Alternative Viewpoints

Both articles seem to exaggerate or misrepresent what actually happened during the 1964's clashes. This has a negative effect on the people involved (the Mods & Rockers) as people are going to believe the media, especially when newspapers were the only source of information back then. This will make people prejudice against all teenagers and therefore affect their reputation overall.

Mythbusters has a large picture at the centre of the page. The picture displays Rockers on motorbikes as several people seem to take pictures or record the event. However, the picture does not show them causing any chaos, which reinforces the text underneath. The text reveals that contemporary newspaper reports have exaggerated the events and that the clashing clans have not caused as much drama as the media makes it up to be. Mythbusters have also included a number of past articles which have misinterpreted the truth or exaggerated it in order to support the analysis.

As for Brighton 1964 I Was There, it shows an interview from Freddie Freeman, an old Mod. The answers he gave did not seem to match the intensity of the events as described in the contemporary newspapers. Indeed, words such as 'Invade' & 'Wild Ones' have negatively and wrongly described the events as well as the participants. Freeman gives his point of view, but as he considers himself as a Mod, the answers were slightly biased and did not give an impartial opinion on the events. Moreover, similarly to Mythbusters, he confirms that that events were not as bad as the media made it out to be which is another proof as to how the media abused their power.

Both articles challenge the way in which the collective identity of young people was constructed in contemporary newspaper reports as they contradict with the past articles are saying. They seem to be defending the Mods and Rockers and confirming that the events were not as bad as the media suggests, which might change the way people look at teenagers, but also affect the newspapers' credibility amongst readers. However, suspiciously, most articles that have been published at that time and relating to the events have regarded the Mods and Rockers as troublemakers and that the clashes were indeed abysmal and disturbed the peace in Britain. There are only a few articles that are impartial and defend the people in question, which obviously suggests that the contemporary newspaper reports were indeed true. This has also been confirmed that when the media ran out of real fights to report, they would publish deceptive headlines, such as using a subheading "Violence", even when the article reported that there was no violence at all.

I personally think that both articles are not reliable due to the lack of visual proofs and the bias. The Freddie Freeman interview reveals that some scenes, notably the 'Aquarium in Brighton', might have been partially staged by the press. He went on to reveal that the damage was not as bad the press makes it up to be, which strongly contradicts with the other articles. Some people might believe that Freddie is to be believed as he was a participant, but he could be twisting the truth in order to have a save the tarnished reputation of the Mods and Rockers. Mythbusters also defend the participants but the lack of pictures or even biased interviews that reveal that in fact the press exaggerated the events makes it hard to believe that it was the case. Therefore, the Scootering articles might be hard to be believed due to the bias and single-view answers given.