1. Oh Comely magazine is a bi-monthly British magazine published by Pirates Ahoy! a subsidiary of Iceberg Press.
2. The first issue of Oh Comely was published in 2010 by Adeline Media.
3. Iceberg Press announced their purchase of Oh Comely from Adeline Media in 2016.
4. Iceberg Press is an independent publishing company originally set up by three friends who all worked together in a large magazine publishing company. They wanted to find 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.”

the averages age of 27 · 98% female readers ABC1 demographic

 ABC1 – a consumer from one of the three higher social and economic groups, which consist of people who have more education and better-paid jobs than those in other groups:

Semiotics
Dominant Signifier – (iconic) fashion model

Masthead – the adjective “comely” means attractive and pleasing, but it also denotes sophistication and conformity, becoming a celebration of feminine beauty without reducing women to objects used to satisfy the male gaze.

Narrative
non-hegemonic model, anchored by power and poise

Challenging Social and Cultural Contexts

Many of the women featured within the magazine take a radical stance on the representation of women as they are not being sexualised and do not play into the male gaze.

In a digital world, print magazines have little appeal. To what extent do you agree with this statement? You should refer to the magazine Close Study Product Men’s Health to support you answer. [25 marks]

Media products often challenge the social and cultural contexts in which they are created. To what extent does an analysis of the Close Study Product Men’s Health support this view? [25 marks]

Men’s Health takes a reactionary stance on the social and cultural contexts in which it’s created, rather than challenging it. This can be seen through Steve Neale’s genre theory where he, to paraphrase, says that genre is structured around a variety of elements that attract audiences based on their expectations. Men’s Health, a male lifestyle magazine, displays a paradigm of signs relating to the stereotypical idea of masculinity. For example, on the front page, the dominant signifier is the iconic sign of well-known actor, Vin Diesel. By presenting a muscular, heterosexual male in a powerful stance, the magazine implies that this is the standard for manliness and that all men should aspire to look like this. The dominant signifier also relates to David Gauntlett’s Identity Theory, in which there are four types of identity: collective, constructive, negotiated, and fluid. Men’s Health emits a collective identity where Vin Diesel is the expected standard for healthy men and a constructive identity where people create their identity around the magazine’s influence.

Lazarfeld’s Two-Step Flow Theory in which opinion leaders pass their interpretations of mass media to others. In this instance, Vin Diesel is the ‘opinion leader’ who people will actively choose to follow and listen to, and by being situated on the front cover of Men’s Health, he influences his ‘opinion followers’ to read the magazine.

Semiotics
Dominant Signifier – (iconic) Vin Diesel

Print Language

Narrative

Genre

“The genre may be considered as a practical device for helping any mass medium to produce consistently and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers.” – Dennis McQuail

genre is lifestyle magazine (aimed at men’s lifestyle) – all paradigm of signs which connote to the idea of manliness/masculinity – fulfilling genre expectations according to Neale ( genre is structured around a repertoire of elements,  which attracts audience based on their predictable expectations)

Representation – (reactionary) muscular, heterosexual male with a dominant stance

The School of Life video: How to be a Man, presents the ‘cool man’ and the ‘warm man’. This links to Gauntlett’s notion that identity is fluid and negotiated. Although this is not a theory, we can see examples of the ‘cool man’ and the ‘warm man’ in Men’s Health.

For instance, on page

Lasswell’s Model of Communications

WHO?
Hearst Communications (Steven R. Swartz – C.E.O.)
Men’s Health (Richard Dorment – Chief Editor)
SAYS WHAT?
IN WHICH CHANNEL?
print (lifestyle magazine)
digital (websites, social media)
TO WHOM?
“active, successful, professional men who want greater control over their physical, mental and emotional lives”
WITH WHAT EFFECT?

Lazarsfeld’s Two-Step Flow Theory

Vin Diesel is an ‘opinion leader’ who people will actively choose to follow and listen to. By being situated on the front cover of Men’s Health, he influences his ‘opinion followers’ to read the magazine.

Uses and Gratifications

PERSONAL NEEDS
Understanding Self
Enjoyment
Escapism

SOCIAL NEEDS
Knowledge About The World
Self Confidence, Stability, Self Esteem
Strengthen Connections With Family
Strengthen Connections With Friends

Stuart Hall’s Theory of Representation

The Abuse of Power

Using the media to hold people accountable for their actions – Habermas

The Complicit Links Between Those in Power at the Expense of Those who are Subservient

The manufacture of consent – Chomsky

Rules and Regulation

The Substantiation of Truth and Reality

Baudrillard

Triangulation

The Rise of New Technologies Which Impact and Disrupt all of the Above

For my newspaper NEA, I am going to produce the front cover of a local newspaper, called The Channel Print. This will be aimed at an audience of all ages living in the region who are interested in national and international news stories as well as stories relating specifically to the local area.

In terms of layout and design, I am going to follow the style model of our CSP – the i. This has a main image that takes up half the page alongside two ‘plugs’ or ‘ears’, that give insight to what stories are inside the paper, underneath a strapline for my paper. I will also include a masthead, barcode and other details like time, date, and price.

Beneath the main image, I will have the body article. Unlike my style model, I will have about 150 – 200 words forming the main article, which will be continued within the paper, set out in columns with a large drop cap for the first letter of the first word. I will also have a contents bar at the footer.

I will also use the Jersey flag colour palette – white, red, and yellow.

I will design my key elements in Adobe Photoshop, write my body copy in Microsoft Word, and use InDesign to create other elements and put it all together to finish the product.

‘Habermas argues that the development of early modern capitalism brought into being an autonomous arena of public debate’

‘public engaged in critical political discussion’

‘the public sphere came to be dominated by an expanded state and organized economic interests’

‘the media manipulated mass opinion’

‘the media facilitates this process by providing an arena of public debate’

‘without advertising income, the free press could not compete with their commercial rivals’