Oh Comely is an independent magazine published by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher which publishes only one other title.
New technology allows companies to interact with their audience this is very important to smaller companies as they have an easy, free way to advise their product which is useful as they may not have the funds to have a big marketing campaign.
Niche audience – Having a niche audience means they can tailor their magazine to a certain target group meaning they can make the magazine more enjoyable and will get more repeat customers.
About 25,000 people read it, average age of readers are 27
The first issue was published in 2010
Can be linked to Stuart Hall’s representation theory
The Oh magazine is published by Iceberg Press which is an independent media company, this means they will fend for themselves and don’t need other companies to help them with publishing, they wan to stand alone
Main theme of Oh is the empowerment of women and feminism
Oh is about new ways of looking inside ourselves and out at the world. A mindfulness magazine with a fresh perspective – wheremindfulness is nothing more of less magical than the good stuff we knit into our days, in the most ordinary ways. You’ll find ample time to reflect and feel, to pause, question and notice; gentler ways to be and do, to live and play. We’re an arms-wide-open mag – inclusive, down-to-earth, and heart-led. We believe that life’s better when we all help each other out, live a kinder life, and just go a hell of a lot easier on ourselves in the process. That’s why you won’t find long lists of stuff to do, buy and ‘be’ in oh – instead, you’ll find deliciously long and transporting reads and deeply human first person stories that celebrate the humble, the frugal and the plentiful; the magic in the mundane, and the unsung beauty of the unnoticed.
If you’re new to Oh, we’re a bi-monthly published in print and digitally, made in London by a small indie publishing house started by three friends.
With beautiful photography and illustration at its heart, oh is a place to meet new people, hear their stories and leave you looking at life with a little, welcome fresh perspective.
our story
Five years ago, three friends and colleagues were working for one of the biggest publishing companies. But we believed there was a better way to create and publish magazines – where the readers were as important as the advertisers, where the paper quality and design were valued and where the words and pictures weren’t always trying to sell stuff, didn’t portray perfection, didn’t tell people what to do and made them feel better, not worse.
So we gave up our jobs, ploughed in our savings and borrowed the rest to set up our own publishing company – Iceberg Press – and buy The Simple Things, followed by Oh Comely two years later. Then, in 2018, we launched Pics & Ink to sell other publishers’ independent, beautiful and useful magazines too. It’s been hard work but the smell of every fresh-printed issue in our hands is a note to self to savour the good times.
This magazine is representative of modern femenist critical thinking which celebrates individuality and empowerment.
In contrast to Men’s Health magazine, Oh Comely is an independent magazine published by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher which publishes only one other title. This suggests that the information or messages in the magazine are true and relevant rather than a way to ‘buy’ the reader for profit.
You can find oh in some Sainsbury’s
Oh is about new ways of looking inside ourselves and out at the world. A mindfulness magazine with a fresh perspective
Alternative Institutional Structure –
Oh magazine is published by the independent publisher, Iceberg Press, a London based publisher that only owns one other title.
A niche audience is a subgroup of a company’s main targeted audience. This specific audience is a selective group of people who have specific wants, needs and interests. Small but mighty, niche audiences hold great value for brands and their success. Niche audiences are so valuable because they are often more engaged, active and responsive users. As well, due to their specific likes/dislikes this makes it very easy for marketers to target content to them.
As Iceberg Press is an independant media company, niche audiences can be targetted specifically.
Unlike other corporations or conglomerates, Iceberg is relatively small allowing the overall structure of the institution to be different. This will allow for the audience to be more directly targetted, but also allows the company to know and improve on judgements from their audience.
Stuart Hall – Theory Of Preferred Reading/ Reception Theory/ Encode & Decode – There are three hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded: either with a preferred, negotiated or oppositional reading.
Halls theory can be applied to Oh magazine as it allows a different way of interpreting the text, either agreeing or disagreeing with the ideologies it presents.
bell hooks drew attention to how feminism privileges white women’s struggles, while advocating for a more holistic way of understanding oppression.
Where the readers were as important as the advertisers, where the paper quality and design were valued and where the words and pictures weren’t always trying to sell stuff, didn’t portray perfection, didn’t tell people what to do and made them feel better, not worse.
The first issue of Oh Comely was published in 2010 and co-edited by Des Tan and Liz Bennett, with Rosanna Durham and Dani Lurie as art and music editors. Collectively the four worked as Adeline Media. Oh Comely publishes craft, DIY, creative non-fiction, photography and illustration, as well as reader submissions.
Oh Comely is also a magazine about people. What makes it different to the rest? It makes people feel better about themselves. It inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbours and explore new things, rather than gossip, buy stuff or lose weight.
Oh Comely is also a magazine about people and what makes it different to the rest? It makes people feel better about themselves as it try to inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbors and explore new things, rather than gossip, buy stuff or lose weight.So it is trying to bring a more positive outlook to the media magazine industry.
OH Comely now OH is part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements of the early twenty first century which re brand consumerism as an ethical movement. Its representation of femininity reflects an aspect of the feminist movement which celebrates authenticity and empowerment
OH is an independent magazine published by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher which publishes only one other title.
Which shows how developments in new technology mean that small companies can also use the internet to communicate and target audiences. So with this they can increase the likely hood of consumers purchasing there products as it would be the focus market instead of a whole bunch on random people
Presenting new strategies for institutional development and creative working practice. As well as suggesting ways for keeping print popular and relevant – Iceberg’s branding includes a commitment to print over other media forms, so a newspaper for example
bi-monthly published in print and digitally,
started by three friends.
You can find oh in some Salisbury’s and Wait rose, most WH Smiths and many small newsagents, indie mag shops and some cafes, museums and galleries.
Oh Comely is part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements of the early twenty first century which rebrand consumerism as an ethical movement. It’s representation of femininity reflects an aspect of the feminist movement which celebrates authenticity and empowerment. It is able to create new media representations.
In contrast to Men’s Health magazine, Oh Comely is an independent magazine published by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher.
There is an absence of men as part of the representation of masculinity in the Oh magazine. This means that the magazine is more aimed towards female consumers as there is an absense of themes of masculinity and more focused towards femininity. They construct this representation of femininity by focusing on creativity, quirkiness and influential women plus it supports the feminist movement.
When considering media, power and control you should consider Chomsky’s 5 filters, such as Ownership and Flak, which is when larger corporations with more power restrict smaller companies abilities to publish. The film bombshell clearly shows control in the media, with Roger Ailes having power over all of his employees (females especially) as he is top of a huge media outlet Fox News and therefore filters the information being fed to the public. Roger Ailes was pro-trump, however the power of Murdoch (Anti-trump) owned Fox News and the majority of news outlets, so therefore also had influence the media as anti-trump
Rupert Murdoch is so succesful that his decision to support labour, impacted the new labour party election in 1997. Becuase of his ownership of The sun, the times and news of the world. These newspapers promoted the labour goverment and leader Tony Blair. The police accepted briebs from Murdochs company to gain data from them, however nothing was ever done about it. This is an example of Murdoch’s power and the influence his media companies can have on society.
hesmondhalgh’s theory talks about theories of the self and identity in relation to aspirational ambitions and the realities of the creative economy. He critically analyses the relationship between media work and the media industry. How it is romanticised vs the reality of the industry. academics
TO WHAT EXTENT DOES AN ANALYSIS OF THE CLOSE STUDY PRODUCTS GHOST TOWN AND LETTER TO THE FREE SUPPORT THIS VIEW?
POSSIBLE ESSAY STRUCTURE
(note don’t forget to support all of your ideas with details, examples and illustrations from the 2 CSP’s)
What is the link between society and media (ie McDougall/ Fenton)
How best to link 2 music videos and society? Postcolonialism
Postcolonial theory – Gilroy & WEB du Bois (double consciousness, hybridisation)
Postcolonialism is a way of understanding ‘the other’ Lacan – mirror theory / Edward Said Orientialism
How can music videos change ideas? Culture as a site of struggle – Althusser ISA / Gramsci Hegemony
Conclusion
Lecan: Mirror Theory
seeing yourself in the other
we use “the other” as a way of exploring ourselves
for example, if you were black in the 1970s, you would have no appearance of identity due to a lack of representation
Edward Said and The “Orient”
The orient could not represent itself
media is the lens at which identity is formed
Hegemonic Struggle (Althusser)
ideological state apparatus (ISAs) used to describe the ideologies tht are displayed to children through media that forms an identity
interpolation – all ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, through the functioning of the category of the subject
a ‘tug of war’ – forced to look and think but you can reject ideology to create a struggle within society
ghost town was a song by the Specials, which was written as a commentary about inner-city violence, mainly inner-city postcolonial violence. Letter to the free, by Common, also discusses racial justice, with the main discussion being the unjust incarceration of black people. Ghost town and letter to the free therefore somewhat support the view that media should be challenged. Furthermore, this is seen in Letter to the Free where
