Candidate 6099 - Brief #3: Magazine and Online

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief (approx 400 words)

Product 1:

I plan to use language to construct intertextuality: for the climate change edition my headline will be ‘I am Cosmic’, a subversion of Greta Thunberg’s documentary, ‘I am Greta’ to criticise the whitewashing of the climate change movement - an interest of my target audience. This intertextual reference will suit the cultural competency of a 16-25, socially-conscious audience.

From my research into the industry I found that a convention of current affairs magazines was genre hybridity: The Week sometimes focuses on culture and arts, and I plan to replicate this by having a section of my contents page dedicated to ‘Culture’. However, I plan to subvert industry conventions and contribute to the fluid nature of genre (Neale) by specifically focusing on young activists. This may engage my target audience who will be able to ‘see themselves’.

I plan to engage my audience demographic: upmarket, socially-conscious 16-25 yo by publishing relevant content such as ‘How to sell ethically on Depop’. From my micro-research, middle class people tend to have a ‘citizen of the world’ identity and I intend to cater to this by publishing international news e.g the #Endsars protests in Nigeria. Since my target demographic is socially conscious I also plan to use jargon e.g ‘intersectional feminism’ to position the audience to view ‘FRANK’ as an intellectual, informative source.

I intend to construct representations of young people as bold change-makers using strong codes of gestures. Acknowledging Gilroy’s postcolonial melancholia theory, I will appropriate stereotypical representations of black people as lawless by describing the activist as a ‘rebel’ but, as Hall suggested, by commandeering negative stereotypes I aims to devalue them, hence why I’ll label the activist ‘rebel with a cause’, an intertextual reference to the 1950s ‘Rebel Without a Cause’.

Product 2:

A convention of current affairs magazines is a creative aesthetic - note ‘The Spectator’ and ‘The Week’ which uses cartoon-like graphics. I plan to repeat this with photoshopped edits as inspired by Dazed Magazine. This will appeal to my 16-25yo demographic who, from my primary research, prioritise the appearance of a magazine. I will also fulfil other language conventions e.g a menu bar, a daily briefing and asking audiences to sign up to the newsletter.

From my industry research I understand there’s a decline in magazine print sales so brands like ‘The Week’ are increasingly relying on online subscriptions to generate revenue. Therefore, I plan to have ‘Subscribe now’ call-to-action buttons to fit into this economic, industrial context. I will also offer a free trial as a gift, thus introducing my audience to the benefit of subscriptions.

According to Hooks, the legacy of black female cultural subordination is their absence from media, including current affairs magazines, but I plan to challenge this tradition by foregrounding BAME women and representing this social group as powerful leaders through the narratives I construct e.g an Asian climate activist who has led national protests. This will appeal to my target demographic who, from my research, are passionate about diversity and inclusion.

How do you intend to link your media product to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production (approx 100 words)

To create digital convergence I shall establish a coherent brand identity through; repeating the ‘FRANK’ logo on both of my front cover’s masthead, the contents page and on the online website. I will use the ‘FRANK’ typography in print editions and for my website’s headings and subheadings. I will also embed left-leaning ideologies in both products by focusing on feminism, black lives matter and climate change thus replicating the ideological selection bias seen in publications like Teen Vogue.

To further create digital convergence I intend to include a call-to-action in my contents pages e.g asking audiences to tweet their ‘unpopular opinions’ then I will direct my audience to the website to see if their tweet was published: this demonstrates the audience-producer convergence which Jenkins theorised. Similarly, on my website I will include a flip book version of my print magazine to create brand unity.

I will also include an ‘easter egg': in the masthead of my online edition my audience can click on the logo, 'FRANK', and a lightbox will appear saying that my audience has won a free poster. This will particularly appeal to my 16-25-year-old demographic who has grown up on the internet and its free services and therefore may find free content appealing.