The Voice blog task

Language and textual analysis

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:
1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice homepage?
- Header images
- categories
- menu bar
- advertisements

2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?

- It's definitely from a lower budget organisation as the website has a lot more ads

 
- They have a somewhat professional layout but it's not as appealing as TV's
3) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?

The Voice reports on the same things as other newspapers do, just with a focus on the impact that those news events have on the Black British community.

4) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience. 

Lewis Hamilton talking about his experiences about growing up during the 90s as a young black Briton. The audience of Voice might find personal identity or relationship with this article. 
Marcus Rashford's efforts to increase the amount of free school meals will directly impact the demographic of the Voice reader so it would have a direct effect on them.

5) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Todorov equilibrium or Barthes’ enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.

The Voice, much like Teen Vogue, present the current political powers as the Villains and their empowered readers as its heroes, according to Todorov's theory of narrative. This is presented in the Rashford article about the MPs declining his campaign. This vilifies the government and causes the readers to criticise the current political powers.

Lifestyle section
Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

1) What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the Voice audience?
Although they are focused on giving power to the black demographic, they also want to offer their readers a bit of diversion. This is done in the form of affiliate articles, which earns the Voice money. 

2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?
Celebrating world menopause day
a prawn curry recipe
financial inequality

3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?
The lifestyle section from TV is based on gossip and is a tangent to their empowerment campaign whereas the Voice use their lifestyle page to divert people away from the doom and gloom, like TV, but they do this mainly to earn money or to attract people to stay on the website.

4) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?
They subvert typical views of black people because they're presented as successful, happy and making a real change in the world.

5) Choose two stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?
Shakshuka recipe - traditional dish, making black diaspora feel more connected to their homeland.
black owned eatery gets a PETA award - this is significant as it's celebrating black people who would get left out of the mainstream news, which is white dominated.

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice opinion piece on black representation in the tech industry. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?
It celebrates the voice of the black community, lists some black pioneers and criticises the view of the black community in the contemporary media. 

2) Read this feature on Michaela Coel supporting Oxfam's Second Hand campaign. Why might this feature appeal to readers of The Voice?
Star power might attract a few people as she is a BAFTA nominated actress. Oxfam is also a well known charity in the black community as shown by the comments from The Voice. Therefore the readers are most likely to support this cause as the opinion leader in this case is black, like the majority of The Voice's readers.

3) Read this Voice news story on Grenfell tower and Doreen Lawrence. How might this story reflect the Voice’s values and ideologies? What do the comments below suggest about how readers responded to the article? Can you link this to Gilroy’s work on the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?
The black diaspora
 has not home to go back to. Even though they're being discriminated against, they feel that they don't belong here. This aligns with The Voice's ideologies as we see how they criticise the current political powers about how they handle issues with the black community.

Audience

1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.

AB/C2DE

Reformers, mainstream (activism)

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).

personal identity - they find their life and culture reflected in the articles

personal relationship - they build a connection with the black community and The Voice's editors.

surveillance - current affairs to do with the black community

3) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

faith or religion - this connects many people together. (black churches are very social)

reporting news from places like Brixton, predominantly black area.

4) Studying the themes of politics, history and racism that feature in some of the Voice’s content, why might this resonate with the Voice’s British target audience?

The black community share that similar diaspora identity which means that the events they experience have an impact on their contemporary history. It's likely that they would've been involved in that history so they'd feel a certain sense of personal relationship/identity.

5) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?

- Stories of Windrush

This logs the stories of black people who were on the Windrush vessel. This is a good example of news being made by the readers as it's the content that relates to them , being made by them. This is an example of one to many production.

Representations

1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website?

As a platform for activism, surveillance and empowerment. They should respond to the representations in a way where they can relate to them for their race and feel connected to their story because of the lack of black diasporic identity.

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying?

Double consciousness provides more ways of understanding the world, but it places a great strain on black Americans as they consistently feel they are looking at themselves through the eyes of others.

3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly multiculturalism” here?

Liquidity of culture - they focus on the impact of black people in the US, why not focus on the niche UK market? Funding I suppose.

4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?

How you process the information is dependant on the social conventions around you. Some people may view the articles as a sign that black people still feel oppressed however someone might see it as a sign that the black community need more media coverage.

5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)

Representations of old people: more wise and pioneering 

Representations of young people: revolutionary and breaking the mould

Black Britons: trapped by institutional racism

Black Americans: pushing the boundaries of racial tensions in the US.

Industries

1) Read this Guardian report on the death of the original founder of the Voice. What does this tell you about the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand? 

Sports section receives a highlights page: The founder "loved horse racing"

He worked at a left wing newspaper firm when he was younger where he focused on a double page spread called "The Voice" which he later turned into a whole newspaper on his own. 

2) Read this history of the Voice’s rivals and the struggles the Voice faced back in 2001. What issues raised in the article are still relevant today? 

'Risky business' - the voice started off well but hit a slump later on, supporting Hesmondhalgh's theory 

Coompetition against rivals: - the move from print to digital saw many amateur and inexperienced outlets pop up

3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.

- weekly gleaner UK & Extra

4) How does the Voice website make money?

Through paid promotion on their website or through advert campaigns. They even have a donation fund page.

5) What adverts or promotions can you find on the Voice website? Are the adverts based on the user’s ‘cookies’ or fixed adverts? What do these adverts tell you about the level of technology and sophistication of the Voice’s website?

`    Using adverts from money sending apps to target specific diaspora

NHS advert, uses this to target most at risk

6) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?

The Voice uses their platform to inform their audience on the positive impact the black community have had so whilst they are doing some PS, they profit from the racial divisions.

7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?

YT content: they use their platform to profit from monetisation

Social media: they post different content on their social channels to attract a younger demographic

8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?

Because of the accessibility of the internet, The Voice can be on the same playing field as Teen Vogue because they have the same digital tools. The Voice can also be on the internet to increase their readership which is much easier digitally on social media.

9) Analyse The Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

The Voice is not clickbaity like Vogue, they're much focused on success stories which empower readers rather than attract them.

10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTubechannel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?

They have a significantly lower budget than Vogue which is evident from their rubbish microphones and pciture quality. The fact that they dont make their subscribers oublic shows that their YT channel isnt something they value as much as their socials. 

Paul Gilroy - blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login.

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

Race can be seen as shared biological identities inherited from previous generations. Gilroy would argue that race makes the identity of oppressors and the oppressed seem fixed and uniform; that racial categories are caused by human interactions and as such those categories are subject to change.

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?

Around the world structures of political and social life have been constructed under race thinking. As Gilroy sees race as a result of racism.

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?

Ethnic absolutism is a line of thinking which sees humans are part of different ethnic compartments, with race as the basis of human differentiation. Transnational identity is a way which Gilroy disagrees with this statement.

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

He views it as a term of collective identity. He feels that they have no 'home' to go back to thus forming a cemented cultural meaning around certain black communities.

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

“external and estranged from the imagined community that is the

nation.”

They have no collective identity in the first place so they feel alienated.

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?

It depends on the level of commitment to the place of origin. diaspora can become trapped within national ideologies which allow there to be a set of unique traits and identities. This depends on the integration, socially, economically and culturally.

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.

They can use the internet for YouTube to watch/listen to songs from their homeland, this helps them become more connected with their language. There are dedicated TV channels for the diaspora to stay connected with current affairs back home.

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?

Their history doesn't skip slavery, it has become a part of their origins to where the diaspora might've ended up. This adds a layer to their identity as their journey from the homeland to where they are now is also a huge part of their identity.

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?

Double consciousness provides more ways of understanding the world, but it places a great strain on black Americans as they consistently feel they are looking at themselves through the eyes of others.

10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.

They can't star the actual Katherine Johnson (due to her being dead) so that is already an example of double consciousness because it's through another black actor. Secondly, historical deafness can be applied here as the events may not be 100% accurate as it wasn't all told by the same person, including the idea that the entire cast isn't black so inaccuracies might be present.

OSP: Teen Vogue - Audience and Representation

 Audience focus

1) Analyse the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What is the Teen Vogue mission statement and what does this tell us about the target audience and audience pleasures?

They want to learn about the issues that they are passionate about. They want more from their so called 'connected' world. They find personal identity within the people that feature in the features

2) What is the target audience for Teen Vogue? Use the media pack to pick out key aspects of the audience demographics. Also, consider the psychographic groups that would be attracted to Teen Vogue: make specific reference to the website design or certain articles to support your points regarding this.

Most of their audience (63%) are a part of Gen Z so they would be more inclined to use social media and the internet, an area where TV is trying to ace.

They clearly have a thing for activism as their 'pop feminism' feature is very empowering and likely to spark debate about a popular topic.

3) What audience pleasures or gratifications can be found in Teen Vogue? Do these differ from the gratifications of traditional print-based magazines?

Like print, audiences can find personal identity as well as personal relationship due to their lifestyle and interests being reflected in the magazine. They also form a personal connection with the content due to the annual summits which help them become a part of the website. However, an added layer which is only social media-specific, Gen Z will feel a much closer connection to the content now that it's online, which is the medium they frequent most.

4) How is the audience positioned to respond to political news stories?

They either disagree or agree with the author's opinion. This places them to agree with it however as it attacks issues they are passionate about. Does TV push their own alternate political agenda? 

5) How does Teen Vogue encourage audiences to interact with the brand – and each other – on social media? The ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ section of the media pack may help with this question.

The summit is the most obvious example of audience interaction. The Under 21 feature will star women around the world which allows the audience to share their opinion on them. The 'Her @' feature is a great way to combine images with a personal yet relatable takeaway.

Representations

1) Look again at the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What do the ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ (key events and features throughout the year) suggest about the representation of women and teenage girls on teenvogue.com?

they cover a diverse range of jobs, races and aspects of feminsim/activism. It displays women as proactive and supportive. There's no negativity on these features!

2) How are issues of gender identity and sexuality represented in Teen Vogue?

They are presented as in the process of improving. They present gender/sexuality as fluid (Gauntlett) and ever-changing. 

Identity is formed by micro-rituals and is therefore a performance.

3) Do representations of appearance or beauty in Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge traditional stereotypes?

they include POC so they oppose the standard western beauty ideal. they support it somehow through the occasional fashion post that is just your average beauty article.

4) What is the patriarchy and how does Teen Vogue challenge it? Does it succeed? 

patriarchy - male-dominated society

Teen Vogue challenged it because they stand up tp men like Trump who they mention in a very negative light.

5) Does Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge typical representations of celebrity?

they reinforce it with their YT videos because they need the views but other than that they subvert them because they include a wider range of people.

Teen Vogue: Factsheet Part 2

Read Media Factsheet #205 Teen Vogue Part 2 - Application of theory. You can find the Factsheet in our Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive in school or download it here using your Greenford Google login. Answer the following questions: 

1) How does the Factsheet apply David Gauntlett's ideas about gender and identity to Teen Vogue? 

The way we think about identity has changed, This is evident in TV as we see how they include people who are gender fluid or of a different sexual persuasion. The meaning of gender changed over time which is shown through the way that gender has become a part of one's identity as opposed to just a label.

2) David Gauntlett has also written about the importance of role models. How can this be applied to the Teen Vogue CSP?

Role models need to be included somewhere in Teen Vogue so they decided that it would be best if they did it on YT where views mean everything. They use star power when they need clicks, it's rooted deep within our minds to click on something we recognise or like.

3) bell hooks suggests that profit-seeking media industries reinforce patriarchal values and power structures. How can these ideas be applied to Teen Vogue? Try and argue both sides - that Teen Vogue both empowers women but also arguably reinforces some hegemonic gender stereotypes.

on one hand TV do their best to be inclusive and try to empower their readers to make a positive impact in the world but that won't pay their bills. They use traditional beauty ideals as well as good old-fashioned gossip to create more clicks and more attrition between opinions to have some financial gain. 

4) List the key points on van Zoonen's gender theories in the Factsheet. How can we apply some of these ideas to Teen Vogue?

• The media tends to reflect hegemonic ideas about gender.
• Women tend to be valued for their looks and apparent sexual availability.

some of the celebs featured on TV are subtly sexualised to increase appeal, linked to the male gaze.

• Women are often shown to be passive.

Opposes this as TV support feminine activsim

• Women’s bodies are often commodified.

The fashion industry, which TV is a part of, is based upon this statement.

• Men tend to be valued for their accomplishments.
• Men are often shown to be active.
• Men’s bodies are presented as ‘spectacle’.

5) Read the Greta Thunberg case study on pages 3-4. How does the Factsheet use media theories in the analysis of the special 2019 print edition of Teen Vogue? 

- Alternative representation of teenage magazines as it shows their demographic exploring political issues, something which TV does well.

- Thunberg places herself to be the child 'who must be protected at all costs' which makes her a 'Damsel in distress' links to Propp

- Thunberg also presents evidence that we do live in a patriarchal society which is supported by her criticism of Trump

OSP: Teen Vogue - Industry and social media

 Industry: Condé Nast

1) Research Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast. What other magazines do they publish and how much money did they make last year?

GQ, Wired, Vanity Fair

£13.6m

2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of income?

- Advertising

- Brand deals/promotional deals

3) How are traditionally print-based products like Teen Vogue diversifying to create new income streams?

- Online advertising

- Social media for brand deals

4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’ particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry?

They could use cookies and star power. Fashion needs to be a 'trend' and for it to be so it needs to gain popularity amongst like-minded people.

5) Do you view Teen Vogue’s content as a form of public service media or is Condé Nast simply interested in clicks and profit?

I think it's a combination of both. TV wants to seize the opportunity to make a quick buck however a part of their mission statement is to enlighten and educate so they wouldn't be fulfilling that if they were not acting as some sort of public service.


Closure of print edition research

Read the following short articles to learn the background to Condé Nast's decision to close the print edition of Teen Vogue in 2016 and then answer the questions below:

BBC: Teen Vogue: How will going online-only affect readers?
New York Times: Condé Nast Ends Teen Vogue’s Print Run
Folio: Your Teen Vogue Hot Takes Are All Wrong

1) Why does the BBC suggest “Teen Vogue’s digital game is strong”?

They have used the internet as the new home for Teen Vogue due to the decline of print

2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible for the Teen Vogue website’s success?

They are really good at attracting online traffic, resulting in more clicks

3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of the print magazine?

"As audiences continue to evolve around content consumption, we will modernise and calibrate how, where and when we produce and distribute our content to be in sync with the cultural moments and platforms most important to our audiences."

4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it?

You lose some value as you are "just another website" so you would lose originality.

5) How do online-only publications make money?

advertisements and celeb endorsements

6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for Generation-Z?

the gen z consumption is very high digitally and extremely low for print. this makes companies more inclined to go digital.

7) What does the New York Times say Conde Nast is known for?

"its lavish spending and its visually rich glossy magazines"

8) The New York Times states that Conde Nast expects to bring in less revenue in 2017 than 2016… by how much?

$100 million less

9) The Folio article also looks at the switch from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only approach.

"traffic to TeenVogue.com has surged from around 2 million monthly visitors to nearly 9 million"

10) Finally, Folio also highlights some of the aspects we have studied elsewhere. Pick out two quotes from the article that link to our work on the Teen Vogue audience, representation or design.

"Activist Mommy"

"political spectrum"

"Teen Vogue‘s young female audience prefers to consume articles on mobile devices and via social media rather than in print magazines"


Social media analysis

Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Teen Vogue's social media presence:

1) Look at the Teen Vogue Twitter feed (you don’t need to sign up to Twitter to see it but may need to log in at home). How many followers does Teen Vogue have?

3.3M

2) Now look at the content. Classify the first 20 tweets you can see using the sections on the Teen Vogue website: News & Politics, Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and Homecoming. What does the Twitter feed focus on most? Does this differ to the website?

They focus a lot more on entertainment than anywhere else, with a small point on politics

3) How are the tweets and headlines written? Can you find examples of clickbait?

"

"Bella Hadid is apparently Dating Jack Nicholson's Grandson Duke"

The use of apparently is significant due to the gossip nature of this news article.

4) How does the Twitter feed use videos and images?

use collages and glamorous images of celebs. The videos are well edited.

5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have?

5.7m likes

5.6m followers

6) Click on the Videos link on the left-hand menu. What type of content do the videos feature? Does this differ to the website or Twitter feed?

Not really that different to the Twitter feed. FB page has a focus towards fashion, playing closer to the true values of Vogue.

7) Now look at the Events tab to explore past events. What are these events and what do they tell us about how audiences interact with the Teen Vogue brand?

They want to have one to many & many to many. This links with Shirky as this includes the audience having an impact or even directly creating their own content.

8) Go to the Teen Vogue Instagram page. How many followers do they have on Instagram?

2.3m

9) How does the Instagram feed differ from other social media channels?

Because they can't directly post article links, they post excerpts from those articles with the header image as the main theme of the post, making it celebrate the people as opposed to fashion or identity.

10) What examples of digital convergence and synergy can you find on Teen Vogue social media including the Teen Vogue YouTube channel? (E.g. opportunities to engage with the brand across different platforms).

this allows the YT channel to make video specific content with stars to make it more attractive, they also use other social media platforms to increase the traffic for the website itself, making full use of their target audience who spend a majority of their day on their phones.

Y13 Baseline assessment: Learner response

  1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW: Strong response to the extended question with clear knowledge and understanding of the impact of digital media and its influences on the relationship between producers and audiences. 

Frequently reference both magazine CSPs and how they have retained loyal audience during digital transformation.

EBI: You need to focus on your structure and theory specific explanations when it comes to long answer questions

- Q2: Draw conclusions and judgements on effects theories is often discredited. Also consider rivalry of media industries

- Q3: Better sentence opening for thesis statement

2) Focusing on the BBC Life Hacks question, write three ways it helps to fulfil the BBC's mission statement that you didn't include in your original assessment answer. Use the mark scheme for ideas.

Life Hacks lets people know how to deal with certain situations in life. Debt, relationships and gender identity. 

They also inform people how to react to certain situations they may not know how to navigate. These topics are not shared socially due to a 'taboo' stigma.

Entertainment comes in the form of their playlists of music.

3) Question two asked you how useful media effects theories are in understanding the audience response to War of the Worlds. Complete the following:

• Gerbner's Cultivation theory: useful or not useful? Why?
• Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle model: useful or not useful? Why?
• Stuart Hall's Reception theory: useful or not useful? Why?

Hypodermic needle: 

This being one of the first audience theories to gain traction, this was initially supported by everyone. As the two step flow model started to become common knowledge, people started to decredit the hypodermic needle theory because it assumed that all the people were passive consumers which turned out to be wrong.

4) Write a full essay plan for the 25-mark Magazines question. The mark scheme contains plenty of ideas you can use here. Your plan should include notes/bullet points addressing the following:

• Introduction: Both industries have been successful in transferring to digital platforms which in return causes the products to become more widely used by their target audience.

• Paragraph 1 content: explaining the audience features of MH, applying B&K uses and gratifications theory, demographic and physcographic 
• Paragraph 2 content: explaining the industry with MH being a part of a conglomerate so they have more chances of success in the digital world
• Paragraph 3 content: the demographic and interests of the average OC reader revolves around feminism
• Paragraph 4 content: OC is a part of an independant
• Conclusion: feminism vs masculinity

5) Finally, identify three key skills/topics you want to work on in A Level Media this year before the final exams in June.

- Structure of extended questions

- Applying theory properly 

- knowing how to write without waffling