Ill Manors: TEDx Lecture

1. What are Plan B's beliefs/politics? What are his values/ideologies? Explain.

Plan B is of the belief that the youths of today are not solely responsible for their negative actions and stereotypes. He believes strongly that these youths are a "product of their environment", the slogan of Ill Manors, and that the media are also to blame for negative stereotypes. 

He suggests that the first cause of these youths choosing the wrong paths are the absence of a clear role model, as these children have been brought up in a hostile environment with no one looking after them and parents that are drug addicts themselves. They then feel as if they have to provide for themselves and the easiest way to do that is to join a gang and sell drugs however they have never been educated about the consequences of doing this because they have no role model. Plan B states that this is accentuated by the media who immediately portray youths in a negative way. The word "chav" was used over 100 times in newspapers over the last year, without them even knowing what it's like living in poverty. This then makes urban youths feel as though they are outcasts in society, and therefore they choose to rebel against it and break the law; as shown by the London riots of 2011. Plan B also states that the government are partly to blame. He claims that the constant cutting of funds towards youth centres and social workers give youths nothing to do but roam the streets. Without youth centres and social workers these kids have no role model or aspirations but to be in a gang, and therefore the cycle continues. Plan B uses his own experience as an example as a youth centre and social workers helped him change his life and focus his talent on music as opposed to breaking the law. He used the quote 'Find out what kids are good at. It will change their lives'.

2. Who is the target audience of the TEDx lecture? Demographics? Psychographics? How do you know? How does this compare to the audience for his music/films?

I that the main target audience for is not youths, but instead reformers that do not understand urban youths, and Plan B has used the lecture as a way of educating them about the hardship of life on an urban estate and give an insight into why youths end up in gangs and make bad choices, such as the London riots. The demographic of this audience would be A, B and C1 and the psychographic of reformers. This target audience is not likely to listen to Plan B's music

The other target audience may be youths themselves that may see Plan B as a role model and use the lecture as an inspiration and motivation to make better choices and do the right thing. The demographic of these youths are likely to be E and D and the psychographic of aspirers. This target audience is similar to the one that would listen to Plan B's music.

3)What does Plan B say about the media? Explain how this can be linked to Cohen's media theory of moral panics? Read this summary of moral panics and the definition from Wikipedia and use them in your answer.

1.  Occurrence and signification	An event occurs and, because of its nature, the media decide it is worthy of dramatic coverage ("Full Colour Pics of Satanic Abuse Site", "Razorblade Found In Babyfood", "Terrorist Cell plot attack" etc) and the event is signified as a violent, worrying one.
2. Wider social implications (fanning the flames)	Connections are made between one event and the wider malaise of society as a whole. After the initial event, the life of the story is extended through the contributions of 'expert' opinionmakers, who establish that this one event is just the tip of the iceberg, and that it is part of an overall pattern which constitutes a major social menace ("Child abuse figures on the up" "Safety concerns at babyfood packing plants","Youth Groups targeted by Extremists" etc etc). Thus public attention is focused on the issues
3. Social Control	Moral panics seek some sort of resolution and this often comes with a change in the law, designed to further penalise those established as the threatening deviants at the source of the panic ("New clampdown on devil-worshippers". "Strict New Safety Controls on Babyfood", "Hate Groups Banned"). This satisfies the public who feel they are empowered politically by the media.

Plan B states that the negative stereotype or moral panic to do with teenagers and urban youths is accentuated by the media who immediately portray youths in a negative way. The word "chav" was used over 100 times in newspapers over the last year, without them even knowing what it's like living in poverty. This then makes urban youths feel as though they are outcasts in society, and therefore they choose to rebel against it and break the law; as shown by the London riots of 2011. One case of misconduct or violence by a youth may have started the initial moral panic, stage 1, and this is then widely publicised by the media and soon all youths are viewed and stereotyped as the same, as shown by the constant negative depictions in newspapers.