Thursday 19 March 2020

Cheat sheet

Here you will find the basic information, facts and figures that you really should know for the exam. This list is not exhaustive in any way, but would be a great way to start your revision. It’s almost completely missing any detailed examples, which you will of course need to use to backup your excellent points in the exam.

Please also remember: the set texts are just the start! If you are asked, for example about regulation of the newspaper industry, the set texts provide few useful examples. It would be much better to discuss The Mail Online and unmoderated Facebook comments for examples of how regulatory factors can be circumvented thanks to digitally convergent technologies.

So let’s reiterate: this is NOT an exhaustive source, and you will need to go in to SUBSTANTIALLY more detail in the final exams!



Component one section A - Analysing Media Language and Representation




Advertising




 Tide print advert




Media language
  • Intertextual reference to romance films
  • Use of hyperbole
  • Friendly and inclusive lexis
  • Dense and packed layout, indicating the target audience has the time to read the advert (though this style of advert is also simply typical of 1950’s advertising)
  • Iconography and mise-en-scene typical of working class 1950’s America

Representation

  • Singular stereotypical representation of women
  • Stereotypical ‘housewife’ representation
  • Stereotypes of women encoded through setting, gesture and costume codes
  • Reinforces commonly held stereotypes that men and women occupy different gender roles
  • A construction of working class American identity

WaterAid audio-visual spot advert




Media language

  • Tracking shots
  • Exotic mise-en-scene
  • Use of diegetic singing
  • Both conventional and subversive of charity advert conventions
  • Binary opposition constructed between ‘rainy England’ and ‘ exotic Africa’
Representation

  • A stereotypical construction of ‘Africa’, which no indication of what specific country it takes place in (Zambia)
  • An atypical and positive representation of a young African woman, being assertive and proactive
  • Both reinforces and challenges representations of African and African people
  • Direct mode of address to assumed white audience reinforces a ‘white saviour’ narrative
  • A positive representation of a hardworking teenage girl


Kiss of the Vampire theatrical poster




Media language

  • Uses the generic iconography of the vampire genre in order to attract pre-existing audiences
  • Aspects of mise-en-scene, such as setting and costume are highly typical of the genre
  • Use of language ‘’In Eastman Color’ suggests film will be in full colour and has been processed using the then popular Eastmancolor technique
  • Uses typical film poster conventions, including the names of the principal actors being used to sell the film to a pre-existing audience
  • The campiness of the mode of address reflects the changing tastes of the film going public. Public tastes changed in the 70’s with gorier films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Alien, yet in the 60’s, Hammer Horror’s tongue in cheek mid-budget approach was still popular
Representation

  • Sexualised, objectified representation of women, confirming Van-Zoonen’s theory that women’s bodies are used to sell media products to a heterosexual male audience
  • Use of sexualisation is highly typical of the time it was produced
  • A stereotypical representation of vampires!
  • Middle class British hero’s under-threat in a foreign land. Like many horror films, the monster here represents a xenophobic unease at places which are not in the UK, which supports Gilroy’s postcolonial theory
  • Encourages audiences to pick and mix ideological perspectives. It is possible to enjoy the film full well knowing how ridiculous it is, and vampire films can be an important part of an audience’s identity




Music video 




Formation, Beyoncé (2016)




Media language

  • Use of rapid fire editing
  • Use of montage positions the audience in an ahistorical space. Video jumps between 1800’s antebellum era America to 1980’s parking lots!
  • Use of a variety of post production editing techniques, including VHS grain, connoting a rough and edgy ideology
  • Binary oppositions constructed between downtrodden black underclass and the threat of the white police force
  • Footage utilised from That B.E.A.T functions as an informative and attractive referential code
Representation

  • Black working class identity encoded through costume, setting and mise-en-scene
  • A range of stereotypical and subversive representations of ethnicity, drawing from a postcolonial perspective of race and ethnicity
  • Heavy use of sexualisation, highly paradigmatic of the genre, encoded through costume and gesture
  • Postmodern mixture of antebellum slave owner costumes mixed with contemporary representations of working class black identity, deliberately reinforcing controversial binary oppositions
  • Representation of the American deep south: poverty, deprivation and an ‘edgy’ aesthetic. Challenging and respectful or simply an appropriation of working class culture by a millionaire?


Riptide, Vance Joy (2013)




Media language

  • Rapid fire montage creates a range of discontinuous meanings through association
  • Heavy use of intertextuality, for example Italian horror and crime films
  • Washed out, faded colours reminiscent of 1970’s cinema
  • Subversive elements include a complete lack of performance, and deliberately poor lip synching
  • A postmodern deconstruction of music videos?
Representation

  • Frequent, highly voyeuristic and highly sexualised images of women in perilous situations
  • Mise-en-scene of running makeup, rope and torture devices represent women in a sexually fetishistic and vulnerable way. Challenging or simply sexist?
  • Audience consistently positioned through POV and tracking shots, anchoring the notion that they are somehow complicit in the menacing of women
  • Women are consistently represented as hegemonically attractive, blonde, tall, and white
  • Lack of anchorage however allows producer to sidestep accusations of sexism?




Newspapers




 The Daily Mirror (set pages are subject to change each year. Therefore a generalised account is included below)




Media language

  • Use of informal lexis, clearly targeting a working-class audience
  • Advertisements often targeting a stereotypical working-class audience, for example betting adverts
  • Bright red masthead and size of paper typical of a redtop, tabloid newspaper
  • Bias through selection of generally unflattering images of unfavoured politicians
  • Emphasis on large image splashes over column inches
Representation

  • Ethnocentric viewpoint, favouring news regarding British people over those from other countries
  • Left leaning newspaper, critical of conservative government and broadly supports Labour party
  • Uses working class friendly metaphors, for example references to horse racing, in order to appeal to British audiences
  • Selection of stories relatable for working class audiences, featuring working class people
  • Omission of ethnic minorities, focusing instead on predominantly white people of interest. An example of symbolic annihilation?


The Times (set pages are subject to change each year. Therefore a generalised account is included below)




Media language

  • Formal lexis targeting a middle class and more affluent target audience
  • Higher cover price (£1.80), again predominantly appealing to middle class audiences
  • Greater emphasis on copy (text) as opposed to images
  • Selection of high quality images emphasises quality and high production values
  • Design and format is less ‘flashy’ than a tabloid, indicating a sophisticated target audience
Representation

  • Right leaning broadsheet: tends to favour the conservative party, with conservative party leader represented in a positive, nuanced manner
  • More of a focus on stereotypically middle-class narratives and ‘hard news’
  • Advertisements and promotions target a middle-class, middle-aged target audience
  • Ethnocentric representation prioritising British politics
  • Predominantly white, middle class reporters targeting a white, middle class audience




Component one section B - Understanding Media Industries and Audiences




Advertising 




Tide print advert




Audience

  • Easily identifiable and relatable female representation
  • Breezy, informal lexis addresses a less educated audience
  • Anchors audience in to preferred reading through the use of leading captions and repetition of key information
  • May provoke mediated/negotiated reading through potentially sexist representation of women
  • Cultivates a patriarchal hegemonic representation of working class women to the working class audience for the purposes of financial gain


WaterAid audio-visual spot advert




Audience

  • Targets Western audiences through the use of a British pop song
  • Direct mode off address implores working class target audience to donate money
  • Use of establishing tracking shot positions audience with Claudia
  • Negotiated response may focus on frustration with a stereotypical representation of ‘Africa’
  • May provide opportunity for personal identification for black audiences through the visibility of black protagonist




Newspapers 




The Daily Mirror (general study)




Audience

  • Tabloid newspaper, targeting a working-class audience
  • Use of informal lexis, large splash images, and large font pull quotes further anchor ideological messages for the target audience
  • Stereotypically working-class mode of address through betting adverts
  • Left wing bias targets a working class, left wing audience. A unique selling point for a mainstream UK tabloid
  • Cultivates a straightforward and hegemonically dominant representation of societal issues and events
Industry

  • Newspapers are regulated by IPSO in the UK. It replaced the PCC, which was seen as being ineffective following the phone hacking scandal at the Murdoch owned The News Of The World
  • Published by Reach PLC
  • Circulation in 2018 : 562,523, down 12% from 2017. Print media is under threat, and other newspapers have either folded or are in real danger of folding.
  • The Mirror’s biggest (tabloid) competitor is The Sun, which sells almost three times as many copies as The Mirror!
  • The Mirror is pretty much the only left-wing tabloid in the UK, though there are a few other, lower circulation newspapers like the communist Morning Star


The Times (general study)




Audience

  • Broadsheet newspaper with a right-wing political leaning, targeting a middle class and educated audience
  • Offers audiences a range of experiences through different headings and sections on the newspapers homepage,
  • News UK offers it’s audiences a singular experience, with a range of ideologically similar right wing newspapers
  • Cultivation of right wing ideology in order to cultivate a politically subservient and partisan right wing audience?
  • However, less overtly right leaning that other Murdoch owned newspapers, presenting audience with illusion of choice
Industry

  • Circulation 428,034 in 2018, down 6% from 2017.
  • Published by News UK, which itself is owned by the US conglomerate News Corp
  • News UK are horizontally integrated, and demonstrate a risk averse business strategy through also publishing The Sun, The Sunday Times and TLS
  • Like all monopolistic conglomerates, News UK are motivated by power and profit. By supporting right wing governments, they ensure that their products are less likely to face state intervention
  • News UK a rebranding of News International, following the phone hacking scandal that saw The News Of The World shut down for corruption and invading privacy
  • Newspapers in the UK are regulated by IPSO, though the guidelines assume that the newspapers themselves are able to self-regulate. Arguably, this is not an effective form of regulation




Film Industry 




Straight 'Outta' Compton (2015) (for students sitting the exam in 2019 and 2020)




Industry

  • Produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Universal
  • Logo makes intertextual reference to the parental advisory logo, emphasising the ‘forbidden’ and subversive nature of the film
  • UK BBFC 15 certificate for frequent very strong language, sex, drug use and violence. Avoiding an ‘18’ rating is important so older teenagers can see it in the cinema, maximising profit
  • A ‘pre-sold’ audience of NWA fans, as well as fans of biopics, crime dramas and period dramas
  • Maximised potential revenue through soundtrack and other merchandise sales


Black Panther (2018) (for students sitting the exam in 2021 and beyond)




Industry

  • Produced and distributed by Marvel Studios, themselves a subsidiary of Disney, currently one of the largest media conglomerates in the world
  • Black Panther is arguably a standardised superhero ‘tent pole’ feature’, with the USP of a predominantly black cast
  • ‘Pre-sold’ audience of young, predominantly male comic book fans and a diverse set of fans of Marvel’s interconnected film franchises
  • Versions of Black Panther have been in development yet unproduced since the early 1990’s, suggesting that studios have traditionally steered clear of ‘less commercial’ films featuring black characters
  • An elaborate, highly digitally convergent marketing campaign combining teaser trailers, viral media and cameos in other Marvel films suggesting an interconnected multimedia strategy appealing to a core audience
  • Box office of $1.34 billion vs a production budget of $200 million. Successful worldwide, including previously hard to target emergent territories such as China.


 I, Daniel Blake (2016)




Industry

  • Box office of $15 million vs an ESTIMATED budget of $1-5 million. A low budget, independent film
  • Social realist film dealing with a hard hitting and intrinsically British issue. Clearly identifiable genre for white, middle class target audience
  • Innovative marketing campaign saw ‘guerilla’ screenings in town halls and projections of the trailer in public spaces
  • Funded by a range of sources, including French premium TV network Canal+, Film 4 and the National Lottery
  • Contradicts Curran and Seaton’s notion that media only exists for power and profit… or does it? Film was comparatively extremely financially successful, and saw international critical acclaim, winning a Palme D’or at Cannes




Radio 




Late Night Woman's Hour




Audience

  • Previous presenter Lauren Laverne is a moderately controversial choice, with a history of making controversial statements. Sort of
  • Sophisticated mode of address indicates an educated, middle-class female audience with broadly left-wing political leanings
  • Invites audiences to agree with the dominant ideology of the programme and to sympathise with the middle class panellist. Arguably lacks a diverse range of voices
  • Constructs a range of conformist and subversive representations of women for its middle class female target audience
  • Through identification and its niche subject matter, allows BBC to construct and to target a cult audience
Industry

  • A spin off from the long running Woman’s Hour, which was started in the early 1940’s.
  • Broadcast once a month at 11pm, though is available for streaming long after, maximising audience potential
  • Allows BBC to fulfil its remit for providing diverse and pluralistic entertainment shows
  • The BBC’s status as a PBS provider allows it to take chances on niche shows like LNWH that other broadcasters would not be able to
  • Generally conforms to IPSO guidelines, and is largely not controversial aside from occasional use of strong language




Videogames 




Assassin’s Creed: Liberation (2012)




Audience

  • A black, female playable character is an unusual unique selling point for videogames
  • A violent videogame reinforcing the dominant ideological perspective that violence and physical action is a legitimate way to solve problems. Lazy theorists may suggest that violent games make violent people…
  • Audiences can interact with the franchise in a variety of ways, including purchasing merchandise and partaking in cosplay
  • A pre-sold audience, already familiar with the Assassin’s Creed franchise
  • Oppositional audience responses may focus on the distasteful subject matter (slavery) and extreme violence, as well as the confusing blend of cyberpunk science fiction and period drama
Industry

  • Developed by Ubisoft Montreal and distributed by Ubisoft
  • Initially released on PlayStation Vita, and re-released for X360, PS4 and PC in HD in 2014
  • Particularly popular in Europe and North America, with moderate success in Japan
  • Additional DLC (downloadable content) including weapons
  • PEGI 18 rated game, restricting sale to minors, though digital downloads render this regulation ineffective
  • A Canadian production by a French company. Transnational, horizontally, vertically and multimedia integrated conglomerate
  • This is a terrible choice for a set text




Component two section A - Television in the global age




Humans (2015) 




Media language

  • Sci-fi iconography, including a range of intertextual references to films such as Blade Runner (1984) 
  • Themes of hyperreality, simulacrum, paranoia, and distrust of the world we live in
  • Highly appropriate generic paradigms of the sci-fi genre, including the techno pop soundtrack, and the discussion of quintessential sci-fi themes such as ‘what is humanity?’
  • Subverts standard sci-fi generic paradigms through real-world setting
  • A non-linear and disjointed narrative demonstrates the show’s cult appeal
Representation

  • East Asian cyborg Anita is represented as a sexual object who has had her autonomy stripped away from her
  • The inclusion of cyborgs function as an allegory, and explores themes of racism, sexual slavery, migration, globalisation and a fear of technology
  • A hyperreal representation of women, questioning the representation of women in media and the hegemonically dictated role they play in society
  • Stereotypical, hyperreal representation of a ‘typical’ middle-class British family
  • An inclusive selection of a range of ages, genders and later, sexualities demonstrates an ability to appeal to multiple audiences
Audience

  • Postmodern, fragmented narrative allows audience many exciting negotiated readings, which they can explore online in fan forums
  • MES is often stereotypically British, allowing audiences to identify with relatable scenes
  • A range of hegemonically attractive characters provide the young to middle-aged target audience with a straightforward gratification
  • Sci-fi generic paradigms allow core and niche audiences to identify and use the show in various ways
  • Sci-fi has always traditionally allowed fans to speculate and to engage with the product, in this case online. Internet chat groups, fan blogs and subreddits exist, allowing fans of Humans the ability to discuss and to reinterpret their favourite show
Industry

  • A detailed and immersive advertising campaign that made consistent use of digital convergence
  • Ran for three series before being cancelled
  • A remake of the Swedish STV series Real Humans’, which many changes made to make it appeal to a British audience
  • Broadcast on Channel 4, a British broadcaster with a history of creating challenging and alternative TV programmes for niche audiences
  • Show adheres to OFCOM’s guidelines in terms of inclusive representation




Les Revenants (2012)




Media language

  • On paper a zombie show, yet completely atypical of the genre, subverting audience expectations throughout
  • Combines elements of romance, zombie and mystery, creating a compelling genre hybrid
  • Highly stylised setting and mise en scene, with extensive use of post production colour grading to create a bleak, washed out and miserable atmosphere
  • Extensive use of binary oppositions to construct meaning. Life and death, young and old, male and female, rich and poor…
  • Non-diegetic soundtrack provided by Glaswegian rock band Mogwai. Atypical and often extremely jarring!
  • Setting (a quiet, middle class town) in the French alps is also highly atypical for a zombie show
Representation

  • A range of characters, of different ages and socio-economic groups ensures a potentially broad audience
  • Almost universally white cast represents a hyperreal construction of the French countryside for both the domestic and international middle class white target audiences.
  • In many ways stereotypically French in terms of the appearance of the actors and the moody, existentialist themes, though the constand binary opposition of sex and death
  • Victor and Camille takes the role of the terrifying child, which in horror films is a common trope, indicating our societies collective fear of young people
  • Many subversive representations of gender, in particular Lena and Julie
Audience

  • A cult show for cult audiences, which is reinforced through the deliberately mysterious narrative, uncompromising soundtrack by Glaswegian post-rock band Mogwai and the themes of death, sex and alienation
  • Audiences are invited to identify with different characters from different age groups and socio-economic groups
  • A small range of merchandise (TV shirts, tie-in books etc) allows fans to express their love for the show
  • Mogwai soundtrack allows the show to target pre-existing fans of the band. It’s the only reason Michael checked it out
  • Controversial scenes, such as the sex scene involving a young Lena (and Camille’s simultaneous death) may provoke deep and oppositional responses from audiences. Again, this is very much a cut show!
Industry

  • Produced by Haut et Court, and distributed by Canal Plus (the Canal group being an enormous French media conglomerate)
  • Awarded a 450,000 euro European Europe Creative Europe grant in 2012
  • Additionally received funding from Rhone-Alpes Regional Fund to promote tourism in the region.
  • Multiple sources of funding here, just like I, Daniel Blake, indicate a niche product that would not be funded otherwise
  • Remade in English for an American audience with little commercial success




Component two section B - Magazines: mainstream and alternative




Woman (1964) 




Media language

  • A highly conventional women’s lifestyle magazine, with a range of easily identifiable generic conventions
  • Cover creates a direct mode of address, allowing audience opportunity to identify with the model and the themes within
  • Fashion and style is highly typical of mainstream fashions of the 1960’s
  • A consistent binary opposition is constructed between men and women
  • Generically different from modern magazines, with a focus on blocks of text

Representation
  • Consistent reinforcement of singular, sexist stereotypes of women, further cultivating patriarchal hegemony
  • Sex and sexualisation are subtly encoded through the soap advert, reinforcing the hegemonic ideology that a woman’s function is to look attractive for a heterosexual male elite
  • Men are occasionally represented, and generally in a position of hegemonic power, for example in the Alfred Hitchcock interview
  • Some subversive representation of traditional gender norms, for example in the EXTRA SPECIAL… ON MEN! article
  • Women typically situated in home settings, such as kitchens, further anchoring and reinforcing traditional gender norms
Audience

  • A generic product for a mass market audience, Woman deliberately includes no challenging material
  • Lexis is informal and infers a target audience with a high school level of education
  • Why so sexist? In order to construct a dedicated target audience, woman presents singular and straightforward representations
  • Consistent stereotypical representations of women cultivates gender norms and values for the mass market audience
  • However, audiences even at the time could form complicated negotiated readings, rejecting the dominant ideological perspective, yet making use of the various make-up, style and DIY tips
Industry

  • Cover price of 7d (7 pre-decimal pence, or roughly 80p in 2018) is affordable and competitively priced for the working class female audience, especially compared with glossy monthlies like Vogue, which retailed for 3/- (about £4.50 in 2018 money)
  • Published by IPC, a horizontally integrated media conglomerate, that simply bought out Woman’s competitors such as Woman's Realm and Woman’s Own
  • The simple and straightforward representations in Woman present a simple and unchallenging dominant ideological perspective, demonstrating the magazine’s sole ideological purpose is one of power and profit
  • While Woman presents many ideas that seem sexist and problematic by 21st Century standards, the magazine’s safe and uncontroversial ideological perspectives mean it is unlikely to have issues with regulation
  • IPC, and Woman magazine exists to this day, and despite more of a focus on gossip over lifestyle, the magazine has changed little




Adbusters (2016)




Media language

  • Deliberately low production values, unconventional for a magazine
  • No clear genre, ideology, or even cover price, once more highly unconventional ...
  • Use of intertextuality, referentiality and bricolage, combining a range of themes from a range of texts
  • Confrontational and even aggressive mode of address
  • Highly polysemic, and lacks anchorage
Representation

  • Subversive, non-sexualised representation of women, for example in the ‘luxury water’ double page spread
  • Lacks many specific representations of gender at all
  • Postcolonial representations of ethnic minorities, demonstrating fundamental unfair racial hierarchies
  • Louboutins advert presents a stereotypical representation of a faceless ‘African’ for satirical purposes, yet may reinforce stereotypes for the white, middle class target audience
  • Allows audiences to identify with the political inclinations of the magazine, and construct an alternative lifestyle based on campaigning and social issues
Audience

  • Target audience initially unclear through lack of anchorage, but broadly middle-class and university educated
  • Invites a range of highly polysemic readings from audience
  • Many opportunities for oppositional readings, with articles potentially being read as racist and/or hateful by some audiences
  • Website provides many opportunities for fandom and audience interaction, including purchasing anti-capitalist merchandise
  • Other polysemic and negotiated readings include seeing Adbusters purely as an art and design magazine, ignoring the ideological perspectives of the magazine
Industry

  • Published six times a year by the Vancouver based Adbusters Media Foundation
  • An independant, not-for profit magazine, subverting the argument that all media is motivated by power and profit
  • High cover price (as high as £10:99, though this varies in practice), is necessary due to the lack of advertising revenue
  • The magazine has no paid-for adverts. Please make sure you point this out…
  • 120 thousand copies sold worldwide every two months compared to Woman's 1964 3 million British weekly circulation indicates a clearly independant and niche production




Component two section C - Online media in an online age




Zoella 




Media language

  • Youtube channel homepage and blog present a clear layout and clean user experience
  • A hyperreal construction of life, femininity and identity, presenting a fantastic yet relatable world to her target audience
  • Binary opposition constructed through Zoella and Alfie, reinforcing her stereotypical representation
  • Typical fashion and lifestyle channel, with range of appropriate paradigmatic features
  • Deliberately amateurish cinematography and editing constructs Zoella as relatable and human for her young target audience
Representation

  • A range of stereotypically feminine codes, including pastel pinks, fairy lights and flowing fabrics construct a stereotypical representation of femininity
  • The menu bar on Zoella.co.uk includes the hyperlinks ‘BEAUTY’, ‘FOOD’ and ‘STYLE’, which reinforces stereotypical, hegemonic representations of women
  • Zoella’s gender performativity constructs a hegemonically situated and stereotypical construction of female identity, reinforcing and potentially manipulating the dominant ideological perspective of her target audience
  • Zoella subverts stereotypical representations of women, being open and honest about her issues with anxiety, and even occasionally appearing without makeup, once more making her more relatable to her young target audience
  • Postcolonial readings will focus on only white people being represented in her videos, inadvertently constructing a racial hierarchy and enacting symbolic annihilation
Audience

  • Zoella.co.uk adopts a friendly and welcoming mode of address to it’s white, working class, heterosexual female target audience
  • Audience invited to participate with Zoella, for example in the pancake and picnic articles
  • Opportunities for audiences to directly interact with Zoella, for example through Youtube comments and pubic events
  • Negotiated and oppositional readings may take exception to the capitalist nature of Zoella’s marketing strategy, as seen in the ‘fuckzollea’ commentator on the old version of her blog
  • Since reinventing herself from Zoella to Zoe Sugg, Zoella has consciously targeted an older, yet still mainstream, working class female target audience
Industry

  • Audience engagement (time spent on respective sites) maximised through algorithmically optimised aspects such as autoplay and read next box outs
  • Revenue predominantly generated through advertising and click-through
  • Zoella herself (?!) is an independent and vertically integrated organisation, utilizing external distributors such as Hodder and Stoughton to publish her books
  • Zoella, like any other media industry, is motivated through profit and power
  • Self regulated, and occasionally has ran in to legal implications from her Instagram feed, after she was found guilty of promoting brands without announcing it was paid-for content




 Attitude online




Media language

  • A simple, clean and straightforward layout, similar to online tabloid newspapers
  • Lexis is informal, and indicates a working class target audience
  • Use of hermeneutic codes in article titles invites audiences to click (clickbait)
  • Constructs a hyperreal representation of gay male identity, and a world where everyone is young, musculed, and sexually available
  • Frequent use of rainbow flag iconography indicates an inclusive attitude, and is welcoming to bisexual, lesbian and trans audiences
Representation

  • Often presents a highly sexualised representation of gay men, with a particular focus on young to middle aged white men with muscular physiques, reinforcing hegemonic stereotypes of male beauty
  • Other representations of gay men include drag queens, older men involved in media and showbiz, and gay men as victims of violence. A complicated representation of sexuality and identity?
  • Arguably presents a straightforward and stereotypical representation of gay male identity to its target audience. Gay male stereotypes, such as an interest in expensive fashion and the theatre and emphasised and reinforced throughout
  • Provides a metanarrative for young gay audiences to identify with, and to learn about gay culture
  • Expressions of gender performativity situate in the audience in a highly performative negotiation of sexuality, further reinforcing the link between sexuality and identity
Audience

  • Magazine and it’s online version specifically targets a gay male audience.
  • However, the website clearly targets a working class gay male audience, and the magazine targets a more middle class, professional and aspiration gay male audience
  • Possible heterosexual female secondary target audience, who may appreciate highly sexualised images of men
  • Negotiated readings may focus on displeasure at the use of stereotyping, but taking pleasure from the information and news provided by the website
  • Allows closeted gay audience who may feel uncomfortable buying the magazine in public an opportunity to explore their sexuality in private
Industry

  • Huge banner advert suggesting the audience subscribe to the print magazine indicates a synergistic business model. The website exists to promote and sell the magazine
  • Standard and straightforward format indicates the website is driven by power and profit
  • Website only established in 2015, after years of resisting an online presence. Indicates a need for hypermodal media in a modern media climate
  • By being hosted online, the website circumvents traditional regulation issues. However the website self-regulates, censoring swear words, and providing NSFW tags for sexualised content
  • Provides no real opportunities for fans to interact with the website, including leaving comments. A clear contradiction of Clay Shirky’s theory




This post is a taster of what's in store in the new, improved revision guide, which will be published very soon!