In a digital world, print magazines have little appeal, this is shown through magazines such as Men’s Health having digital versions that people can read online. Furthermore, the front cover of Men’s Health magazine

I believe that Men’s Health does not challenge the social and cultural context in which it was created and is a reactionary magazine. I see this in the dominant signifier of Vin Diesel in the middle of the page, posed in a manner that shows off his muscles. Furthermore his body has been clearly altered, possibly in photoshop, which can be seen in the colour of his arms and how much darker they get as you go down his body. The clothes that he is wearing are also tight fitting which helps to show his muscles to the audience. When people read a Men’s Health magazine they would expect the “perfect man” to be on the front cover to show what the perfect man would look like. This is also similar to the score CSP which also has a dominant signifier of the “perfect man” as the main selling point, showing that little to no progress has been made in challenging the social and cultural beliefs that people have of men. Vin Diesel signifies what people would want to become when they read this magazine. All of the text on the front page is either black or different shades of blue, which are typically associated with masculinity and the male gender. Vin Diesel is shown again in the editor’s letter, with the text “Diesel’s slant is one to aspire to” which again tells audiences that they should be like him. George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory states that people who consume media often are more susceptible to the messages in said media, so Men’s Health showing Vin Diesel multiple times throughout the magazine and stating that he is “one to aspire to” sends the message to audiences that Vin Diesel is the standard for all men. On page 101 there is an article about a 69 year old marathon runner which is radical

Half page on:

Audience

Lasswell

lasswells model of communication in 1927 wrote Propaganda Technique in the World War Hypodermic model (passive consumption)

As Martin Moore notes, Lasswell: believed each government had ‘manipulated the mass media in order to justify its actions’ in World War 1 (2019:122).  which focuses on “Who (says) What (to) Whom (in) What Channel (with) What Effect”. audience injected with media, passive consumers.

Lazarfeld

in 1948 he developed the Two Step Flow model of communication.  this theory suggests that the audience are ACTIVE NOT PASSIVE

Two step flow communication (active consumption) Relate to mens health as CSP uses Vin Diesel (an Opinion leader to the target audience)

Uses and Gratifications

Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) The uses and gratifications theory assumes the audience chooses what it wants to watch for five different reasons. Information and Education Information and Education Personal Identity Integration and social interaction Escapism

This theory recognises the decision making process in the audience themselves.  explores our motivation to engage with texts. This information could help producers target their audience more effectively. applied to mens health- Personal needs: understanding self, enjoyment Social Needs- Confidence, self esteem

Stuart Hall

He worked at the Open University for a number of years, as a professer of sociology He looks at Encoding, Decoding and how the media represent ideologies. Hall’s work covers issues of hegemony and cultural studies, taking a post-Gramscian stance

‘He theorized that media texts contain a variety of messages that are encoded (made/inserted) by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences. Therefore what we see is simply a ‘re-presentation’ of what producers want us to see.’ He said that a message must be decoded before Accept dominant message, negotiate dominant message or reject it.

Language

Semiotics

1. Sign: A gesture, action or thing that displays information or instruction
2. Code: Letters, words, symbols or figures used to represent others
3. Convention: A way that something is done
4. Dominant Signifier: The main sign
5. Anchorage: Words that go with images to give them a specific context

Ferdinand de Saussure:

1. Signifier: The thing, item or code that we read
2. Signified: The context behind the thing that is being represented
3. Syntagm: Sequence; order in which they go and how one sign links to another
4. Paradigm: Collection of similar signs; a group of things that are similar

C S Pierce:

1. Icon: A sign that looks like its object
2. Index: A sign that has a link to it’s subject
3. Symbol: A sign that has a random link to it’s subject

Roland Barthes:

1. Signification: The process of signifying by signs or symbols
2. Denotation: A literal meaning of a word in contrast to the feelings or ideas behind it
3. Connotation: A feeling that invokes for a person in addition to its literal meaning
4. Myth: Something that is made up and widely false; a rumour
5. Ideology: A system of ideas which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy
6. Radical: Challenges dominant ideas
7. Reactionary: Confirms dominant ideas

Institution

Industry and Business

vertical and horizontal integration David Hesmondalgh monopoly mergers Political Compass

David Hesmondalgh said the media business is a risky business. minimise risk, maximise profit. if a media product does well the concept will be used until it stops doing well. relates to blinded by the light, independent film but the smaller studio is owned by warner bros, showing that media power has fallen into the hands of a few conglomerates.

Representation

David Gauntlett

Fluidity of Identity Negotiated identity Constructed identity Collective identity

Gauntlett explores the idea that a persons identity is not fixed and is shaped based off their experiences or the media they consume In Relation to Mens Health Having Vin Diesel in the magazine can help make a constructed identity as he can be seen as an opinion leader so readers may value the advice/articles in this magazine more than they would if he wasn’t there.

The Male Gaze- Laura Mulvey

Judith Butler- Feminist critical thinking.

About Men’s Health

MensHealth.com averages 118 million views a month

In 2004, Men’s Health began putting celebrities and athletes on the cover

Largest audience of the Men’s Health magazine from April 2019 to March 2020 are adults over the age of 15 with a total of 1,816 and the second largest audience were men with 708 results. The least amount of audience was within women although 365 women bought the product. The reach was lower among households with children, with 391 thousand readers from this demographic reached by the print title or its website during this period.

• Men’s Health is the largest men’s magazine brand and the number one source of information for and about men.
• Has 25 print editions in 35 countries around the world.
• 21 million readers across its social and digital platforms.
• Women’s Health gained 7,239 more copies sold than Men’s Health which was 89,111 and Women’s Health which was 96,350.

per issue 74% of copies are print while the other 26% is digital

per issue 85% of copies go to UK & Rol

Hearst

• Men’s Health is owned by Hearst who own many other companies such as: NetDoctor, Lenny Letter, Delish (25% owned)
• Hearst is a media company founded on March 4 1887

– Laura Mulvey: The Male Gaze – PAGE 148 is an example of the male gaze as a strategy to appeal to the male audience. Shows women in the background of the dominant signifier, the man who’s wearing the Givenchy aftershave.

– Lazarsfeld – two-step flow of communication model hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them, to a wider population

Page 6-7, use of the ‘Man of today’, an opinion leader used to sell a product (Hugo Boss aftershave) to the masses is a prime example of the 2 step model.

Gerbner – Cultivation Theory :

• Introduced cultivation theory in the 1960’s
• 2 main concepts:
• 1. Media texts cultivate a heightened sense of fear in society (mean world syndrome)
• 2. Media consumption leads audiences to accept mainstream ideologies (mainstreaming)

– WHO? The parent company, Hearst Communications UK, creators of the magazine specifically the main editor Morgan Rees
– SAYS WHAT? Men’s Health and how to become stronger and lose weight etc, various other messages also
– IN WHICH CHANNEL? Print, online, social media
– TO WHOM? The target audience of the magazine, younger impressional men, and magazine subscribers. Men specifically interested in health and exercise, active adventurous people. 70% of all Millennials and 69% of all Gen Z over the age of 18
– WITH WHAT EFFECT? Profit. Inspirational, perhaps aggressive.

4 Things to write about in essay + Theories to mention

1. Institution – who owns it
2. Examples of specific pages
3. Language, how it’s laid up, representation
4. Audiences –

• 1. Owner: Hearst UK
• 74% of the years circulation is physical print copies, whereas 26% is digital copies

key terms –

dominant signifier = vin diesel on the front cover of the magazine

dominant ideology = Body image

The blue background is associated with male stereotypes, a traditional boy colour

reactionary representation = A heterosexual man and what society expects on him .

negative stereotype = this creates a negative stereotype to men having to be seen as strong and loose weight

Laswell’s module applied

Sender: Men’s health’s is one of the largest men’s magazine and is aimed mainly at “manly” men

says what: The brand of the magazine called ‘Men’s Health’ aimed for active men who want a better control on their physique / appearance to impress society.

what channel: Men’s health is a print lifestyle magazine and can also be accessed on their website and social media.

to whom: Aimed at men who are ‘sporty’ or active. If a man wants motivation to get into shape then the magazine provides infomation on loosing weight to get that ‘perfect body’

what effect: Selling the magazine to their target audience through shops, website or social media.

semiotics:

Iconic sign: The bold text tells you what you can find inside of this magazine issue. It all relates to loosing weight fast

indexical signs: The only image is the dominant signifier placed right in the middle. The muscles relates to the text and the magazine.

symbolic sign: The magazines colour theme is mostly blue which is seen as a stereotypical colour for men, influences them to buy the magazine. Big bold texts all about loosing weight “demolish junk food cravings” and “Blast body fat”. The dominant signifier, vin diesel, is positioned in the middle showing off his muscles.

Men’s health magazine had an average monthly reach of around 1.8 million individuals in the UK between 2019 to 2020

The ages of people who buy this magazine between 2019 to 2020 were 15 years and above and could potentially be harmful for young teenagers because they feel this is how they should look like and that the magazine would help them with their goal to looking muscular.

The media chooses how people should look like. By adding a celebrity to the front page of their magazine it influences young people to buy and read it.

Mens health is owned by by hearst who own 40 different companies founded in 1887.

hegemony – the set of ideas that dominate within society, these ideas are usually formed by those groups who have power

Steve Neale: Genre theory –

Stuart hall:

start:

Men’s health magazine is a lifestyle magazine that is aimed for ‘active’ men who are interested in sports and wanting help to loose weight. The magazine is owned by Hearst corporation who own 40 different companies and were founded in 1887.On the front page of the magazine is the dominant signifier, vin diesel, who is a famous actor. He is positioned in the centre on the front page to grab the audiences attention along with the bold texts that all relate to loosing weight which you can find inside the magazine. The symbolic sign on the front page is the magazines colour theme of blue which is seen as a stereotypical colour for males which influences men to buy the magazine. Stuart halls representation theory points out that hegemony sets the ideas that dominate society .Big bold texts all about loosing weight “demolish junk food cravings” and “blast body fat”. reactionary representation can be seen on the front of the magazine is a heterosexual man and what society expects of him.

Laswell’s module applies in this case the sender: Hearst communications is the sender. Men’s health is one of the largest men’s magazine and is aimed mainly for ‘manly men’. says what: the brand of the magazine called ‘men’s health’ aimed for active men who want a better control on their physique /appearance to impress society. what channel: is a print lifestyle magazine and can also be accessed on their website or social media. to whom: aimed at men who are ‘sporty’ or active. This magazine is viewed as reactionary because the front page relates to what you can find inside, for example if you turn to page 178 – 179 the double spread features another heterosexual man who is demonstrating some exercise .If a man wants motivation to get into shape then the magazine provides information on loosing weight to get that perfect body. what effect: selling the magazine to their target audience through shops, website or social media. Stuart hall suggests that

Men’s health magazine had an average monthly reach of 1.8 million individuals in the UK between 2019 to 2020. The ages group that were buying the magazine we 15 years old and above which could potentially be harmful for young teenagers because they may feel like this is how they are supposed to look like and that the magazine would help them with their goal to look muscular.

dominant signifier – Vin diesel on the front cover of the magazine

dominant ideology – Body image

reactionary representation – A heterosexual man and what society expects on him.

negative stereotype – this creates a negative stereotype to men having to be seen as strong and loose weight

The blue background is associated with male stereotypes, a traditional boy colour, male dominance.

Laswell’s module:

Sender – Men’s health’s is one of the largest men’s magazine and is aimed mainly at “manly” men

Says What – The brand of the magazine called ‘Men’s Health’ aimed for active men who want a better control on their physique / appearance to impress society.

What Channel – Men’s health is a print lifestyle magazine and can also be accessed on their website and social media.

To Whom – Aimed at men who are ‘sporty’ or active. If a man wants motivation to get into shape then the magazine provides information on loosing weight to get that ‘perfect body’

What Effect – Selling the magazine to their target audience through shops, website or social media.

CS Peirce:

Iconic sign – The bold text tells you what you can find inside of this magazine issue. It all relates to loosing weight fast

Indexical signs – The only image is the dominant signifier placed right in the middle. The muscles relates to the text and the magazine.

Symbolic sign – The magazines colour theme is mostly blue which is seen as a stereotypical colour for men, influences them to buy the magazine. Big bold texts all about loosing weight “demolish junk food cravings” and “Blast body fat”. The dominant signifier, vin diesel, is positioned in the middle showing off his muscles.

Stuart hall – Hall provides a framework for decoding messages:

accept the dominant message
negotiate the dominant message
reject the dominant message

Facts:

Men’s health magazine had an average monthly reach of around 1.8 million individuals in the UK between 2019 to 2020. The ages of people who buy this magazine between 2019 to 2020 were 15 years and above and could potentially be harmful for young teenagers because they feel this is how they should look like and that the magazine would help them with their goal to looking muscular.

The media chooses how people should look like. By adding a celebrity to the front page of their magazine it influences young people to buy and read it.
Mens health is owned by hearst who own 40 different companies founded in 1887.

	What do you know about	What meaning or understandings do you have of their ideas? Put another way – how can you apply their ideas to your CSP’s?
Noam Chomsky	He wrote The Manufacture of Consent with Edward Herman in 1988 He came up with the 5 filters: 1. media ownership, 2. role of advertising, 3. official sources, 4. flak, 5. common enemy	Chomsky can be used in terms of media ownership, audience effects, textual analysis and representation. Essentially, he argued that the mass media is used by the elite in society to ‘manufacture consent’ towards the dominant ideology. So for example, it is possible to see this in terms of the Daily Mail (with it’s pro-establishment views on money, the monarchy, the military, patriarchy etc media ownership) It is also possible (to some extent) to see this in terms of Tomb Raider, Score (prioritising patriarchal values, role of advertising) Challenges to the process of ‘consent’ (ie alternative views to society can be found in Blinded by the Light, Letter to the Free, Ghost Town (dispelling the myth of the common enemy?)
James Curran	writes about the Liberal Free Press Is connected to the ideas of Habermas Writes specifically about diversity in terms of of ownership, participation, representation, consumption Media and Power addresses three key questions about the relationship between media and society. *How much power do the media have? *Who really controls the media? *What is the relationship between media and power in society?	A range of voices and ownership maintains a healthy media as there is argument, dissent, disagreement and NOT CONSENT (?? ie Chomsky) Can be used in terms of Film CSP (which only looks at ownership) Newspapers (concentration of ownership and regulation of ownership and control) Common / The Specials / Blinded by the Light all explore issues of power and control. Providing alternative voices? Maybe new media stuff as well?
Jean Seaton
Jurgen Habermas	Habermas wrote about the Transformation of the public sphere in 1962 With the introduction of the printing press, reading and writing transformed the way in which ideas and decisions were made. The public sphere is where public decisions are made (ie courts, parliament) The private sphere is where private decisions are made (family, friends etc) Habermas thought that new forms of media enabled ordinary citizens to be more actively engaged in society. which formed a new phenomenon called public opinion. Spearheading this shift was the growth of a literary public sphere	Habermas is key for the role of media in promoting a better, more inclusive society (eg in politics, morals, ethics). Particularly useful for news, information This means that the media is really important for helping individuals to connect to society and be part of the decision making process. It is an example of how democracy works. It stops authoritarian regimes or (hopefully) inequality It promotes participation and emancipation.
SEMIOTICS	Pierce (icon, index, symbol) Barthes (connotation, denotation, myth) De Saussure (signifier, signified)   Founding / starting point for TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ie need to use this language for analysing texts (print, moving image, web etc)	Essentially communication is based on sign systems – the way signs are organised is really important as it can reveal social, political messaging.   For example Barthes discusses how dominant ideologies are maintained through culture and communication (as opposed to violence)   This links with Gramsci’s notion of HEGEMONY   Think for example, dominant signifiers, size, scale, placement etc   Important for practical work as well as CSP’s   There will be 2 unseen CSP’s which will be testing this knowledge / understanding.
REPRESENTATION	No real specific theories or theorist (from my perspective) although board does use Gauntlet, Feminist critical thinkers (Mulvey etc)   Use of radical and reactionary representations   Use of stereotypes and countertypes	Again fundamental to media, cultural studies. So will definitely be a question about this.   Again really fundamental to the process of POWER (asserting and maintaining power) – ie Barthes, Gramsci etc   CSP’s clearly a selection of reactionary (Daily Mail, The i , Tomb Raider, Score) and radical texts (Maybelline, Common, Blinded by the Light, Ghost Town)   Some create an ambiguous representation (Metroid)   BE CAREFUL THAT IT IS NOT JUST A PERSONAL RANT (ie unsupported by evidence)
David Gauntlett	1. fluidity of identity 2. Negotiated identity 3. Constructed identity 4. Collective identity	Gauntlett is suggesting that identity is not fixed and set (ie objective) that it is changeable ‘fluid’ that it is a process of ‘negotiation’ perhaps in terms of where we are and who we are interacting with. That our individual identity is part of an overall collective identity. And that in summary it is ‘constructed’ or made as opposed to being genetic, predisposed, biological, fixed, already in place etc etc In relation to Men’s Health we can see how different versions of ‘maleness’ or masculinity are presented. For example, the older runner, the hyped-up, pumped-up Alpha male, the reflective loving male, the psychologically thoughtful male etc. All of these individual identities can be understood in a broader paradigm of male identity – diverse, contradictory and complex. Specifically on page 71 there is a photo shoot of 9 males from different countries (ie different nationalities and cultural backgrounds) united a single dominant representation of ‘maleness’ /masculinity (they are all photographed in black and white and arranged a single image)
AUDIENCE	Audience is key topic.   Lots of different people and terms to know: Lasswell Lazarfeld Gerbner Stuart Hall   Active / passive / cultivation theory / theory of preferred reading.	Different audience approaches have altered over time (ie passive hypodermic model vs uses and gratifications)   Audience is underpins other approaches eg analysis (semiotics, representation) and ownership (Chomsky, Habermas etc)
Paul Lazarfeld	Two step flow of communication – the use of opinion leaders,	the suggestion that people actively seek out information that aligns with their own perspective – does this indicate that they thereby seek reassurance and validation of their own ideas??
Uses and Gratifications	A theory of audience consumption that claims that audiences are ACTIVE. developed by a number of social scientist roughly in the 1960’s and 1970’s (eg > Katz, Gurevitch and Hass > Blumer, McQuail, Brown some attribute this theory to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs	They suggest that audiences seek PLEASURE, NEEDS, USES, GRATIFICATIONS etc These are divided into PERSONAL NEEDS escapism entertainment knowledge and understanding SOCIAL NEEDS knowledge of the world being together with friends and family
Stuart Hall	Theory of Preferred Reading – that we ACTIVELY decode media messages	Hall suggests that there is a separation between reality and representation – that although we can identify some objective moments – the meaning of those moments remain CONSTESTED and OPEN TO INTERPRETATION. Hall provides a framework for DECODING MESSAGES either we: 1. ACCEPT THE DOMINANT MESSAGE 2. NEGOTIATE THE DOMINANT MESSAGE 3. REJECT THE DOMINANT MESSAGE How can we understand this? Because we are ACTIVE CITIZENS who DECODE media messages based on our own SUBJECTIVE IDENTITY. Think gender, race, ethnicity, politics, economics, geography, education, ability etc etc Is there ONLY 1 READING / MEANING? No. Hall argues that there are MULTIPLE / CONTESTED MEANINGS, READINGS, INTERPETATIONS. But doesn’t that leave society and individuals a little lost on what is true and what is not? We look at this when we look at POSTMODERNISM.
Feminist Critical Thinking	Mulvey Butler Feminist Frequency Tori Moi Jean Kilbourne	It is a key position or perspective to read culture (eg media texts) It critically engages with the concept of patriarchy
Postcolonialism,	Franz Fanon  Paul Gilroy, Black Atlantic Experience Edward Said, Orientalism Jacques Lacan The ‘Other’	Postcolonialism very important in terms of looking at society from a white, male perspective (ie dominant patriarchy perspective)
Narrative Theories	Todorov, Freytag, Propp, Levi-Strauss, Chatman, Barthes	This is a STRUCTURALIST approach to analysing texts. That means it looks at overall structures and patterns. The way things (like narratives, stories etc) are organised. It shows how important familiarity (and difference) is.
Genre
Key terms for Industry and Business	vertical / horizontal integration Mergers Monopoly Cartel conglomerate Risk and reward (high risk / high reward) Risky business ‘Hesmondhalgh’ concentration of ownership Regulation and control Authoritarian / Libertarian Political Compass (left leaning / right leaning)	The question on Film is only about institution – so if this comes up will need to apply lots of these terms Also useful for TV question Also useful in terms of marketing, promotions etc
PSB public service broadcasting	Curran and Seaton Chomsky Habermas BBC Channel 4 Ideas of the liberal Free Press	Fundamental to the structure of ownership and control IN RELATION to participation of ALL members of society in the political, economic system known as DEMOCRACY. Fine principles! But how does this work out in practice? Think ownership of newspapers? Role of government in terms of BBC? The current debate around privatisation of Channel 4 And of course – how this applies to the INTERNET?!
Stuart Hall		what we are consuming from the media is simply a meaning of an event has been interpreted. the event itself doesnt have a meaning until it is represented in the media and people find and create a meaning, what we see in the media is not necessarily what is happening but a representation of what some people may think.
George Gerbner	Cultivation Theory suggests Television influences its audience to the extent that their world view and perceptions start reflecting what they repeatedly see meaning TV is considered to contribute independently to the way people perceive social reality and will have an effect on the audience’s attitudes and values. Long term exposure to violent media makes the audience less likely to be shocked by violence. Being less shocked by violence the audience may then be more likely to behave violently.	Cultivation theory suggests that repeated exposure to television over time can subtly ‘cultivates’ viewers’ perceptions of reality. George Gerbner and Larry Gross theorised that TV is a medium of the socialisation of most people into standardised roles and behaviours. The criticism of this theory is that screen violence is not the same as real violence. Many people have been exposed to screen murder and violence, but there is no evidence at all that this has lead audiences to be less shocked by real killings and violence. media consumption mainstreaming wants the wolrd to believe the same ideologies shirky believes gerbners theory is not applicable to modern forms of meida. the media has chnaged and audiences are more active and believes you can no longer talk about users of media products as an audience

https://www.nusa.org.uk/data/documents/52/Theory_Knowledge_Organiser_B__VTice.pdf

https://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/media-studies-level-revision/cultivation-theory

Cultivation Theory