Coronation Street: First Ever Episode

The first episode of Coronation Street is an excellent example of how the portrayal of young people has barely changed in fifty years. There is a clear binary opposition between Dennis Tanner - the rebellious, moody rocker with his quiff hairdo and rolled-up t-shirt sleeves, who has just got out of prison, can't get a job and is accused by his mother Elsie of stealing money from her purse - and 21-year old Ken Barlow, who is dressed neatly in a tie and pullover knitted by his mother, goes to college, and has aspirations beyond his working class roots. You can find very strong similarities between these two and characters from modern soap operas, proving that not only do soap operas recycle storylines, but they also recycle stereotypes.

Watch the clip below:

Option B: Media in the Online Age

As an alternative to Media and Collective Identity, you may choose to answer either of the questions on the topic of Online Media.

Your best resource for this is the documentary "The Virtual Revolution"; youtube links follow:

Episode 1
Ep 1 part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPD4Ep_J81k
Ep 1 part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrsxhRnjWCs&feature=related
Ep 1 part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvoydcnV7Dw
Ep 1 part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgXWImi-Pr4&feature=related
Ep 1 part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vyD_wh_Ml0&feature=related
Ep 1 part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j-mPnjoOkk&feature=related