Text: The
Big Issue
Question:Genre
Essay: The
Big Issue’s website describes
the magazine as ‘A weekly
entertainment and current affairs magazine.’ However, this does not signify or highlight this particular
magazines ideology. All politics, current affairs magazine have different
ideologies. The magazine is factual, political and passionate about the topics and
issues that are featured in the magazine. The journalism featured always
centred around certain ideologies. For example, the ideology that everyone
deserves a change and as a socialist society we have a duty to help those who
are most vulnerable, such as the homelessness and poverty stricken. These ideologies
are not only seen in their journalism but also in their house style. The front
cover is plain and is not bombarded with text. The content is mainly black and
white text. Instead of the brands being advertised being centred around
consumerism they are centred around brands for better health, help and housing.
Each feature will somehow revolve around regional issues with content that
reinforces ideologies of certain communities. It is opinionated in its
selection of stories but doesn’t tell the reader what to think but encourages you what to think
about. The target audience is likely to align with opinion of the article yet
the articles encourage the audience to reflect on their own opinions and
debate. The feel of the magazine and the production of the low-quality paper
shows that this magazine focus ore on substance over style. The production is
cheap so that it can maximise money for vendors. This highlights its
authenticity as they are not trying to be something they are not. The
simplicity of the cover and content doesn’t hide what it is “A combination of hard edged campaigning journalism, entertainment
and general interest features.” An example of hard edged campaigning journalism is Exchanging
Roles , an article featured in one of the issues. The issue focuses on raising
awareness of the stigma surrounding homelessness and that helping others is
rewarding. This is linking into the many ideologies of the big issue that focus
on trying to eliminate these stigmas. An example of an entertainment feature is
“A letter to my
younger self”. This is an article
by Neil Gaimon which revolves around a celebration of past. The main point in
this article is to be aware of the world around you and everything will be okay.
To not shut yourself away. The ideology is that people in our liv are who make
a difference. A general interest feature is ‘Mane Street’. This feature
centres around a street in Manchester that holds six hairdressers. The main focus
of this articles is to highlight that all of the companies all work together to
support each other and there is no competition between them. This reinforces
the ideology of a sense of community and that together we are stronger. It also
champions small businesses but not at the expense of others.
Text:
Empire
Question:
Marketing and Promotion
Essay:
Empire markets and promotes its magazine in many ways to reach its several
groups of audiences. The type of marketing mediums that the magazine has
include a website, social media and the physical copy of the magazine. The
magazines website has several pages that each have a vast amount of content.
For example, News, Movies, Awards and Subscribe. The page Movies/ Reviews
provides readers with the ratings of the latest films, there are snippets of
the review but to see it all you would have to click onto it. There is also an
option to show all reviews that takes you to a page dedicated to them. The news
page is made up of up to date news on not only films but also actors, video games,
interviews, snippets, stills of new films and TV shows. It contains every news
update on the website. Due to being a magazine that focusses on film there are
several entertainment features such as Oscar predictions, which in turn keeps
the fans and readers invested in the magazine. “Empire is the world’s biggest movie magazine. Enjoying unprecedented
access, front first look film set exclusives to spending unparalleled time with
Hollywood’s leading lights.
Empire is the film magazine that gives you the first, fastest and greatest
insight in to everything cinematic.” It is a monthly model platform print, podcasts, social media
which provides the readers with monthly, weekly and daily moment by moment
access. Their brand influence spreads from the West London Office to the West
Coast of America. Exclusives are also a feature on the website which provide
the reader with unrivalled access to everything. If you want information on Hollywood
Empire is the place to go. There are on site interviews with journalism
straight from set. Readers can vote online for the Empire Awards. Also, the
website includes a link to which will direct reader to the website ‘ShotDeadinthehead’which specialises in film merchandise. The tablet version of the
magazine is different to the physical copy and the website. Before reaching any
content, the reader s provided with an interactive cover, instructions on how
to use the tablet version and has a similar layout to a physical copy. On the
contents page, it is similar to the physical copy however you can click onto a
headline and you will be directed straight onto that page instead of searching
for the correct page. It is a cross media platform that still features advertisements.
There is a subscription page and several icons that allow for dissemination to
social media sites. It also features a podcast page in which you can gain
access to all the Empire podcasts. The tablet allows for more content. For example,
with reviews for films, you can view the trailers. The tablet is easily
accessible and can attract more people, and is much easier to handle. However,
less money will be spent on the magazines and there is a only a finite amount
of space on certain devices. The tablet will however fulfil the reader’s aesthetic
sensations. Social media is also used by the magazine. However, on their
Twitter they don’t interact with
people, this is so they can maintain their brand identity. They post much like
other magazines which is around one tweet per hour. You cannot read full tweets
unless you click onto the link in the tweet. The tweet only contains a link and
a still that links to the topic of the article. Their Facebook is quite similar
in the ways that they don’t interact with the
public. All their posts are links to their websites. With the new feature on
Facebook the magazine often have events such as ‘Empire live’ and live stream
podcasts.
Text:Empire
Question:Audience
Appeals
Essay: Everything that is on the cover of Empire magazine is film related. The
colour scheme automatically hints at it being targeted to a male audience. This
is through the use of dark blues, and reds. The film featured on the front is
also stereotypically associated with male audiences. For example, Sci-Fi,
fantasy and superhero. The age of the reader would most likely be from the age
of 20 to 40. The reason for this is because the films referend and discusses
will have a personal connection, especially those who are in a specific era.
Such as the time n which trainspotting was released. Enthusiastic fans who were
around when that film was released will be satisfied with the collector’s
additions of Empire promoting T2 Trainspotting. When considering a certain type
of audience there are several media models that can help categorise the audience.
The first being the 4C’s model. One of the
categories that Empire audiences fit into is The Explorer. The Empire media
pack gives and audience profile of a man named rob, he would also fit into the
explorer category. Rob would be the first in his social group to buy an iPad.
He is a sponge for new information and is always up for trying new products. He
is actively online and is culturally aware. Empire meets up to The Explorer’s needs in several ways. With there not only being a physical copy
but also a digital version. Which in turn will benefit the Explorer (Rob) as he
can use the new technology to access this. Empire magazine is jam packed with
new information about directors, actors and films in general. Meaning that the
explorer can always be provided with new and exclusive information. Another category
is The succeder, these tend to have a disposable income, they are tech savvy
and most likely to be living and working in London. The amount of information
that is available in Empire will allow them to better themselves in knowledge
of film. The consumption of this type of media will be something that will help
him relax, it would be different from work. Considering the Maslow Hierarchy of
needs there are several that stand out for the Empire audience. For example,
the need for aesthetic sensations. The magazine itself is image heavy, made up
of stills photoshoots and head shots. The Empire magazine has high production
value leading to it always have high quality, glossy paper. The need for
prominence is also one that would be associated with Rob the Empire reader.
This is because he will know a lot more facts about film perhaps than his
peers. Rob would most likely be a technophile, attracting Rob to the magazine
as Empire now harbours a QR code in which you can scan to gain more content.
The target audience would be male dominated due to most interviews and features
being with actors and more focussed on career than appearance. The reviews use
play on words, ouns and intertextuality, hinting that the reader would have a
sense of humour. For example, a still of La La Land with Emma Stone and Ryan
Gosling dancing and the caption reads ‘Who doesn’t enjoy pretending
to be a plane? ‘Second audiences would be classed as students aspiring to study
media or film around the ages of 18 to 20.
