The Voice Week 3

Power of sport improves lives of hundreds of young people in Manchester

• Multiple gold medallist Diane and her husband, Olympic coach Vicente, have set up a sports camp for hundreds of young people in order to boost morale and motivation.

• The idea of motivation fits in with the magazines overall objective in order to motivate the black community through their magazine. 

• This sports camp allows many young people to get together and do something active. To create new relationships between them.

• Diane wanted to help the young people but the actual results even shocked herself. The result was a huge success, perhaps even more of a success than they expected.

Teen Vogue Week 3

GOT7's Jackson Wang Talks New Solo Album "Mirrors" and Time Management

• Jackson Wang is a K-pop artist who is in a group name Got7. He has now moved on to work in between the lines of Got7 and as a solo artist.

• 25 Year old Idol uses his own platform supported by his own company Team Wang to help him issues such as mental health issues and stereotypes that permeate Western perceptions of K-pop.

• Jackson also speaks of his own past mental health issues including depression and uses his own songs to try and project this feeling to others.

• This links to Teen Vogue as Teen Vogue aims to cover a wide range of topics. This is in the music section but also touches upon other points.

• This article gives audiences more places to look into for more information if it peaks their interests.

OSP: Paul Gilroy - Diasporic identity

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

• He suggests that racial identities are 'historically constructed' through colonization, slavery and consumer capitalism. 

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

• Gilroy suggests that the causes of racism come from historical disputes that separated societies. 
• He also suggests that 'racial differences' and 'racial identities' cause racial oppression. 

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

• Ethnic absolutism: when people segregate eachother based on their ethnicity. 
• Gilroy suggests that 'racism causes race' so, by segregation, people automatically have a sense of prejudice against one another which is why Gilroy opposes it. 

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

• He views diasporic identity as the body of a large culture and that diaspora cant be reversed due to historical events such as slavery. 

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

• The dominant representation was that Black Britons were "external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation".
• This suggests that Gilroy felt that Black Britons felt out of place and didn't have anywhere to fit into society.

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

• bad experiences of exclusion
• exposure to regressive ideologies 
• marginalisation: an identity that spreads within the diasporic community  

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.

• Diasporic communities would stay connected through social media such as Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
• Websites such as 'Ancestry.com' allow people to view their family history and feel more connected and included in society. 

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

•  Slavery is something which Gilroy thinks shouldn't be forgotten and it makes it important as it can never be reversed due to post-slavery events. 

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

• Media representation reinforces 'Double Consciousness' as they put out media products that have perceptions of a white person which means when black people, in the UK or US, view these products they internally feel self-conscious of what they are in society. 

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.

• 'Hidden Figures' challenges 'double consciousness' and stereotypes of black American women through its representation of Black women being smart and successful instead of being stereotypically seen as poorly educated and as having a poor education.

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?
They also publish GQ, Wired and Glamour. They made 113 million pounds last year.

2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of income?
Teen Vogue makes their money from advertising spaces on their website.

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

They are taking use of the internet and posting content on platforms such as YouTube to earn a little more income. 

4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’ particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry?
Teen vogue originally started out as a fashion magazine. The adverts that appear in the magazine for clothes are there to persuade audiences to buy these products.

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 that Teen Vogue has partial elements of attempting to creating change to the world. However, Teen Vogue is after all a business who exists in order to gain profits. This may raise questions about whether Teen Vogue are doing it because of own beliefs or if they are doing it because they want more money.


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 say this because Teen Vogue has a big social media presence.

2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible for the Teen Vogue website’s success?
The BBC believes that they have good content within their magazine and that their political coverage has increased significantly. 

3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of the print magazine?
They stated that they were evolving along with society hence why they decided to close down their print magazine.

4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it?
He says that being online makes it hard to be unique and stand out above the rest of the online websites that already exist.

5) How do online-only publications make money?
Like Teen Vogue, online publications tend to make money from adverts that pay to be put on there.

6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for Generation-Z?
Sarah Penny suggests that the audience consumption for print would significantly decrease as digital media will rapidly grow. This can be linked to generation Z as they have grown up with technology.

7) What does the New York Times say Conde Nast is known for?
They say that Conde Nast is known for "it's 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?
Around 100 million dollars less than the last year.

9) The Folio article also looks at the switch from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only approach.
'Two million monthly visitors to nearly nine 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.
"Teen Vogue’s ascent from lip gloss authority to bastion of left-leaning social criticism was almost entirely unrelated to its print magazine."



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?
3.36 million followers

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?

The twitter feed varies form a range of topics from politics to fashion to lifestlye to beauty. However, their main topic currently is politics.

3) How are the tweets and headlines written? Can you find examples of clickbait?
Teen Vogue attempt to give off a more friendly and close vibe to their audiences which is why they have chosen a particular font. This may be an arguement as to why Teen Vogue may be clickbait.

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

Twitter allows Teen Vogue to put in snippests of their magazines or behind the scenez of an interveiw.

5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have?
5.8 million likes and 5.7 million 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?
Majority of the videos on the menu is related to politics somehow. This does differ from the content that is on the Teen Vogue facebook feed.

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?
Teen Vogue meet ups was Teen Vogue creates a relationship with their audiences. By setting up an in real life party for people of Teen Vogue readers,, it allows them to interact with them on a more personal level.

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

9) How does the Instagram feed differ from other social media channels?
Teen Vogue attempts to create a more personal bond with their audience. Although a lot of the posts are of female celebrities, it means that they still include their original ideas of beauty and fashion into their magazines.

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). 
There is an example of synergy where they describe themselves as 'The young person's guide to conquering the world.'

The Voice Week 2

Supreme Court victory for Gina Miller 

• Gina Miller is a Black British citizen who is a businesswoman and transparency campaigner

• She had argued against Boris Johnsons decision to suspend government epically as Brexit was nearing 

• Gina Miller said "Today is not a win for any individual or cause. It is a win for Parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers and independence of our British courts."

• This can appeal to audiences as the article is informing audiences of the current event regarding the issue on Boris Johnson suspending the parliament and the issue about Brexit

• This is actual news as Brexit and Boris Johnson are both very heated topics especially in the UK

• Brexit being on the 31st of October means tensions are rising day by day. Audiences would want to hear the newest information about something that would affect them in the future

Teen Vogue Week 2

Tiffany Young on Her New Single "Run For Your Life," the Magnetic Moon Tour, and How She's Changing K-pop

• Tiffany Young is a Kpop idol who is preparing for her tour

• In the article, she explains her reasoning for her aims at 'changing kpop'

• She also gives a bit of background context to her new album and briefly talks about her tour that's going to happen

• This news article is about music culture which means it will attract a new range of audience, in this case, kpop fans

• This can be linked to current society as kpop has been growing with groups such as BTS going viral

• Another aspect to this article is that she was raised in the US which may raise questions about whether Teen Vogue are still trying to find US related celebrities only or really trying to ease their way into showing other cultures

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 - Good, clear straightforward answers to Q1

EBI - Missed opportunities to cover other theories

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 uses a qualified doctor (Dr Radha Modgil) which makes the radio shows look more trusted an professional. This acts as a way to educate audiences with a person who knows what they're talking about.
• The BBC also ticks off he educational aspect by having a range of platforms for audiences to tune in on and express their thoughts.
• The issues named are very common upon young adults in current society which fits their remit too of targeting teenagers.

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?

War of the Worlds was a radio broadcast not a show or drama on television. This makes it unfit for this particular theory as the cultivation theory is the effect of television on audiences.

Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle model: useful or not useful? Why?

The hypodermic needle theory can relate to a range of different forms of media. As for the War of the Worlds, it can be applied since audiences were getting the news about world war two 'injected' into their minds that with the sight possibility of the event occurring, it made audiences go mental at the fact they could be under attack.

Stuart Hall's Reception theory: useful or not useful? Why?
Not everyone in 1938 had a radio. Although majority would of had one, there were outliers who didn't, as for them, they would not have taken an oppositional reading to the broadcast but to those who had a radio would have taken a preferred reading.

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: one sentence answering the original question and laying out your argument clearly.

• Discuss the impact of digital media on traditional print media.
• Give examples and some sort of statistic to back it up.

Paragraph 1 content:

• Focus on Men's Health 
• Trad print version of Men's health allowed audiences to feel different uses and gratifications such as personal identity and personal surveillance.
• The adaptation of men's health in return to the modern trends
• Give examples of these adaptations

Paragraph 2 content:

• Men's health focus again
• They have made an online presence for their magazine
• This online presence has helped them maintain a certain level of readership
• There are also loyal audience members to Men's health who help them be successful despite the issues that digital media has caused them.

Paragraph 3 content:

• Oh Comely focus
• They are a niche magazine
• Most audiences of Oh Comely are loyal
• The digital media does not affect them as much but still has some sort of effect
• Like Men's health, also provides uses and gratifications
• Also adapting to cover stories on todays events

Paragraph 4 content:

• Another Oh Comely focus
• Oh comely has not moved to an online presence
• Since they are niche, they don't  have to make their presence big
• They publish rarely
• Not doing as well as men's health on readship

Paragraph 5 content:
Conclusion: sum up your argument a final time in one sentence

• Although Oh comely is lacking in online presence, they are still being successful as their audiences have very specific wants
• Men's health has gained a steady level of readership throughout
• Overall, I would say Men's health is more successful but oh comely could be if they start going online

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

• Adding in more theories
• Developing these theorie
• Write more stucturlly so the paragraphs flow
  
  

The Voice Article Week 1

JN rallies Jamaicans locally and in diaspora to help Bahamas

• This article does not have a name for the writer but is called 'Editor'

• The JN group stated that they would donate £35 000 to the Bahamas

• Hurricane Dorian had hit the Bahamas on the 1st of September

• Records of 50 dead and 1,300 still missing from the disaster

• The hurricane had lasted 48 hours

• One of the uses and gratifications can be applied to this which is surveillance as the article is informing audience members of this event

• The voice being the first Black British magazine in Britain, it allows a nice perspective of news as even today we don't get enough of black news coverage

Teen Vogue Article Week 1

A “Sailor Moon” Clothing Line Is Coming to Uniqlo

• Written by Lauren Rearick

• Originally written July 3rd 2019

• Updated on August 25th

• A collab between the clothing retailer Uniqlo and the anime series Sailor Moon

• Targeting Sailor Moon fans, a new target audience for uniqlo since they used to target audiences who seek comfort and warmth rather than style

• Available in 26 countries

• Coming out at the same time of when a new season of Sailor Moon is coming out

• Hypebae has stated that the clothing designs will collide with the story line of upcoming Sailor Moon film
• Sailor Moon is not a cartoon. Incorrect on the side of Teen Vogue

• Sailor Moon is a feminist anime which showcases strong female leads who save the world

• This can send an empowerment message to audiences

Teen Vogue Audience and Representation

Audience

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?

Mission statement:
Teen Vogue is the young person’s guide to saving the world. We aim to educate, enlighten, and
empower our audience to create a more inclusive environment (both on- and offline) by
amplifying the voices of the unheard, telling stories that normally go untold, and providing
resources for teens looking to make a tangible impact in their communities.

Audience members of Teen Vogue might create personal relationships between themselves and the magazine. They may also find personal identity in certain articles in the magazine.



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.

Demographics:
ABC1

Psycographics:
Aspirers/ Explorers/ Suceeders




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

• Personal relationship
• Personal identity
• surveillance

I think that these gratifications do not differ from other traditional print based magazines sine all magazines attempt to do the same thing. To offer surveillance, personal relationships and identity.



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

Teen Vogue want audiences to respond to the news being put into the magazines via social media. Social media allows people from all across the globe to voice their opinion on a certain matter.



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.

Teen Vogue uses 

Teen Vogue uses different social media platforms such as instagram, snapchat, twitter etc in order to connect themselves to their audiences but also their audiences to one and another. The use of social media allows them to talk to them in a more closer way compared to through their magazine articles.

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?

Teen Vogue empowers women and teenage girls through their magazine.

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

Teen Vogue is a very pro LGBTQ community magazine which is why they post articles on audiences that are part of that community and voice their voices to the world. Issues and barriers that people in the LGBTQ community face are discussed.

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

Although Teen Vogue has been successful at creating an androgynous side to their audiences by not conforming to fixed genders, they are after all a fashion magazine meaning they still do reinforce certain eurocentric beauty standards.

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

The patriarchy in this case is the society levels were men are seen as the superior. I believe that they do succeed in it as we can see in certain articles int he magazine that female models would be wearing what people would expect to see on a male.

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

I think that Teen Vogue does reinforce typical representations of celebrity as they are a fashion and celebrity magazine and will promote celebrity news as it is part of their base aspects. 

Feature: how Teen Vogue represents the changing nature of media aimed at women

Read this Quartz feature - The true story of how Teen Vogue got mad, got woke, and began terrifying men like Donald Trump - and answer the following questions:

1) How was the Teen Vogue op-ed on Donald Trump received on social media?

On social media, Teen Vogue received a lot of praise for the Trump article. This was especially evident on twitter.

2) How have newspapers and magazines generally categorised and targeted news by gender?

Newspapers and magazines generally categorises gender as separate with men wanting to read about politics and sport and women seen as wanting to read about domestic topics such as fashion and cooking.

3) How is this gender bias still present in the modern media landscape?

The gender bias is becoming less present in the media landscapes with more platforms being more neutral and gender fluid.

4) What impact did the alternative women’s website Jezebel have on the women’s magazine market?

Jezebel combined politics and feminism with aesthetic and many magazines are doing the same now 

5) Do you agree with the writer that female audiences can enjoy celebrity news and beauty tips alongside hard-hitting political coverage? Does this explain the recent success of Teen Vogue?

I agree to the statement and females should be able to enjoy  both aspects to the magazine including the fashion side along with the political side of it. Perhaps this is one of the aspects that lead to the success of Teen Vogue but I don't think it was completely because of this aspect.

6) How does the writer suggest feminists used to be represented in the media?

Feminists were presented as "sexless, grim bra-burners, uninterested in pleasure or aesthetics"

7) What is the more modern representation of feminism? Do you agree that this makes feminism ‘stereotyped as fluffy’?

The modern representation of feminism has changed over the years and I disagree that it makes feminism fluffy but changes it to make it into a method of empowerment.

8) What contrasting audience pleasures for Teen Vogue are suggested by the writer in the article as a whole?

Surveillance/ Personal identity/ Personal relationships

9) The writer suggests that this change in representation and audience pleasures for media products aimed at women has emerged from the feminist-blog movement. How can this be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory?

Clay Shirky stated that " the audience are producers" and so the feminist blogs reflect Shirky's statement as they are regular working women writing to other women on how to make a difference.

10) Is Teen Vogue simply a product of the Trump presidency or will websites and magazines aimed at women continue to become more hard-hitting and serious in their offering to audiences?

I think that websites and magazines will become more and more hard hitting especially as society keeps growing and creating new issues in the world. These issues will become increasingly serious.