Journalism

Stuart Hall, writing in 1986:

‘Some things, people, events, relationships always get represented: always centre-stage, always in the position to define, to set the agenda, to establish the terms of the conversation. Some others sometimes get represented – but always at the margin, always responding to a question whose terms and conditions have been defined elsewhere: never “centred”. Still others are always “represented” only by their eloquent absence, their silences: or refracted through the glance or the gaze of others. If you are white, male, a businessman or a politician or a professional or a celebrity, your chances of getting represented will be very high. If you are black, or a woman without social status, or poor or working class or gay or powerless because you are marginal, you will always have to fight to get heard or seen. This does not mean that no one from the latter groups will ever find their way into the media. But it does mean that the structure of access to the media is systematically skewed in relation to certain social categories.’ 

Current Music Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right (1986)