Representation

UK’s first / favourite black newspaper

First published in 1981 – offered a new media source for those in the black community – much of the media at the time was racist / marketed towards white people.

Before the introduction of The Voice, the black press in Britain targeted first-generation immigrants. Newspapers, such as The Caribbean Times and West Africa, kept the diaspora up to date about news about the old countries. The Voice was different. It wanted to publish stories which were relevant to the second generation who were born and raised in Britain.

They were eager to create a countertype to the negative portrayals of black people often represented in the mainstream media. This was particularly important after the civil unrest across England in 1981.

Was there a riot in Brixton or was it an uprising against social and economic injustice?

The headline ‘To Think This is England’ reinforces the binary opposition between the civilised England and the savage Other. The audience are positioned to sympathise with the cowering police officers who are under attack. They are almost protecting the viewer from the violence and the side-turned and torched vehicle is a strong signifier of the destruction they are trying to prevent.

Media Language

The Voice uses codes and conventions to influence meaning. They value black people and like to make them feel superior and strong and independent. They bring racist issues and discrimination problems to the light to relate to their specific audience.
They use images of mainly black people to get their views and values across and to attract their target audience. They also have quite a colourful site to show support for ‘coloured’ people and present it in a much more positive term. The images used are often not photoshopped and are natural which gives a real view of people which could better relate to their audience.

Industry

David Hesmondhalgh believed companies involved in cultural industries were motivated by profit rather than a duty to public service broadcasting. No one was going to invest in a newspaper which targeted a niche audience unless it was going to make money. However, the social and political context of the early 1980s offered the founder of The Voice, Val McCalla, an opportunity to raise the funds needed for such a risky venture.

Barclays Bank was being heavily criticised for its investments in South Africa where racial segregation was institutionalised in a system known as apartheid. In a bit of impression management, the bank attempted to counteract the negative publicity by showing support for African-Caribbean causes.

McCalla secured £62,000 from Barclays with the backing of the Loan Guarantee Scheme which was part of a series of initiatives set up by Margaret Thatcher’s government to help unemployed people start their own business. The Voice enterprise was a success and the bank loan was paid off within five years.

The circulation of the paper peaked at 55,000 in the early 1990s with young women being a substantial majority of its weekly buyers.

Articles

Each article follows the template. First, breadcrumbs help the user understand where the story fits into the site’s permalink structure and enables you to navigate to the parent category pages. This element is followed by the dateline and a clickable by-line.