Case Studies: Madeline McCann VS Shannon Matthews

·         Find examples of language used in each of the pieces to describe the parents of both children. How does this language differ? What are the messages and values on social class? (10 marks)

In the first case study, the mother of Madeline McCann is described as “traumatised” after losing her daughter, making the reader feel a sense of sympathy towards Kate McCann (the mother of Madeline McCann) and the rest of the family. Contrary to this, Shannon Matthews’ abduction is described as “alleged” and the investigators are “suspicious of her mother. There seems to be a difference in the way these two mothers are treated by investigators, once showing sympathy and remorse whilst the other is suspicion and a lack of trust. This may perhaps be a result of their backgrounds and social classes. Madeline McCann’s family come from a middle or upper middle class family with parents having reputable careers. The family's social grade may be either an A or a B. This contrasts the way Shannon Matthews' family was seen and treated, as her mother was known to have had multiple partners with the majority of her children having different families, she is not generally someone who can be seen as trusting. The family's social grade is E as they claim benefits, a form of welfare received from the government. The state of her family and their attitude post Shannon's alleged abduction did not fit with how a family would typically react to such an incident. Perhaps the higher social classes that demand a certain amount of respect would give off the impression that they are trustworthy, unlike those who belong in the lower social classes who are stereotyped as being scammers, thieves, deadbeats etc. are not to be trusted and everything they say should be taken with a grain of salt. 

• Analyse the choice of pictures used in terms of framing, shot type and mise en scene. Compare their representations of the social class of the two families. (10 marks)

The image used to show the McCanns is a shot of the mother playing with one of the twins, Madeline's younger sibling, perhaps to enforce the mothers desire to bond with her children after losing one, protecting them from an incident to happen again. The use of a direct long shot allows the audience to view the child and the mother, also allowing the audience to assume an age for the child, showing how precious it is. The image shows the two on a slide, perhaps in a park signifying childhood, something that was taken away from Madeline as she was abducted from her parents. The image in the second case study shows one of Shannon Matthews' mother and one of Shannon Matthews herself. The two close ups appear to show similarities between the mother and daughter as well as displaying their emotions. This may be to shock the audience as the case study mentions the arrest of Shannon's mother for staging Shannon's abduction with the possibility of receiving money. The shock to the audience would be how a mother could be so cruel as to take advantage of her child for the sake of wealth. 

• Hall notes that representation is “contested”, in particular the representation of those with less power in society.  He argues that news coverage can be hierarchical.  To what extent is this evident from the two readings? Make reference to Hall’s theory of representation in your answer. (10 marks)

Looking at the two case studies, it is clear that those with different levels of power in society are represented differently in the media.