Mediatique Essay

Using the Mediatique report as your evidence base, how is online technology affecting UK national newspapers.

The Mediatique report was commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to investigate the state of the press market In this report, it considers the state of the market across local, regional and national titles to give a broad overview of business models, major player, frequency and means of publication, circulation and readership. This informs a detailed analysis of current trends, the challenges faced by publishers and the range of actions that publishers have taken in response to sustained threats to the industry.

The press industry has been under sustained threat for the past decade. Circulation has been under pressure for 20 years and the declines have accelerated in the 2000s and 2010s. In 2007, total print advertising expenditure totalled over 4.6bn and net circulation revenue 2.2bn, meaning today's aggregate advertising expenditure and net circulation figures  equate to about half of their 2007 value, demonstrating the remarkably heavy losses sustained by newspaper groups on both fronts from declines in readership.

The cause of these changes is due to the advances in technological innovation, the access to these devices, particularly among younger demographics, with just 14% of 16-24 year olds report using newspapers for news, compared to 63% using the internet, where competition is much greater, content is readily available and generally free and there is a much lower propensity to pay.

This new rise in the use of the internet and mobile, specifically search and social platforms such as Facebook and Google, and the growth in digital more generally, have hit newspapers, its very important to speculate that considering the younger demographic is growing up without the newspaper dynamic, it may become relevant that newspapers will begin to die out as the new generations have minimal exposure due to the resolution of technology.

Newspaper groups have attempted to counteract revenue declines with a range of strategic responses, including scale-building, cost-cutting and diversification. The press industry, and in particular the local and regional press, has a consequence witnessed a period of significant consolidation. Consolidated groups can use scale to compete more efficiently by spreading overhead costs and investigating strategically. Margins have reduced markedly (from in excess of 30% for some local and regional groups prior to the 2008 recession to margins in the teens at best for most of those titles that are today in profit) many other titles - e.g. The Guardian and a number of local and regional titles in less populous areas -  make a financial loss.

The reasons for this are as follows: there is a low propensity amongst consumers to pay for news online; newsbrands' audience are worth a premium to advertisers (thus constraining  digital advertising); and finally, the scale of the competition for eyeballs and attention is vastly greater, meaning news content from publishers must compete with huge amounts of other material.

To conclude we will talk about the conclusions made in the Mediatique Report. The Report's analysis has identified serious threats and structural challenges facing the newspaper industry, as increasing amounts of people engage with online content, leading to a greater array of information for the consumers who chose to view online. As a result consumption habits have shifted away from the printed press and towards greater online engagement where the economics of news gathering and monetisation of audiences are more challenging. These habits will persist and deepen, as younger connected cohorts grow older.

The History of the Internet

CERN
CERN is the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. Its one of the worlds largest and most respected centres for scientific research.

Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989, while working at CERN. The web was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automated information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world.

Web 1.0
Web 1.0 refers to the first stage in the World Wide Web, which was entirely made up of web pages connected by hyperlinks. Although the exact definition of Web 1.0 is a source of debate, it is generally believed to refer to the web when it was a set of static websites that were not yet providing interactive content.

Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is the name used to describe the second generation of the world wide web, where it moved static HTML pages to a more interactive and dynamic web experience. Web 2.0 is focused o the ability for people to collaborate and share information online via social media, blogging and web-based communities.

Social Media

YouTube - In 2005, three PayPal employees, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, decided it was time for them to branch out.

Their original concept was a dating website called "Tune In", Hook Up", which allowed users to post videos of themselves for others to view and decide whether or not to "hook up" with them.
Sadly, no one was willing to make use of the service and the concept failed.

Fortunately, the platform's video uploading and posting technology was sound, and when the group had a discussion about how hard it was to find a video online of Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction", during the 2004 Superbowl Halftime show, a concept began to form.

Realising that a user-friendly video sharing platform did not currently exist, the team sprung into action, and on February 14th 2005, the name of Tune In, Hook Up" was changed to "YouTube" and an internet phenomenon was born.

Facebook -

Instagram - 

Snapchat -

Extension Questions

1) Self-regulation is mentioned in this section. Research 'The Leveson Inquiry' and find out what changes this lead to in regulation of the press in the UK. Are the Daily Mail and The Guardian subject to regulation?

• The Leveson Inquiry was a jusge-led inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron to examine the culture, practice and ethics of the press. It was established in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid. Lord Justice Leveson has made recommendations on the future of press regulation.
• It looked at the relationship between the press and the public, including phone-hacking and other potentially illegal behaviour, and at the relationships between the press and the politicians.
• 'Very powerful relationships' between politicians and newspapers proprietors which are 'more subtle' than 'explicit'

2) On page 21 we are told that "The Daily Mail, in Hall's terms" provides a "more dominant representation of events" whereas The Guardian provides "a more negotiated representation of events". The Hall referred to here is Stuart Hall. He asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended. Research Stuart Hall's Audience Reception Theory and explain the 3 positions an audience can take when decoding a text.

Preferred Reading: The preferred reading is when audiences respond to the product the way the media producers want/ expect them to.

Negotiated Reading: This is when a member of the audience partly agrees with part of the product e.g. film, documentary, TV programme.

Oppositional Reading: This is when the audience are in complete disagreement with the product's message or setting.

3) On page 21 we are told that "news stories are constant disruptions of Todarov's narrative equilibrium".  Research Tzvetan Todarov's theory of narrative - explain this in ts simplest form.

Realism and Constructing Reality Questions

1. What is the difference between news and editorial?
News is traditionally separated from editorial, news being factual, and editorial being opinion. Both should be clearly demarcated from advertising. These boundaries are established by journalistic and editorial practice and professional ethics, by self-regulation, and by the laws of libel (which mean that a newspaper has to prove the facts to be true to successfully defend a libel case).

2. How do the Daily Mail and The Guardian aim to maintain the boundary between journalism and advertising?
Its easier to maintain these standards in the quality national press, where audiences are paying for high-quality journalism. In lower-status newspapers, such as local newspapers, advertising can more easily succeed in their aim to blur the boundary between journalism may simply be persuasive content from media relations and public relations personnel. The Daily Mail and the Guardian, by contrast, would aim to maintain that boundary by attributing sources and clearly labelling advertising or sponsored material.

3. Summarise in 7 bullet points the version of reality that is constructed by the Daily Mail.

• Many problems are caused by the ruling liberal elites and the nanny state.
• Problems are best solved by allowing the free market to operate and minimising bureaucratic interference.
• We should look after our own people before we look after foreigners.
• Ordinary people are rightly proud to be British.
• We should respect great British institutions such as the monarchy.
• Catching criminals is more important than protecting human rights.
• Brexit is a fantastic opportunity.

4. Summarise in 7 bullet points the version of reality that is constructed by The Guardian.

• Many problems are caused by uncontrolled free markets.
• Problems are best solved by public control in the public interest.
• As a rich country we have a duty to help others in the world.
• Some patriotism is associated with zenophobia and racism; we should be both internationalist and proud to be British.
• We should recognise where institutions need to improve.
• Protecting human rights is the cornerstone of a free society.
• Brexit is a disaster.

5. Which of the Daily Mail and The Guardian represents a more definite world and which represents a more questioned world? What do you think this means?
The two newspapers differ in how definite they are about their version of reality. Looking again at the two tweets on page 19, it is clear that the Mail tweet is trying to represent an unproblematical version of reality whereas the Guardian tweet suggests there is a problem caused by a difference between the image and the reality. Though both newspapers have their own moral certainties, the Daily Mail represents a more definite world, the Guardian a more questioned world. As we shall see later, this may be because the Daily Mail in Hall's terms, is providing a more-dominant representation of vents, one that accepts aspects of how society is organised and criticises other aspects.

6. What is the narrative equilibrium and how is narrative important in the construction of reality?
Narrative, is important in the construction of reality. The world of 'spin doctors', for example, is to create a suitable narrative around news events. News stories are constant disruptions of Todarov's narrative equilibrium in that most news stories are 'bad news' - a disruption of the previous state of affairs and a drive towards a restoration of a new equilibrium. Like dramatic narratives, a good story will keep the audience wanting resolution by at first delaying it, creating desire in the audience to know what happens next, then giving them resolution (e.g. will climate changed be remedied?) and are inherently less satisfactory. Examples of much more satisfactory resolutions include stories about people falling down wells when the narrative is resolved by a successful rescue. For example a news story about a bay who was rescued after 58 hours trapped in a well in 1987 was famous enough to be revisited by the Mail Online in 2017 in an article about 'baby Jessica' from the 'miracle rescue' 30 years on.

How far has the genre influenced the media language used in sources A and B?

Genre has a huge influence upon the media and the way its portrayed. The two types of newspaper genre are Tabloid and Broadsheet. Now almost all newspapers adopt a tabloid sizing, as its deemed easier to read, the original generic conventions of either a tabloid newspaper or broadsheet.

Tabloid newspapers, this type of newspaper has as downmarket or commonly working class target audience. Due to its specific target audience the newspaper has been designed very differently to a broadsheet newspaper. Tabloid newspapers tend to encompass a softer news agenda, talking mainly about human issue stories or celebrities, it also contains a less formal language register, using simple common dialect, the mastheads is bold, often red on white, similarly the headlines are bold and capitalised, all text is written in sans-serif font. The pages are usually dominated by headlines and images.

Broadsheet newspapers, this type of newspaper has as upmarket or commonly middle class target audience. Due to its specific target audience the newspaper has been designed very differently to a tabloid newspaper. Broadsheet newspapers tend to encompass a much harder news agenda, including politics, finance and international news, it also contains a much more formal language register, using a more extensive, complex dialect, the mastheads often black on white, while the headlines are capitalised as in a sentence, all text is written in serif font. The pages are usually dominated by copy.

Looking at the tabloid newspaper first, the Daily Mail, this is a middle-market tabloid as apposed to a red top tabloid. It finds its own characteristics a blend of both tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in the middle of both set of conventions. We see a cover with a 50/50 split between copy and image a balance between tabloid and broadsheet conventions. Capitalised but lack of extreme formal or informal language, it finds the median between both alternatives. This enforces that the genre is of a tabloid, however a slightly higher market than red top tabloids, reinforcing the belief that it is a middle market tabloid newspaper. The type of language used in the newspaper has a lack or formality, however remains stereotypically informal (swearing/ obtuse language) this reinforces the representation of it being a stereotypical middle-market tabloid.

Upon analysis of the Guardian, we can see its a typical broadsheet genre newspaper. as apposed to a tabloid. It finds its own characteristics with the original broadsheet newspapers conventions. However this issue of the Guardian is less typical and appears to have been hybridised, aside form the masthead being white on blue which is the Guardians own original convention we see a cover dominated with image, which is not stereotypical of broadsheet. There is also a short headline, however the cover conforms to the conventions of a broadsheet with the lower case of the headline and the use of serif font. This reinstates that the genre is of a a broadsheet, however the conventions are being changed in this issue. This could be an overall change in hybridising the newspaper and breaking conventions as to being marketable to a larger target audience. By appealing to more people they may gain a larger viewership and then increase profit and influence. Or this may be a special one off edition as to emphasise the situation thats being reported.

To conclude both newspapers are in some way influenced by the genres and conventions that have been set however, many conventions are being broken and altered to appeal to a larger amount of people. This change is a way of hybridising the magazine however, it is clear that set conventions still show and this may be permanent no matter how much change is seen with the newspapers.

The Times Newspaper

Ownership

Since 1981, the owner of The Times newspaper has been Rupert Murdoch, until present. The conglomerate of News Corp, founded by Rupert Murdoch has the ownership of many companies and has a worldwide reach. News UK 

Audience

The demographic of the audience is businessmen. 

• The Times is Britain's oldest daily newspapers, reaching a unique demographic of business people
• Achieved record subscriptions at over 413,000 and has returned to profit

The Big Issue - Cover Comparison (Romesh) & (LEGO)

How do the Romesh and Lego construct representations which reflect The Big Issue's identity and values?

The Big Issue is commonly know among many for having a strong social conscience, they like to talk about social issues and appear to care about attempting to aid issues in society. Both of these cover appear to be relative to social issues. The Romesh cover is clearly concentrating on the common issues surrounding debt and financial troubles, the negative topic is juxtaposed with the use of Romesh and a comical cartoon-ish theme lighten the mood and make it appear to be a less harrowing read, encouraging more people to purchase the issue. Similarly, the Lego cover is concentrating on how many perceive the increasing use of mobiles as a solely negative thing. The Big Issues is attempting to educate many that it may not be as negative as many think, not only this but there can be many positive outcomes from the use of phones. The Big Issue is attempting to educate the readers on something, once again highlighting its social conscience.

The Big Issue always includes it famous tagline of  'a hand up, not a hand out' the deep nature of this message hits hard for many people. Not only is this magazine produced for our benefit, entertainment and education but The Big Issue has never lost sight of its original purpose, to aid and support the homeless though providing jobs as vendors. They wish to motivate the homeless and including them into society and helping them move forward and be able to cope with the unfortunate circumstances that put them in those positions. The fact that this is still their main goal and other objectives has not taken priority is a huge sign of the social conscience that they stand for, it continues along the journey whilst simultaneously attempting to help not only the vendors, but the readers by educating them on a wide variety of matters.

The Big Issue - Cover Comparison (Britain) & (Bake Off)

1) How does these covers support the statement that the statement that The Big Issue is "hybrid and unpredictable"?
In the Britain cover are met with a very uncluttered cover. This is completely adverse and hybrid to the other, Bake Off cover as we are met with a largely cluttered and filled cover. In the Bake Off cover there is even to the extreme that it appears to have been drawn over is black ink. This contrasting effect gives off the assumption that the Britain cover is a much more serious cover with a more important message behind it. Whereas the Bake Off cover seems to have more of a comedy interpretation. The masthead included on all copies of The Big Issue is hybrid, we don't experience the masthead migrating however as shown, we can see the use of transparent and then white fill of the masthead. This expresses how the magazine is not afraid o be adverse and embrace a hybrid nature.

2) The Big Issue frequently makes use of intertextuality on its front covers. What is intertextuality and what evidence is there of this contained within these covers?
There is use of intertextuality in both cover arguably the strongest intertextuality being on the Bake Off cover, referring about Mary Berry, who was a presenter for the show and had left when the programme was made to move channels. We see the previously mentioned black ink drawings mention another presenter quote "Don't mention the berry" and annotation of "Berry" pointing to all the berries located on the cakes in the image. Also included is the quotation of "I'am the mighty bouche" above Niall Fieldings. Referring to the TV programme I'am the mighty boosh. This clever play on words is another example of intertextuality. We also see a hat drawn onto Paul Hollywoods head inscribed "Make Bake Off Great Again" this is blatant intertextuality linking to the American President Donald Trump and his famous but controversial campaign. The intertextuality of the Britain cover includes the mention of 'Sir David Attenborough' the face of social conscience in the UK and a clear use of intertextuality. We are also shown the shape of the United Kingdom represented by a green leaf, the intertextuality here is one that almost everyone will recognise and adds character to the cover.

3) The Big Issue is a magazine with a 'social conscience' which aims to help not only those who sell it but those who buy it. What evidence is there of their ideology on these covers?
The cover with clear reference to social issues is the Britain cover. Initially the main colour scheme is a clear reference to the stereotypical 'eco' colour of green. The top right sticker type print is making reference to the fact that it is 'Earth Day' and The Big Issue has take the opportunity of this to represent the clear social conscience. David Attenborough is also used, he is the perfect example and everyone associated him with the act of saving the planet, as well as social conscience.


4) Magazines commonly reflect celebrity culture. What is celebrity culture and to what extent do these covers suggest that this is relevant to The Big Issue?

The Big Issue - Questions

1) How do the covers of Lego and Romesh support the statement that The Big Issue is "hybrid and unpredictable"?
The covers of Lego and Romesh supports that The Big Issue is a hybrid and unpredictable magazine.The Big Issue is highly unusual in being defined by its contribution method: street sales by vendors. Thus, though it shares some content and style conventions of more mainstream magazines - especially lifestyle magazines, political magazines and entertainment magazines - it is free to challenge these and does not rely on being recognisable on retailers' shelves. This allows it to move its masthead around, not carry a barcode and completely change the style of front cover from one issue to the next. It still completely change the style of the front cover from one issue to the next. It still retains basic magazine conventions - a cover image, cover lines, a masthead, a sell line and date line, but its content is hybrid and unpredictable.

2) The Big Issue frequently makes use of intertextuality on its front covers. What is intertextuality and what evidence of this is contained within the Lego and Romesh covers?
Intertextuality is included in both covers. We are met in the Lego cover with a character from 'The Lego Movie' anyone who has watched the film will understand this and will also recall that 'Emmet' as the character is supposedly 'overly normal', this is a reference to the greater population who may be reading and trying to apply whats inside the article to them. Intertextuality is also used subtly by using the two words "build" and "awesome" both being references to 'The Lego Movie' and the term "awesome" due to the song in the Lego movie 'Everything Is Awesome'. This is used together with the term 'build' a clear reference to the purpose of build.

3) The Big Issue magazine with a 'social conscience' which aims to help not only those who sell it but those who buy it. What evidence is there of their ideology on the Lego and Romesh covers?

4) Magazines commonly reflect celebrity culture. What is celebrity culture and to what extent do the Lego and Romesh covers suggest that this is relevant to The Big Issue?

The Big Issue - Notes

Genres and Magazines

Magazines are categorised by audience as much as by genre. While there are clear genres of magazines such as consumer magazines, trade journals and scholarly journals, consumer magazines are often displayed by audience gender and publication frequency (women's weeklies, women's monthlies, ect.) rather than by genre.

The Big Issue is highly unusual in being defined by its contribution method: street sales by vendors. Thus, though it shares some content and style conventions of more mainstream magazines - especially lifestyle magazines, political magazines and entertainment magazines - it is free to challenge these and does not rely on being recognisable on retailers' shelves. This allows it to move its masthead around, not carry a barcode and completely change the style of front cover from one issue to the next. It still completely change the style of the front cover from one issue to the next. It still retains basic magazine conventions - a cover image, cover lines, a masthead, a sell line and date line, but its content is hybrid and unpredictable.

The David Tennant issue, for example reflects how celebrities feature predominantly in lifestyles or entertainment magazines. The Martin Luther king cover, on the other hand, reflects the presentation of issues in political magazines.

Media Language and Technology in Magazines

Print technology offer the opportunity for the front cover to use visual impact to sell the magazine. A print front cover is generally simpler, less detailed and more coherent than a website home page, for example, with a clearly framed layout in which all the graphic design elements can be controlled. This enables the two covers to of the MLK issue and DT issue to offer strikingly different designs - the retro feel of the MLK cover contrasting with the quasi-documentary sparseness of the DT cover.

The layout of both front pages is dominated by the image, using print's advantage in allowing the image to be scrutinised and, if required, contain dense detail, as in some of the montage front covers celebrating street vendors.

Intertextuality in Magazine Media Language

Both Big Issue front covers are intertextual, in order to quickly suggest a world of content to be discovered within its pages, to connote shared experience with the audience, to flatter the audience.

The MLK cover does not make direct reference to other media products, but the image used suggests a media representation of the man - King as a cultural product as much as a real person, a product whose positive connotations of highly moral political activism the magazine might appropriate.

The DT cover references two media products directly:

• 'The Shape of Water' - a newly released film
• 'The Doctor' - a reference to Tennant's role as a Doctor Who on the BBC.

Both products are considered famous enough to require no explanation, suggesting a shared experience with a culturally aware audience and valuing both products culturally.

Viewpoints and Ideologies in Media Language

The MLK cover uses media language via the dominant image of King and his dream to express support for his battle for civil rights and to question whether his legacy has been honoured. The Big Issue is rooted in campaigning, but also needs to appeal to as wide an audience as possible in order to support its vendors. So the choice of Martin Luther King (this was the fiftieth anniversary of his death) to depict the issue of civil rights is perhaps because of relative lack of controversy surrounding him. He is posed as if looking into the future with confidence, juxtaposed with symbols of America, next to language that uses a rhetorical question ('What happened to the dream?'), referencing his most famous speech. This almost religious imagery, representing King as a secular saint, further suggests that his righteous battle has not been won. This media language suggests both anti-racism and individualism - the former in the reference according to King, the latter in the focus of the cover layout on one man.

The DT cover incorporates individualism ion its focus on the star individual. The media language suggests an almost casual acquaintance with members of the royal family ('Meghan and Harry: coffee with The Big Issue'), which connotes both a recognition and approval of these royals but also a lack of deference.

Media Language and Media Contexts
Magazines  commonly reflects celebrity culture, the influence of which can be seen in the layout of both Big Issue front covers. King is a celebrity political activist whose face is instantly recognisable; Tennant is a celebrity actor.

Magazines, such as this, that engage with current affairs, will reflect political contexts, especially political debates about the issue of homelessness. In the MLK front cover, the political authority given to violent protest is reflected in both the use of his image and the language chosen to discuss civil rights.

Sub-topic Notes

Representation: Selection and Combination
Magazines select and combine to create representations that will reflect their brand and set the appropriate tone for the magazines as a whole. The Big Issue, for example, is a brand with a mixed tone. Its pitch to advertisers (www.bigissue.com/advertising) states that it offers 'provocative, independent journalism' and 'high-profile exclusive interviews' with celebrities.

The MLK cover, for example, chooses to combine icons of America - the stars and stripes and the outline of mainland USA - with a stylised image of Martin Luther King and a reference to his most famous inspirational speech from the 1960's. It positions the issue of civil rights in contemporary America within the context of a long political struggle. This suggests solidity with civil rights protesters, an affliction with the less powerful in society and a thoughtful, historically informed view of current events. All of this chimes nicely with the values of The Big Issue as a brand - 'to dismantle poverty by creating opportunity' (www.bigissue.com/about).

The DT cover chooses to combine an apparently unstated photograph of a famous actor with language suggesting his vulnerability. This suggests both a conventional interest in the culture and entertainment industries and a concern with the authentic person behind the glossy appearances. Similarly, the magazine boasts of its association with royalty but does so in a down-to-earth way - 'Meghan and Harry: coffee with The Big Issue' - that avoids suggesting fawning over the monarchy.

Magazines: Realism and Constructed Reality
Magazines are usually held to lower standards of realism than newspapers, depends on their genre, but magazines such as The Big Issue are governed by the professional ethics of journalism and aim to provide a truthful portrait of the world. The Big Issue has a slightly unusual perspective, often assuming the point of view of the homeless, as in the article linking Martin Luther King's quest for civil rights with the issue of street living today in the town where he was assassinated (Memphis). The magazine may well claim that this offers an extra dose of realism to its representations. The two other articles promoted by cover lines - on Brexit and the Commonwealth Games, on the other.

The celebrity orientation of the David Tennant cover carries fewer claims to realism, but the seriousness of the magazine's approach is signified by a  focus on the personal difficulties of fame. The cover lines do also include one referencing and informative article about Dogger Bank as well as two more entertainment / celebrity-centred articles.

Social, Cultural and Political Contexts
The front cover of magazines are like adverts for the magazine, so in the same way as with advertising they tend to reflect the influence of consumerism. This is particularly true of lifestyle magazines, where images and descriptions of lifestyles reflect our consumers society's ideals of a 'good life'. This is perhaps less true of The Big Issue branding, but some of its front covers do cover lifestyle issues such as Issue 1300's cover: 'How to be happy: Your essential guide in a world gone wrong'. However, even here a serious political context is referenced as the graphic includes a representation of North Korean intercontinental missiles to suggest a 'world gone wrong'.

The Big Issue exists to highlight and alleviate homelessness and poverty in what it sees as a political context in which neither are adequately addresses. Those who sleep on the streets have little power or status, so the magazine deliberately celebrates their individuality and achievements. In doing so, it hopes to challenge and shape public perceptions.

Celebrity culture is a major influence on the representations of Martin Luther King in the two covers sampled. The covers expect the audience to recognise and understand the cultural role of these two figures without explanation as they are both global celebrities.

Multiculturalism has influenced the representation of Martin Luther King in so far as the cover expects it audience to adopt the perspective of people of colour without difficulty. Liberal news sources in the 1960's would also have covered the events sympathetically, but from a far Whiter perspective.

Stereotyping in Magazines
Font covers of magazines need to communicate messages rapidly so often resort to stereotyping. The Big Issue is less likely to need to use this tactic due to the way it is sold, but it is unlikely that any front cover could avoid stereotyping entirely.

The sell line on The Big Issue - 'A hand up not a hand out' - replaces the negative stereotyping of the 'hand out' (either as patronising charity or welfare scroungers) with the positive stereotype of the 'hand up', suggesting aspiration and achievement.

The MLK cover uses positive stereotypes of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movements to signify the 'dream' of racial and ethnic equality. The images of America used - the stars and stripes, the outline of mainland USA - both active stereotypes of America (seeing itself as the patriotic land of freedom), and Martin Luther King's far-seeing pose suggests positive stereotypes of political leadership.

The DT cover references a positive stereotype of Doctor Who as a culturally significant character role and of Harry as the young caring prince.

Under-represented or Misrepresented Groups
The representation of homeless people and the issue of street living in The Big Issue is a deliberate attempt to remedy a systematic under-representation in the mainstream media. The magazine encourages writing by homeless people as 'outsiders' lacking dignity and self-respect by associating them with these more culturally central and successful people. For example, the MLK cover links the man's message about civil rights to the issue of street living in Memphis and the DT cover links homelessness to royalty in the cover line about Prince Harry.

Both theses covers we have analysed feature men. A quick survey of the last 40 editions in April 2018, shows that 18 feature men only on the cover and two feature women only, suggesting under-representation of women compared to men. The MLK cover is one of the only two covers to feature a person of colour as the sole cover image, again suggesting under- representation of ethnic minority groups.

Discourses, Ideology and Audience Positioning
The MLK Big Issue cover positions the audience as concerned about political issues and current affairs, knowledgeable about King and the civil rights movement and sympathetic to their aims. It positions the audience as internationalists.

The DT cover positions the audience as cinephiles (film-lovers), interested in entertainment news and the 'inner life' of actors, especially David Tennant and familiar with the British royal family. The reference to 'Doggerland' may be deliberate enigmatic, and thus weak in its ideological positioning, in order to entice readers.

Both front covers embody individualism as a core ideology as both focus on individuals (though in the case of the MLK cover this is done to illustrate a social and political issue). The DT is more ethnocentric, but the fact that the MLK cover is clearly internationalist suggests that this isn't a systematic bias on the part of the magazine.

The under-representation of women on the front covers shown in the figures above may suggest a systematic bias, which might reflect the influence of sexism, and the under-representation of people of colour may reflect the influence of racism. However, this does not have to be conscious racism and sexism on the part of the publishers, but may reflect either unconscious bias or a reflection of the effects of racial, ethnic and gender inequality in the world that is represented, rather than bias.

Representation: Audience Response and Contexts
The Big Issue magazine can assume some empathy with the plight of the homeless on the part of its audience, but otherwise has to cater for a diverse audience. Big Issue readers are probably more likely to be left-wing and this is reflected in the tine of the magazine. This means that more right-wing readers might take exception to the representations and the magazine is less likely to find agreement among the politically apathetic.

The entertainment focus of the Big Issue is on popular entertainment, especially film and television. So cultural conservatives who value high culture over popular culture may reject these messages.

The Big Issue - Cover Comparison (Romesh) & (LEGO)

The Big Issue is unusual in its media language in that the front cover does not follow a house style as faithfully as more mainstream magazines. Layout varies from one style from one addition to the next, though all front covers tend to the uncluttered with either on cover image or a montage with perhaps only three Martin Luther King (MLK) or four David Tennant (DT) to centralised (MLK) to top right. It switches from white on background (DT) & (MLK) to black on white.  Background colours vary from issue to issue, though tend to be fairly bright saturated colours as in the orange and red of our two example. The typography, though usually sans-serif, again changes dramatically, as can be seen in the contrast between the retro connotations of the capitalised handwritten font for (DT). These variations connote idiosyncrasy, liveliness and lack of pretension.

The masthead's capitals connote a no-nonsense solidity and political commitment, as does the sell line: 'A HAND UP NOT A HANDOUT' (top left). The lack of glamour extends to the photograph of (DT), Which appears to have been shot using a single flash rather than professional lighting. By contrast, the stylised monochrome image of (MLK) connotes both the mans saintly cultural status and evokes the period of death in 1968. Both covers also introduce a small element of humour to lighten the mix - the pun about the Commonwealth gains in the (MLK) cover, the cheeky reference to inter species love in the (DT) cover.

The Big Issue - Cover Comparison (MLK & DT)

Not My Work.

The Big Issue is unusual in its media language in that the front cover does not follow a house style as faithfully as more mainstream magazines. Layout varies from one style from one addition to the next, though all front covers tend to the uncluttered with either on cover image or a montage with perhaps only three Martin Luther King (MLK) or four David Tennant (DT) to centralised (MLK) to top right. It switches from white on background (DT) & (MLK) to black on white.  Background colours vary from issue to issue, though tend to be fairly bright saturated colours as in the orange and red of our two example. The typography, though usually sans-serif, again changes dramatically, as can be seen in the contrast between the retro connotations of the capitalised handwritten font for (DT). These variations connote idiosyncrasy, liveliness and lack of pretension.


The masthead's capitals connote a no-nonsense solidity and political commitment, as does the sell line: 'A HAND UP NOT A HANDOUT' (top left). The lack of glamour extends to the photograph of (DT), Which appears to have been shot using a single flash rather than professional lighting. By contrast, the stylised monochrome image of (MLK) connotes both the mans saintly cultural status and evokes the period of death in 1968. Both covers also introduce a small element of humour to lighten the mix - the pun about the Commonwealth gains in the (MLK) cover, the cheeky reference to inter species love in the (DT) cover.

Not My Work.

David Gauntlett - Theory of Identity

To what extent do you agree with David Gauntlett's theory of identity in relation to print advertisements in the UK?

David Gauntlett who is a British sociologist, was born March of 1971 and as a media theorist he was also the Professor of Creativity and Design, and Director of Research, at the University of Westminster. 

Whilst, in the past, the media tended to convey singular straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offers us a much more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from which we can pick and mix different ideas.

Although gender categories haven't been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have have at least created a space for diversity of identities.
We have seen various ways in which identification has been perspective over the years. Stereotypes have varied a lot over the past years. In reference to jobs we are experiencing many of what used to be seen as male exclusive jobs are now being rapidly populated by men. An example of this is that as of 2018 all women are allowed to enrol with any role within the military/ armed forces in the UK, including fighting on the front line.

The mass media is a force for change, the traditional view of woman being has wives or low-status workers is no longer in the picture. There are now successful female power icons, people to look up to for young women and children who might not have been there before. This allows us to slowly break created stereotypes.

Comparing two different types of media (adverts) we can see how drastically the way women are presented in the media has changed.

Old Advert
As you can see the whole advert is littered with derogatory language. It is illustrated that a woman's purpose is to be subservient to the man/ husband. Focusing on household tasks Kellogg's selling point is that the cereal gives her the energy to be able to serve the man and look after the house. It also claims to make the woman seem more attractive "The cuter she looks!" further putting pressure on women to look a certain way, this is largely debated at more recent times and this is how adverts could be made in earlier times.



New Advert
This slightly more modern advert (still quite old, just newer), has already changed its approach, being a big brand Kellogg's clearly realised they had to appear as socially acceptable and whereas other brands continued to publish adverts similar to the previous one. Kellogg's quickly understood that it was vital to the brands longevity. We see no reference to derogatory language and the advert is clear of any sexist remarks. There is a female included amidst the other children and it appears to be advertising to everyone, despite gender. The term "Boy!" isn't related to gender and is instead referring to excitement caused by having the product.



In conclusion, I think that  the theory can be applicable in some cases but society is also changing and adapting to new ideas and how things are nowadays.

Lucozade & Gatorade Comparison Essay

Both the Lucozade and Gatorade adverts have a similar concept. However, they portray them differently and we will be using Media Language elements to show the similarities and differences between the two adverts.

Colour has been used very effectively in both adverts. In the Lucozade advert we experience a cool blue and yellow colour scheme. Not only does the cool blue give off a scientific clean aurora, which further makes the reader trust the pseudo 'science' backing the advert. It also links into Brand Identity by using the signature colour of Lucozade. Colour in the Gatorade advert strongly contrasts what we see in the Lucozade advert, we experience an almost completely black and white colour scheme, the whole image is black and white and this connotes the seriousness of the image. Not just the athlete as serious and determined but the brand as well being represented as serious and professional.

Brand Identity use is very subtitle in the sense that the Lucozade bottle is all the brand identity that is needed, there is brand identity connoted in the use of colour as well. Yellow and blue is the key colour scheme for lucozade and therefore it strongly connotes an overall feel of brand identity. The slogan is also very focused on. Its large and one of the first things you see when looking at the advert. The phrase "In a different league" has many references and meanings, anyone who is familiar with Gareth Bale will have know that around the time of the advert Gareth Bale happened to be moving to a different football team (Real Madrid) and the tagline suggests that he is moving to a higher quality team. It also has connotations with just being above and beyond everyone else, this is lucozade's way of showing how they believe that not only is their sports drink the best on the market, it will aid you in performing to the best of your ability and as well better than all of your opposition.

The image used in the advert connotes a strong sense of passion. The passion comes from the image of footballer Gareth Bale, his direct gaze connotes a very serious tone, further emphasised by his chiselled and also has a element of direct address as he is making eye contact the advert feels very personal to you and this may cause it to be more impacting to the viewer. The layout is quite simplistic and gives off a modern and slightly scientific aurora. The white line frames the advert and helps reinforce the scientific effect. In the top right corner we see pseudo science data diagrams, these further give off the connotations of a scientific nature. The reason behind this is that the company wants you to believe that there is scientific backing behind the sports drink and people trust science and would be more inclined to purchase the bottle if they see any evidence of scientific backing.

The use of a sans-serif font makes the advert more impact, with this type of typography we associate a serious message. As apposed to serif font that along with the curled edged and flicks connotes a less serious nature. The boldness and rigid format is much more impacting and due to this the advert carries more weight in the sense that it becomes more trustworthy and reliable. The language used is arguably minimal and due to the format of a very uncluttered simplistic layout it leaves less room for language to be utilised. However, the language of 'scientifically proven' are labelled near the drink. Many people will see this and will be convinced that the drink is superior to other brand competitors, people trust science and when science is brought into the situation many people can be swayed to believing that the drink is much better for you than it actually may be. Although Lucozade makes this claim it does not specify what is actually scientifically proven. Lucozade, which has had issues before with making certain claims that turn out to be not true, they have ended up having to change what they have claimed. They have used that claim because technically they are not claiming anything and they are in full right to use small print to state what they are actually claiming but it immediately has a pseudo science effect on many consumers and can cause them to buy the product.

Gatorade

Media Language elements have been selected and combined to create a mix of science, aspiration and passion.

Colour
The colour of the advert differs a lot from the previous advert, as you can see the majority of the colour is greyscale/ black and white and this is for a specific effect. The colour connotes a strong sense of seriousness. This no-nonsense imagery is complemented by the colour scheme and its further representations of seriousness. The other colours included are only of the products located bottom right, the colour of the brand is also used in areas where they want to draw attention, such as the mention of "experts" & "PRO range"

Brand Identity
B

Image
T

Layout
T

Typography
T

Language
T

The myth of science is signified by:

• The use of high-contrast photography using very low light.
• The use of a cool blue background that matches one of the brand colours.
• The use of scientific-looking pseudo data diagrams on the right-hand side.
• The simple, uncluttered and formal layout, framed by the white key line.
• The explicit claim that something - it is not made clear what - is "scientifically proven".

Aspiration is connoted by:

• The use of language such as "In a different league" .
• The use of a celebrity role model with, as suggested by the data about him in the top right corner, a record of sporting achievement.
• Gareth Bale is posed and lit to emphasise his chisel;ed features and seriousness.

Passion is connoted by:

• The use of "Lucozade Yes" as a slogan.
• The seriousness and direct address of Gareth Bale's pose.

Brand identity is maintained through the use of the complimentary blue and orange colour used in the packaging design and the use (through very small) of the lucozade logo.

Advert Notes

Semiotic Analysis:

Curtis // Colour
Blades // Brand Identity
Is // Image
Likely // Language 
To // Typography
Lose // Layout 

A // Attention
I // Interest
D // Desire
A // Action

Lucozade

Media Language elements have been selected and combined to create a mix of science, aspiration and passion.

The myth of science is signified by:

• The use of high-contrast photography using very low light.
• The use of a cool blue background that matches one of the brand colours.
• The use of scientific-looking pseudo data diagrams on the right-hand side.
• The simple, uncluttered and formal layout, framed by the white key line.
• The explicit claim that something - it is not made clear what - is "scientifically proven".

Aspiration is connoted by:

• The use of language such as "In a different league" .
• The use of a celebrity role model with, as suggested by the data about him in the top right corner, a record of sporting achievement.
• Gareth Bale is posed and lit to emphasise his chiseled features and seriousness.

Passion is connoted by:

• The use of "Lucozade Yes" as a slogan.
• The seriousness and direct address of Gareth Bale's pose.

Brand identity is maintained through the use of the complimentary blue and orange colour used in the packaging design and the use (through very small) of the lucozade logo.

Shelter

Media language elements have been selected and combined to connote humanity, care and realism.

Humanity and care are signified as follows:

• The layout of each poster is dominated by a big close-up of a face to focus on the emotion - particularly anxiety - on each face.
• The main copy, such as "But where will we live?", relates to the individuals depicted, personalising the issues of poverty, debt and rogue landlords.
• The repetition of "We can help across the campaign connotes care.

Realism is connoted by:

• The simple layout.
• The use of plain language in a conversational tone.
• The use of a no-nonsense capitalised sans-serif font (No curly ends).
• The casting of unknown people rather than celebrities.
• The lack of an obvious persuasive technique.

The brand identity is maintained through the use of the shelter house colour (red) and the Shelter logo.

Old Spice

Media language elements have been selected and combined to signify surrealist humour and pleasure.

Surrealist humour is signified through:

• First, by juxtaposition - surreal combinations such as a man who is wearing a beach, a man having a volcano head, and the beach featuring both peril (an attack by Neptune capsizing a boat, a crab menacing a man buried in the sand) and pleasure.
• Second, by using a naturalistic, brightly lit style of media language to depict these events.
• Third, by used of a comically absurd claim in the copy.

Pleasure is signified through the bright and colourful media language and the use of signifiers of pleasure (a woman sunbathes, a fisherman catches a shark, someone discovers a treasure chest in the surf. The pleasure would be conventionally aspirational, as would the us of an attractive ex-American football player, but both are undercut by ludicrous nature of surrealism.

Brand identity is maintained by the use of the Old Spice logo which, in its decorative italic font, contrasts with the no-nonsense sans-serif capitals of the copy, which itself contrasts ironically with the absurd claim the copy makes.

Roland Barthes : Semiotics

Roland Gérard Barthes (RB), a French essayist and social and literary critic who wrote about semiotics and influenced many theories. Semiotics is involved with RB's work on the science of symbols. Semiotics, the studying of signs and their meanings. Involves denotations and connotations involved in seeing signs/ symbols.

RB's work is heavily linked to the terms signifier and signified, that comprise what makes up a sign. Signifier's: a symbol, sign, picture, sound or even word. These link with the signified, which is the meaning of the signifier.

RB's work also includes denotations & connotations. Denotations, are the literally and factual meanings of the signifier. Connotations are feelings and opinions based on the denotation. These together, end up creating Myths.

RB theorised Open & Closed texts. Open texts are open to interpretation and can have many different subjective meanings that are individual to the audience. Closed texts are those that are produced with a single, definitive meaning in mind, rendering any interpretation from the audience inaccurate.

RB theorised abut the five codes. The codes included: The symbolic code, the referential code, the semantic code, the hermeneutic/ enigma code and the proairetic/ action.

The symbolic code summarised is taking the meaning for things and finding deeper meanings for them. The referential code summarised is references to texts notions towards external knowledge (historical, factual ect...) The semantic code is the voice of the person. Any further meaning through connotations. The hermeneutic/ enigma code is mystery and slowly clues given to allow clarity or the narrative. The proairetic/ action is the hiding and revealing the story to increase suspension and engagement.

Dry Your Eyes - Media Video Project

Media Key Words

Naturalistic Mise-En-Scene

This consist of the setting, costume, lighting and actors would be derived from or closely imitating real life or nature.

Linear Narrative

A linear narrative is the story in chronological order.

Narrative Disruption

The narrative, which is the story told out of the chronological order

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In the video "Unfinished Symphony" by Massive Attack, why would you describe the miss-en-scene as naturalistic? Why would you then describe the mise-en-scene in Fatboy Slim's "Ya Mama" as less naturalistic?

• In unfinished symphony, the mise-en-scene, referring to the actors, setting, costume and lighting is completely normal, not abstract in any way. The band, unfinished symphony is a very serious band and this is then represented through the video. However, Ya Mama, who's artist is extremely carefree and seems to not care about what shenanigans go on in is music videos. We see his video as non-naturalistic, everything that happens during that video is not what would happen in real life. It is all staged and not natural

In the video "Ya Mama" by Fatboy Slim why would you describe the narrative as linear? Why would you not describe the narrative in "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack as linear?

• Ya Mama has a narrative, it is also told in chronological order. The story plays it in a natural order and the way it would normally. This is what is meant by the term "linear". As apposed to this we watch Unfinished Sympathy, and although it plays out naturally there is no real story being told through the scene. We are shown elements of things and aspects of different lives whilst not having a true linear narrative, or story being progressively told throughout the scene.

At what point in "Ya Mama" is there a narrative disruption? Explain the event and how this disrupts the initial equilibrium of the scene.

• During Ya Mama the narrative disruption occurs very early, at just 38 seconds into the video. We so far have experienced equilibrium as the Red-neck hillbillies ring about there business, painting ornaments, playing the guitar, watching junk food and watching Tom & Jerry. He listens to the music and the narrative is disrupted. They are sent into a crazy state. This does not stop throughout the whole video, affecting the whole of the market and also the price.