I will title my magazine “Gamerz Alliance’ as I want to make it short and catchy. I thought this would appeal to my target audience of males between 28-30 and new affluent workers, who have a keen interest in gaming and the world of professional gaming industry. I am also aiming to appeal those with an interested in the art and graphics behind gaming and what goes into creating games, by using high quality graphics and a simplistic artist design.

When planning my approach to my magazine and was researching style models I found that the most compelling magazines included a main character in the centre of the magazine. I subsequently decided I will use a games character designed in fuse as the dominate signifier to represent the theme of my games magazine and create to include a high quality character which appeals to audiences interested in graphics and character designs. I have chosen to size my magazine at a width 11cm and a height of 17cm, I decided this as it would fit well into someones bag and would be a big enough size to read comfortably. For my contents page I want to make this clear and simple for readers to be able to refer to it quickly and am going to create a simple clean professional design which fits with the and Target audience of my magazine. When coming up with the design and target market I research popular gaming magazines on market and was inspired by the use of Signifiers in the magazines to make it clear what its about and use of bold headlines.My double page spread will also follow the theme of being sleek and professional and will be an artist feature. Inspired by Magazine titled ‘Art of gaming” I will create a double page spread which explain the process and artist goes through to design her characters. I will include image of her process and her creating her work.

I will also create 3 adverts, one of which will be for a new gamer realise using bold text looking as if it is on fire on a plain background with the logos of the game company include. this will make the advert striking much like the one I was inspired by for ‘doom’ released in 1994 which uses a bold title as anchorage to get readers attention. I will also do this when advertising a gamers tournament using typography skills to create bold interesting titles using graphic design elements like seen in published magazines, I plan to use Glitch text going with the them of computers and gamers.

MEDIA LANGUAGE & MEDIA REPRESENTATION

Media Language

• The advert was produced and released in 1967. This was seen as a period of change in the UK in regards to the changing attitudes towards the role of women and men in society. 
• The equal pay act was introduced in 1970,
• Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967,
• This period is known as the ‘swinging 60s’- where drugs and sex were at their peak

• Hypermasculinity in advertisinG
• Hypermasculinity is defined as: psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality.
• With Advertising in the 1950s-1980s often featuring a hypermasculine representation of men – and some representations in the media today still continue this.
• Historical, social and cultural contexts 
• an historical artefact from 1967,
• 1967 can be seen as a period of slow transformation in western cultures with changing attitudes to the role of women – and men (something that the advert can be seen to negotiate.)
• This was Produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality.
• The advertising techniques of fifty years ago are fundamentally similar to today – if more explicit.
• COMPARISON TO MENS HEALTH:
• Men’s Health magazine represents a notable social and cultural shift in expectations of contemporary masculinity.
• The study of Men’s Health can be linked to social and cultural contexts through reference to body image and changes in what society deems acceptable and unacceptable representations.
• Similarly, comparisons with Maybelline campaign and Oh! magazine would be useful in exploring a range of different theoretical ideas and approaches: feminist critical thinking, postcolonialism, postmodernism.
• how is costume, make-up and placement of models constructed to show male dominance?
• Costume & makeup:
• Both the male and female models are wearing clothing suited for camping or an adventure.
• The women are wearing short sleeved shirts that are tied up and extremely short skirts.
• The fact that their clothes are really revealing depicts how women were sexualised in these times and perceived as objects. The women’s makeup is also quite heavy and very smoky, creating a seductive nature to the advert and reinforcing the male gaze.
• Setting:
• The setting has been created to be harmonious with the costume choices of the advert.
• The advert seems to be set in a jungle.
• This represents Britain’s colonial values and the British Empire that was slowly starting to fall apart at the time of the release of this advert.
• Perhaps the producers chose to set it here to reassure the public that Britain is still in power of many other countries when it really wasn’t.
• Furthermore, the jungle is a dangerous place that requires a tough male character. This reinforces the extreme heterosexuality of the advert.
• Props:
• The main prop in the advert is probably the gun that the male model is proudly holding.
• This creates a traditional view of men where they are expected to be strong, brave and protective.
• The gun makes him appear powerful which depicts men as the dominant ones in society.
• However, it can also be depicted as a phallic symbol that informs the male target audience that the score hair cream will give them women and pleasure. 
• There is also a pedestal that the women are carrying the male on. This alludes to the fact that men are above women n society and should therefore be served by women.
• Actors
• The most obvious point is that there are 5 women in the advert while there is only one male. This would attract a male audience to the Score hair cream as they are made to believe that having good hair will make them attractive to women- and that is what they want. Three of the females are completely focused on the male character- either staring at him, desperately trying to touch him or admiring him. The model on the left is the only one not looking at him, instead she is staring directly at the camera. This creates eye contact with the audience and suggests to them that using the Score hair cream meas ‘this could be you’ in this current situation. 
• It is also important to note that all of the models seem to be British and are all white. This is probably due to the fact that racism was still around around the time of this advert. Furthermore, the male model has muscular, hairy arms which further creates an extremely heterosexual advert.
• Lighting:
• Bright lighting is used, probably to convey the hot weather and scorching sun of the jungle. 

James Curran and Seaton looked at power and media industries and how conglomerates (a large company which consists of smaller companies) being driven by money and power. The ownership and control over small companies means they have power in multiple industries. The focus on profit means conglomerates will rarely take risks on projects and instead focus on making profit increasing media products. Therefore, the is limited variety of content. A quote by Curran and Seaton to avoid this is ‘Media policy should seek[…] to create the conditions of greatest possible competition, thus enabling consumers to exercise sovereign control. This produces media that people want, a wide range of choice, and media independence from government’ To simplify Curran and setons power and media theory is that that media producers have different rules. For example, if the media producer is paid for by the government it must remain unbiased Liberal Free press, therefore it should be free from interference and political control, as they should be neutral and unbiased.

Another relevant theory is Gramsci’s theory of hegemony. This is linked with the idea of capitalist state and claims that the state rules and has power through force and consent, with society being a realm of force into a dominant ideology. Hegemony refers to the idea that nothing is fixed and things such as culture and identity power can be changed and the media how the power to do so, much like Curran and Seaton who said the large media companies (driven by money) have power in multiple industries.

The I newspaper was introduced in October 2010 and was originally a sister paper to The Independent a considered Liberal newspaper. It was later bought by for £49.6 million by the daily mail and the general trust a newspaper considered to be less liberal with right wing political views. Regardless of their ownership The ‘I’ still has editorial independence meaning the daily mail and general trust don’t influence the contact published by the newspaper with the stories often being presented more factual are what is considered hard news. The conglomerated of the daily mail and the general trust manages a multinational portfolio of companies, giving them horizontal integration (process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain) with total revenues of almost £2 billion. The Daily mail was introduced much earlier beginning production in Created on May 4 1896. The magazine is owned by Viscount Rothermere & Family, with lord Rothermere Jonathan Harmsworth being chairman of various newspapers including the daily mail and the general trust (which have ownership of the I newspaper) and has accumulated a net worth of 1.9 billion dollars (august 2017).

A key component to the I newspapers is how it positions itself neutral, this is largely to do with it target audience of fast pace, comminutors of any age and all political views meaning a wide range of readers. The ‘I’ has a readership reach of 221,083, and is a free newspaper, this means that they do not rely on costumers buying their product but instead on advisers to create a profit and keep up production, meaning they are not aiming to reach a niche audience such as right wing positioned audiences allowing the newspaper to include their own views as well as remaining more neutral and giving information for audiences to decode and form opinions on themselves. An example of a story published by the newspaper was headlined ‘reasons to vote Trump’ written by Kate Maltby who lived in the USA in 2009, she talks about various reasons to support trump exposing the positives of his presidency, this is unusual for a left wing newspaper which tend to portray Trump in a negative light. The magazine however also published an article headlining ‘Why Donald Trump falsely declaring victory and claiming voter fraud in his speech has been so widely condemned’ reflecting more negative view on Trump. I think this is a positive thing as explained by Stuarts Halls theory of preferred reading where individuals are not only active in the process of interpretation and the construction of meaning, but they are also able to dismiss and reject dominant messages. The inclusion of article coming from a variety of different political stand points allows audiences to create their own opinions much like a quote from Curran and Seaton “Media policy should seek[…] to create the conditions of greatest possible competition, thus enabling consumers to exercise sovereign control”.

The Daily mail however has a more specific target audience of lower-middle class women are reach a much wider audience of 2.2million. Due to it large readership the newspaper holds a lot of power and openly positions themselves as right wing and in support of the conservative party. The magazine if known for publishing articles on supporting their views. An article recently published headlined ‘Donald trumped?’ on the front page clearly demonstrating their dislike for Trump. By doing reader who perches the magazine likely have a similar view something the newspaper does purposefully to get achieve readers. Curran and Seaton talk about conglomerates being driven by money and power, something the daily mail could be thought to do, by creating story headlines to deliberately incise audiences rather than portraying their personal politically views. However, the newspaper does also present their own view throughout the paper this could be seen as trying to persuade readers to adopt their views meaning free press is not fully achieved. 

In conclusion, the political identities which the Newspaper has created may be influenced by the want to persuade reader for certain political gain or to increase profits.

Operant Conditioning – positive reinforcement, rewards and punishment. Create connotations. B.F Skinner

This can be transposed onto the media and how audiences feel coheres into certain matter of behaviour.

‘The fiction of free will’ – deterministic- false idea hate wee have a free will.

social conditioning determines behaviour not free will.

PROPAGANDA AND PERSUASION–

propaganda is overtly political and manipulative whereas persuasion often appears visible at first glance and subsequently revealed as insidious.

STRUCTURE OVER AGENCY

HAROLD LESSWELL

• propaganda technique in the world war.
• “Propagandais the expression of opinions or actions carried out deliberately by individuals or groups with a view to influence the opinions or actions of other individuals or groups for predetermined ends through psychological manipulations.”

Individually liberty & personal freedom vs behaviour modification-technology has developed new method of behaviour control capable of altering not just an individual’s actions but his very personality and manner of thinking.

THEORIES AND APPROACHES TO AUDIENCE
Hypodermic model (passive corruption)

• Early theoretical work on the relationship (or effects) of media consumption are often traced back to Harold Lasswell
• HE developed the theoretical tool of ‘content analysis’ and in 1927 wrote ‘Propaganda Technique in the World War‘ which highlighted the idea of ‘subtle poison, which industrious men injected into the veins of a staggering people until the smashing powers . . . knocked them into submission’
• Lasswell, as a behavioural scientist researching areas connected with political communication and propaganda, believed each government had ‘manipulated the mass media in order to justify its actions’ in World War 1 .
• we must think about who
• Linear method of communication
• (WHO, SAYS WHAT, THROUGH WHAT CHANNEL, TO WHOM, TO WHAT EFFECT)

IN-TERMS OF THE I ARTICLE

The I says that’s the Covid-19 app is being downloaded up at down the country by 43% of smartphone users and that according to celebrity doctor Amir Khan the app can protect patients and health workers.

SHANNON AND WEAVER

• This approach was later adapted by Shannon and Weaver in 1949
• the name it the  Transmission model of Communication
• It included other elements, such as NOISE, ERROR, ENCODING and FEEDBACK.
• There is the suggestion that the process of sending and receiving a message is clear-cut, predicable or reliable and is dependent on a range of other factors that need to be taken into consideration. 
  

PAUL LAZARFELD

• Two Step Flow of Communication (active consumption)
• ecognised that a simple, linear model may not be sufficiently complex to understanding the relationship between message sent > message received. 
• in 1948 he developed the Two Step Flow model of communication
• It took account of the way in which mediated messages are not directly injected into the audience, but while also subject to noise, error, feedback etc, they are also filtered through opinion leaders, those who interpret media messages first and then relay them back to a bigger audience.
• The audience is active and actively decoding the information given.

USES AND GRATIFICATION

• The distinction is this approach is rather than categorising the audience as passive consumers of messages, either directly from source, or from opinion leaders, this theory recognises the decision making process of the audience themselves.
• As Elihu Katz explains the Uses and Gratifications theory diverges from other media theories to focus on: what do people do with media? 
• They put forward research to show that individual audience members are more active than previously thought and were actually key to the processes of selection, interpretation and feedback.
• Individuals sought particular pleasures, uses and gratifications from individual media texts, which can be categorised as:
• information / education,
• empathy and identity, 
• social interaction, 
• entertainment,
• escapism,

GEORGE GERBNER

• Cultivation Theory,
• Looking primarily at the relationship between violence on television and violence in society.
• They developed what is known as CULTIVATION THEORY, the distinct characteristics of television in relation to other media forms.
• they suggest that ‘television cultivates from infancy the very predispositions and preferences that used to be acquired from other primary sources‘ (Gerbner et al 1986).
• Television shapes the way individuals within society think and relate to each other.
• ‘watching television doesn’t cause a particular behaviour, but instead watching television over time adds up to our perception of the world around us‘ (cited in West, 2014).
• they assert the power of television to modify behaviour in support of the dominant structures of society.

LOUIS ALTHUSSER 

• It is also worth noting the work of Louis Althusser as at this particular time, he was concerned to raise the idea that the State asserted power and control through a number of key agencies and structures, which he calledIDEOLOGICAL STATE APPRATUSES (ISA’s),
• he saw this as deliberating working in the interests of State power to modify individual behaviours. Alongside prison, psychiatric hospitals, schools and families,
• Althusser was also critical of the role and function of the media, which he saw as working within and for the dominant interests of society – often at a subtle level of interaction, which audiences may not even be aware of – so again an invidious transmission of information produced for a specific set of messaging. S
• o perhaps the hypodermic model as a lived-in experience? Althusser illustrates this with the concept of “hailing” or “interpellation” a process which calls individuals into a network of (dominant) ideological values, attitudes and beliefs. 

STUART HALL

• Preferred reading
• Also developing a critical theory that looked to analyse mass media communication and popular culture as a way of both uncovering the invidious work of the State and Big Business, as well as looking for ways of subverting that process.
• Hall was working at a time of great societal upheaval and unrest in the UK,
• Hall suggested that power, control and therefore, behaviour management cannot be exerted directly, willfully and without resistance.
• Towards this aim he proposed the encoding/decoding model of communication, or the theory of preferred reading.
• This is where individuals are not only active in the process of interpretation and the construction of meaning, but they are also able to dismiss and reject dominant messages.
• Hall proposed three distinct positions that could be occupied by individual viewers, determined, more or less on their subject identities. 
• A dominant position accepts the dominant message 
• A negotiated position both accepts and rejects the dominant reading
• An oppositional position rejects the dominant reading
• view presents people as producers and consumers of culture at the same time. It means they are active in the making (or rejecting) of meaning through mass communication. 

CLAY SHIRKY

• The End of Audience,
• To bring this summary of different audience approaches towards a conclusion, would be to look at Clay Shirky‘s notion of the end of audience,
• Shirky is not too removed from the work of Hall, prioritising the power of individual agency in the relationship between audiences and institutions, for example, recognising how the audience can be both producers and consumers of media text,

ZUBOFF

• surveillance capitalism we are directly targeted

• The Daily Mail is a British daily tabloid formatted newspaper founded in 1896.
• The Daily Mail’s main target audience is lower-middle-class British women. (B and C1)
• Other editions of the daily paper include its sister paper The Mail on Sunday, as well as the Scottish and Irish Editions.
• Jonathan Harmsworth is a great-grandson of one of the original co-founders, is the current chairman and controlling shareholder of the Daily Mail and General Trust.
• Daily Mail: Most Unreliable Paper For 3rd Year In A Row
• As analysed by Tabloid Corrections website, Rothermere’s Daily Mail has again received the most sanctions from the press regulator, IPSO.
• A mixture between and and soft news (important events such as a natural disaster and celebrity news, slow burners)
• They use provocation- or clickbait to get audiences.
• The Mail has traditionally been a supporter of the Conservatives party in recent general elections.
• The Daily Mail’s medical and science journalism has been criticised by doctors and scientists. Accusing it of using small studies to create stories to scare and mislead audiences. In 2011, they published an article titled “Just ONE cannabis joint ‘can cause psychiatric episodes similar to schizophrenia, as well as damaging memory”. The lead author Dr. Matt Jones of the study that is talked about in the article was quoted by Cannabis Law Reform as actually saying: “This study does NOT say that one spliff will bring on schizophrenia”

The Key, theorist Judith Butler in question explores ideas of how gender is socially constructed and argues that this is through common speech and nonverbal communication in society that are performative to pre-constructed connotations of gender, and the repetition of this.

Media institutions are the large global corporations, such as broadcasting or film productions companies. They usually in include conglomerates (companies that own large numbers of other companies in various mass media). These conglomerates often use Vertical integration; a strategy where a company owns or controls its suppliers, distributors or retails outlets in order to control the value or supply chain and therefore benefits them financially by allowing them to control the process, reduce costs and improve efficiency. Horizontal integration is all used in media institutions; where companies increase production of their goods or services at the same part of the supply chain through an internal expansion or merge of companies which can lead to a monopoly if a company captures the large majority of the market in which produces that product or service. 

In terms of my style model music video “Guys” by The 1975, released on may 13^th 2020 as part of their latest album Notes on a conditional form is owned by independent label Dirty hit, owned by Jamie Osbourn and created in 2009 in which the band are part of the creative team. The 1975 is distributed by Polydor records a daughter company of conglomerate Universal Music Group which acquired a 7.1 million revenue in 2018. The video features montage style clips of the all-male band beginning in 2009 at the start of the bands journey, up to 2020 during their world tour and latest album production. To link it to Judith Butlers theory of how we are performative to pre constructed connotations in the media. The video radicalised the stereotypical or pre constructed connotations of straight males being unaffectionate towards their friends, showing the band hugging and including lyrics describing the other band members as “the best thing that ever happened”, something rarely explored in the media. The video and song was  released during a more liberal time in terms of gender restrictions and fluidity, which the band clearly wanted to explore and present. Being realised on various new media outlets such as Spotify and YouTube and being owned by an independent label gave the band more freedom to reach their more niche audience;  in which they describe as ‘Young, open minded and creative” of a generation widely more liberal. This majorly contrasts to  “Men’s health’s” approach representing men. This provided evidence of Judith butlers theory considering a ‘a repetition of an act” meaning something is learnt through repeated action. The magazine is published by Hearst, one of the largest publishers of magazine media across all platforms owning magazines such as, Elle, Maire Claire, Clevver and cosmopolitan with men’s health being one of the world’s largest men’s magazine brand. The magazine example shows Vin Diesel a popular actor in the ‘fast and furious” film franchise; in which is marketed largely towards male. It includes various subheadings describing the contents, all of which surrounds the topic of fitness and body image such as “Blast Body Fat”. From looking at various other issues of the magazine, they all include a physically fit male often shirtless. This reinforces the idea we have pre constructed ideas these men are the example of a healthy man, particularly when taking in consideration the title of the magazine. The repetition of this presented in the media and in ‘men’s health’ leads to the societal norms or dominate ideologies of these men being the pinnacle of health and masculinity which men then strive to be. 

Another key theorist which helps us understand the representation of gender in the media is that of Mulvey. Mulvey’s theory draws on pervious works by Lacan who look at identity and when a child first recognised themselves in the media. Mulvey looks at “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ and a controlling and subjective gaze in which she names ‘The male gaze’. This is the idea that there is a pleasure in looking, which has been projected onto the female body which is therefor styled accordingly for a profit gain in the media which are subsequently, coded for strong visual and voyeuristic impact. The magazine OH! is produced by independent company iceberg, allowing It to be free of influence from corporate interestsand with the help of new technology’s help them target more niche audiences. Unlike that of ‘Men’s Health’ owned by a large conglomerate Hearst which made a revenue of US$11.4 billion in 2019. Oh! is a female owned magazine which aims to promote the empowerment of women and strays away from sexualising women for the male gaze; catering for their niche audience of unique, creative young women. The magazine exclusively sticks representing females and doesn’t include males in their publications reiterating their feministic attitude and independence of women. An example of the magazine shows a young woman, taken from a low angel with minimal makeup and natural eyebrows; giving her a powerful stance and feel to the magazine representing women in a powerful and positive light. This majorly contrast to that of ‘Men’s Health’ which supports Mulvey’s theory in terms of “visual pleasure” and uses the stereotypically most attractive male body image in their magazine as a marketing tool to reach audiences and profit rather than voice a political position such as feminism like Oh! does, largely due to conglomerates desire in profiting. 

An example where “visual pleasure” is prevalent in the media in terms of conglomerates aiming to profit is the scandal involving fox new and Roger Ails. The scandal involved the harassment of women in order for opportunities within fox news to be given to them as well as the rules put in place to show female new anchors in a more sexualised way in order to increase ratings, showing who the female body was objectified to achieve visual pleasure. While “Men’s Health’ focuses on males it still markets of “visual pleasure’ to reach audiences for a profit gain. 

The Fourth wave of feminism is a phase of feminism which began around 2012 and focuses on the empowerment of women, using internet tools and is centred on intersectionality (interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender). The rise of the fourth wave of feminism gave OH! a niche audience and a market for their content. This is also very prevalent when understanding the representation of women in Oh! which began publication in 2010, during this wave of feministic thinking. The magazine supports these views and is able to do so through their independent company iceberg, allowing them to focus on embowing women rather than just profiting.

In conclusion, gender is represented very differently depending on the institution which own the print media or music video, largely due to the profit interest of conglomerates with independently owned media outlets gaining more freedom to voice their opinions. To link to the question, Judith Butler’s theory allows us to understand how society’s stereotypes of gender which are repeated in the media lead to or pre constructed understandings regarding gender boundaries, which corporations used in marketing and profiting. However, some media outlets usually independent stray away from this in order to voice their opinions and attempt change dominate ideologies or constructed connotations of gender. 

relationship between ownership, control, working practice, politics, representation and identity.

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.

REPRESENTATION- able to create new ones.

• Oh Comely constructs a representation of femininity with its focus on creativity and quirkiness. 
• The focus is on women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and musicians and female empowerment is a major theme. 
• absence of men as part of the representation of masculinity.
• Representation of social groups: Oh Comely constructs a lifestyle through its focus on culture and the environment. This analysis would offer the opportunity to question some of the messages and values constructed by the magazine. 
• Theories of representation including Hall 
• Feminist theories including bell hooks and Van Zoonen 
• Theories of gender performative including Butler.

An alternative Institutional structure

• Shows how development in new technology mean small companies can also use the internet to communicate and target audiences. 
• Niche audiences can then be targeted more precisely-A niche audience is a subgroup of a companies targeted audience. It is a selective group of people who have specific wants, needs and interests.
• Niche audiences hold great value for brands and their success and are valuable because they are often more engaged, active and responsive audiences members.
•  Iceberg (owner of OH.) is independent media company.-Independent media is any form of media, that is free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications, it is linked with alternative media to refer to media that specifically distinguish themselves in relation to the mainstream media.- media that stray away from mainstream media to reach niche audiences.

Media Representations

The magazine main media representations are gender, primarily femininity, it can also reflect how the mens are representated. Therefore can be effectly compared with Men’s Health.

• Oh Comely constructs a representation of femininity with its focus on creativity and quirkiness. 
• The focus is on women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and musicians and female empowerment is a major
• theme.

OH COMELY MAGAZINE EXAMPLE AND ANALYSIS

This magazine uses a girly colour pallet, which would mostly attract females, due to the stereotype contraptions with pinks tones as a girly colour and therefore reflex their target audience of women. The magazine also has a large title written in a handwritten style giving the maize a more homely feel and making it have a unique element to its to it again reflecting it target audience of unique, quirky women. The magazine also writes the title of the issue as the second biggest font (after the magazine title)enacting as an anchor to grab audiences attention.

KEY THEORISTS

• Hall – looked at how messages are coded and decoded by audiences and in terms of OH! – feminise and empowerment of women.
• Van Zoonen – said that in the media images of stereotypical women are shows and therefore influence societal views. OH! aims to de conform to these stereotypes showing women in a more empowered less sexualised nature.
• Gender performative, by Judith Butler – voices the ideas that gender is socially constructed. she argues that this is through common speech and nonverbal communication that are performative to reconstructed connotations of gender, swell as the repetition of this.