Generic Research : Website Research 3

Generic Research : Website Research 2

Generic Research: Websites research 1

Cross Media Convergence 

Cross media convergence between the magazine The Spectator's print and online website can be seen through a consistent colour palette, such as the red for the Masthead, cohesive typography style, which you can is consistent between print version and the online article and through similar themes or images, which in this example case are identical. They've decided to use the same image as they have on the print version to create brand identity and similarity for their cross media convergence.

                             Print version                                                      Online website

I purchased the 2nd of May 'The Spectator' print magazine and this is is what I found similar and intertextuality in reference to Boris Johnson and other famous politicians that are shown to be cutting their way through the thick dense Corona virus Jungle. There is so much that can be said regarding the colour palette, such as the green jungle and green slime on the trees is meant to replicate the effect that a virus has on our bodies but also the virus is presented red and green (which after some researching, is accurate). The snake on the far right is meant to represent the evil and bad that corona virus has brought, and shows the uncertainty Boris has in himself by his worried facial expression. The whole front cover is riddled with intertextuality but the main conclusion to be drawn is that although The Spectator is more conservative, it shows that even our Prime Minister is finding it difficult to navigate through this difficult uncertain times.

different between the print and online. The online article used the same front cover image which has a lot of

     In regard to cross media convergence however, it's interesting they used the same image for their podcasts, the intertextuality and messages encoded in it are so significant to The Spectator that they felt they had to put it on their online website also. 

Interesting Cross Media Convergence Features

I really liked their idea of using a Podcast instead of just publishing the full article. Moreover, in the right hand side of the printed article, there's a reference and link to the online pod cast (diagram 1). This is a clear example of cross media convergence as they are encouraging their readers to interact with all the platforms they have to offer.

Diagram 2

Diagram 1

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

I was not able to find any Easter Eggs but Diagram 2 and 3 are clear examples of  The Spectator using hyperlinks for digital convergence for their social media platforms and encouraging users to access all of the platforms they share content on and to help them stay up to date with what current technology has to offer and to connect with their target audience.

• Diagram 4 was interesting because next to their podcast they linked other apps you could access their content on, they're advertising other apps whilst advertising themselves.

At the bottom of every page of the printed magazine, there is a link to their website which is a reminder for the readers to head over to their website.

• Diagram 3 shows they have a comment section to allow their audience to interact with the content they release which shows they have a clear understanding (and matches my previous research on my target demographic) of what readers today want. Print magazine doesn't allow readers to interact with the content as much as online would. 

Brand identity

• Consistent formal mode of address in the print article and the online podcast and consistent content, such as right winged conservative and with a serious tone that is both informative and educational. Such as, the podcast was focused and centered around very serious topics concerning Covid-19 and politics, how other countries such as Russia is dealing with the lock down.
• Consistent aesthetics, as mentioned before cohesive typography style (sans serif) and colour palette, red for the masthead and other features such as small sub headings to make them more accentuated and arrows or symbols. 
• The same images are used for the print articles as well as the online articles and I looked over other articles online that were also in the print version and they had extra images included relevant to the topic but unlike the mini version of 'The Way Out' article underneath the podcast (in the example above) it was actually the full length detailed article. They both also had mini cartoons illustrating the content in the article but the online version had fewer however, the specific style of those cartoons are an important part to their brand identity.
• In the print version the articles were written in columns whereas the online version was in a single column, the interesting feature they included was you could adjust the size and spacing of the words to help people read it better and how they find it most comfortable which is a unique selling point that the online version provides which the print could not. However, that just comes along with access to technology and does not affect the overall brand identity.

Values, attitudes and beliefs

• The intertextuality references they use in their illustrations and images for the articles and online podcasts etc. anchor their right leaning conservative views but also liberal leanings.
• I think the previous bullet point is also reflected in the nature of how they write however, when I originally looked at the front cover illustrations for The Spectator I thought they would be more left leaning because the caricatures of famous conservative politicians appeared to be insulting. In actual fact, that is just their style and is meant to be humorous and probably attract readers to purchase the front covers.
• Fun Fact! Boris Johnson was once an editor of The Spectator

Applicable Theorists 

R Barthes Semiology - The Spectator encodes their images and illustrations with plenty of  intertextuality and anchors and encapsulates their ideologies and conventions of the magazine (i.e. their values, attitudes and beliefs)

Gauntlett Theory of Identity - The audience is not passive and will not read or interact with a piece of media they do not agree with. Only readers who are right leaning conservatives are likely to read The Spectator

Shirky End of Audience Theory - He also believes that audiences are no longer passive and feel a need to interact with the media and content being presented to them. This likely contributes greatly to the decrease of sales in print magazines as readers want a more interactive experience which they can receive online on websites for the magazines that they can leave comments on.

Generic research: Textual Analysis 3

Please click on the image to make fullscreen

I chose this front cover for my third textual analysis as I really loved the layout of it and I'd

like to take inspiration from it for my mental health front cover.

Revision of Pitch

Things I will change:

• I'm going to really focus on all of these but add more of a focus to costume and make up and the way the models stance and appearance anchors the message I am trying to portray.
• The magazine covers themselves can't be 'informative' but I will try to make them appealing and use puns and superlatives and other language techniques to engage the audience.
• I will also include pugs which are things like bar codes and references to articles available in the magazine.
• I will still make sure to include a chance to win a prize and make it very apparent to the readers as it will be on the front cover
• I will use a big bold and colourful magazine name to stand out, a common colour used is red
• I will incorporate mis-en-scene in both, such as a business skyscraper building in the background of the famous business woman
• I won't present a strong political leaning as it's not relevant to my 2 chosen topics
• For my website I will still do mini videos of behind the scenes footage of my models getting ready but also maybe how I created the ensembles 
• From my initial questionnaire group feedback  I have decided to have a non famous model for the mental health front page because it will help make them more approachable and relatable :

Audience Research Summation

From my research and focus groups I have gathered quite a few things about my target demographic's media consumption:

• Such as the majority of my focus group used Instagram the most, which shows it's one of the most popular media platforms for my target demographic to use, shortly followed by Snapchat
• They also do not read or buy magazines often, this is mainly do to them being able to purchase them online but also read articles for free which is far more convenient.
• My target demographic also cares about the environment a lot and believes it is one of the biggest problems facing humanity. This could show that environment topics may be more popular but also not necessarily, though they may recognise it as a significant issue, from my questionnaire they are just as interested in my 2 chosen topics.
•  What I found when trying to purchase some current affairs magazines was how difficult they were to track down, I went to three stores and each had very few selection of current affairs magazines, they were far more stocked in beauty and editorial magazines. This could be a big contributing factor that comes into play as to why my target demographic does not purchase magazines often or at all. Moreover, this makes me more inclined to believe you have to order the large majority online and subscribe to them, this is a bad strategy as consumers aren't very likely to purchase them for a year or months in advance as it's expensive but also they do not know if they like the magazine. It would be far better to have them stocked in shops people can access such as supermarkets. 
• Their prices were also shocking, in my focus group the most given answer for the price they'd be happy to pay was between £1.90-2.90 whilst the magazines I purchased were far more, except for one.
• Private Eye - £2.00 (the cheapest)
• NewStatesman - £4.75
• The Spectator - £4.95 (the most expensive)
• Unfortunately, the difference in price affected the quality of the magazine, the Private Eye had far fewer colourful graphics and photographs and presented itself more like a broadsheet newspaper. Where as NewStatesman (a British political and cultural magazine published in London) and The Spectator were slightly more high quality, had lengthy articles but also plenty of high quality photographs to support the text.
• Therefore, for my magazine I think I will have it in a £3.00 range so it's not as expensive but still enough to have good quality photographs and layout
• I also noticed the other editorial magazines and fashion and ones that appeared like tabloids were far more eye grabbing, I will try to make my magazine as colourful and eye catching as possible
• My chosen focus group put their favourite movies but I also questioned them if they knew of other movies and they did, which means I can use a large range for my use of intertextuality.
• The majority of my focus group receive their news from other social media platforms but also the actual news channels like BBC, and therefore this could also be a reason for the low consumption of print magazines, there is such a wide range of platforms for consumers to receive information from, it is growing less likely for people to buy a weekly magazine as the news is changing every day and the internet publishes stories much faster. Which is why I think my topics are more likely to be purchased because they are a current news affair but it won't be out of date within a week. Mental health and business are topics that are always trending.

Generic Research Summation

Common codes and conventions - magazine covers

• Through the my research for my generic analysis 1,2 and 3 and previous research for mood boards and just generally looking over and analysing different front covers and websites I picked out common codes and conventions that I will look into using for my magazine.
• A common theme between magazine covers was they all possessed the magazine's name using bold distinctive with cohesive and consistent colour palettes and typography between the magazine covers and their media platforms such as their website. This was to create a strong sense of brand identity and to help with cross media convergence.
• They also had very eye catching headlines and subheadings that would intrigue the reader to read further, a common pattern was the use of puns, play on words or intertextuality which only either a  politically or culturally conscious reader would be able to interrupt. Which implies most current affairs magazines target an intellectual demographic. 
• A common theme was high quality graphics and pictures, one of my favourites was The Big Issue because the photographs of the real people usually had fun illustrations surrounding the image and anchoring the message the magazine was trying to place across. Sometimes there are illustrations drawn of different people such as politicians in a satirical manner to represent the magazine's political stance and to attract their target demographic that is of the same political leaning.
• Another common convention which may seem very minuscule but actually adds to the realistic touch of a real magazine are the pugs, things such as bar codes that add to the realistic 
• Use of body language of the models to anchor the surrounding text or article mentions. 
• How the use of make up (even something as simple as a lack of make up) and costume and hair styles all play a big part in anchoring key messages also. 
• More specifically, for my business woman front cover I will create a more serious tone through not dressing them in provocative attire and connote an assertive tone through their stance and make up.
• Common codes and conventions for websites:
• A menu bar that links all the other key articles and topics
• A bold title that is consistent in typography and colour palette as to the physical magazine covers. More often than not in sans-serif font
• A bold box that invites you to subscribe to their newsletter
• Links to other special articles that the readers might be interested in
• Top story section

Applying Theory

 R Barthes Semiology/semiotics - different codes and conventions will symbolise and connote and denote different hidden meanings. Semiotics are used in media texts, and more topic specific, magazines, to attract audiences and hook them into buying and reading the rest of the magazine.

 There are multiple ways you can use semiotics, such as through the use of different colour palettes, for example, things to do with horror usually contain red and black. Orange can be typically used around Halloween whilst green and red can also be used for Christmas festivities. 

Moreover, even things such as cultural codes, when a media text, i.e. in this case magazine cover, uses codes and conventions that only people from specific cultures or ages will understand. This is very important when trying to fully address your specific target demographic.

Enigma codes are used to attract and hold the attention of the reader by creating mystery and puzzle, intriguing the reader to delve deeper in the rest of the magazine.

Stuart Hall's Representation Theory - there are many negative stereotypes in media texts, Stuart Hall believes this occurs when there are inequalities in power or when the source that created the stereotypes does not actually have any real life experience with people from those groups, usually minority groups. In my magazine, I am hoping to challenge those negative stereotypes, I do not want my front covers to sexualise women and also portray a positive interpretation of strong role models that have mental health but are coping with them as in society they can often be labelled negatively.

Stuart Hall's Reception Theory - every audience will respond uniquely to a piece of media text because everyone interrupts certain codes and conventions differently based on their age, gender, social class etc. there are 3 different interpretations: preferred, negotiated and oppositional.  My aim is for the preferred readings to stem from my target demographic because they will have successfully understood the references and also agree with my magazine's opinion.