OSP: The Voice - blog case study

-

 Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice homepage?
  • Menu bars- News, Sports, Lifestyle,Entertainment, Faith, Opinion, Video, Publications, Jobs
  • Title- The Voice
  • Images
  • Adverts- Black History month, NHS adverts

2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?

  • The Voice has a lower production budget
  • Amateur run
  • The Voice has sections such as Faith and Opinion hence it is more culture driven and really targets Black Britons
  • Teen Vogue is internationally based whereas The Voice is based in London so content differs- The Voice publishes content more so towards a niche audience i.e. Black and other ethnic minority groups whereas Teen Vogue targets a more global audience demographic.
3) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?

  • The Voice has sections such as Faith and Opinion hence it is more culture driven and really targets Black Britons as the articles feature black males and females 
  • Their content is predominantly focused around Black working class success stories and successful BAME individuals such as Lewis Hamilton and Marcus Rashford. We see a positive representation of black males which can be seen as altering the narrative in a optimistic and pragmatic way
4) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience.
  • Raheem Sterling: "Social media platforms need to take proper action" and tackle racism online- In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain. The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons
  • "MP's vote against Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals over the school holidays- The Voice want to offer a voice to black Britons but clearly their voices are not being heard and accepted
5) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Todorov equilibrium or Barthes’ enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.


Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

1) What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the Voice audience?
  • Fashion and Beauty 
  • Food
  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Relationships
  • Travel
2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?
  • Black Dog Parents: Sandra Murphy
  • Black British changemakers talk makeup as self-care
3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?
  • It is based more on the BAME Community
4) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?
  • They challenge black stereotypes because they are predominantly success stories which subverts the stereotype that black people cannot be just as successful as white people.
5) Choose two stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?
  • Black British change makers talk makeup as self-care- focus on the BAME Community
  • Black Dog Parents: Sandra Murphy

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice opinion piece on black representation in the tech industry. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?
  • The Voice is aimed at the British- African Caribbean community thus, this piece reflects how they strive to be a voice for people part of this community

2) Read this feature on Michaela Coel supporting Oxfam's Second Hand campaign. Why might this feature appeal to readers of The Voice?
  • Coel states: "I felt compelled to add my voice to this cause; I hope it raises awareness and encourages us to reflect on our buying habits and to consider how small changes can have a huge impact on the environment – and in turn the fight against poverty.” 

3) Read this Voice news story on Grenfell tower and Doreen Lawrence. How might this story reflect the Voice’s values and ideologies? What do the comments below suggest about how readers responded to the article? Can you link this to Gilroy’s work on the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?


Audience

1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.

Adults aged around 30 (the children of the people who experienced the Brixton riots)

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).
Surveillance- readers can learn and be educated about various topics that The Voice cover such as current political affairs and in particular Black people's involvement in this. 
Personal Identity- readers may see themselves reflected in the articles and may also relate to the people featured on articles
Personal relationships

3) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

  • No Bass Like Home: Julian Marley to perform at Brent’s online reggae festival
  • Black churches and University of West Indies unite for event on history and identity of Caribbean diaspora
  • Tears shed at Anglican service as public apology for historic racism is made
4) Studying the themes of politics, history and racism that feature in some of the Voice’s content, why might this resonate with the Voice’s British target audience?
  • Due to the uprise in the BLM Movement, the content based on politics, history and racism may relate to Black Britons because racism and race inequality still exists. The Voice emerged partly as a result of the Brixton riots to voice Black Briton's opinion and hopefully push for race equality yet racism still exists today. Therefore, Black Britons may learn from the themes of politics and history 
5) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?
  • David Ajala’s Love Letter to Africa

Representations

1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website?

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying?

Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see media through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-biased (or even racist) mainstream British media. 

3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly multiculturalism” here?
  • “Black Tory MP’s Attack comments on critical race theory are dangerously regressive”
  • A positive British Identity is promoted.
4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?

5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)
  • Imjustbait and AbdiTV’s record label WEAREBLK signs partnership deal with Sony Music
  • 2019 Miss Caribbean UK Sydonie Barrett talks ambitions and reppin the Cayman

Industries

1) Read this Guardian report on the death of the original founder of the Voice. What does this tell you about the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand? 
  • "I decided deliberately to have a newspaper that targeted people who were born here and had spent most of their lives here," said McCalla in a rare TV interview in 1992.
  • "In doing so I had obviously captured a niche market, a market of people who had never had a voice before."
2) Read this history of the Voice’s rivals and the struggles the Voice faced back in 2001. What issues raised in the article are still relevant today? 

  • Eboda says: "The Voice does a lot more racism-based stories - maybe it's because they came out of the 1981 riots. But people now want to know what's going on in the mainstream community that will affect them."
3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.
  • The group already runs the Weekly Gleaner UK and free newspaper Extra from its south London headquarters, and has five titles in the US and Canada.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

The Voice asks its readers to support the publication by paying donations via PayPal

5) What adverts or promotions can you find on the Voice website? Are the adverts based on the user’s ‘cookies’ or fixed adverts? What do these adverts tell you about the level of technology and sophistication of the Voice’s website?

They use the users cookies particularly through the amount of times the user visits the website

6) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?

 There is definitely an element of public service 

7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?

Through the usage of YouTube and Instagram in order to push their campaign and get the voices of the unheard across

8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?
The media digital distribution is much more vast and so this allows niche products like the Voice to be able to considered in the higher ranks of this landscape

9) Analyse The Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

 It's definitely focused more on black working class success stories and there is less clickbait as opposed to teen vogue

10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTubechannel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?

  • Amateur production
  • Lower budget 
  • Contrasts with the professional and modern office setting that Teen Vogue often films in
  • There is a lack of direct address as the speakers seem distracted with what is going on in the background- lots of background noise

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MIGRAIN:Narrative

-
Image
Narrative Media Factsheet 14: 1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. The given example of a show using Todorov's narrative structure is Wallace and Gromit 2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a  clip  on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.  The clip that i used was season 1 episode 1 from stranger things. There is a group of boys who are playing a board game called Dungeons and Dragons. They are playing and having a great time as any child would but this is disrupted as the mother says it's time to finish the game and the friends must go home now. Mike, tries to convince his mum to let them play a little longer but she says no. As the friends leave the music increases and the fact that ...
Read more

Advertising: Assessment

-
David Gauntlett has argued against the idea that masculinity is 'in crisis'. To what extent do you believe masculinity is 'in crisis'? In your response you should refer to your Advertising and Marketing Close Study Products: the Score  hair cream advert (1967) and the Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ YouTube advert (2017). I agree with this statement as Gauntlett argues that views of gender and sexuality, masculinity and femininity, identity and selfhood, are all in slow but steady processes of change and transformation. He also highlights the differences in views on identity between young and old- e.g. on homosexuality or masculinity and argues that the mass media has become more liberal, and considerably more challenging to traditional standards and this has been a reflection of changing attitudes, but also involves the media actively disseminating modern values. Moreover, there have been significant changes in the way gender roles are represented from the 1960s to...
Read more

Advertising: Narrative in Advertising

-
Image
1) How does the advert use narrative? Apply at least three narrative theories to the text, making specific reference to specific shots or key scenes in the advert. We can apply Todorov's equilibrium and disequilibrium theory to the text. This is because each time a character talks about their struggles/ problems training for their sport in the capital. (which can be seen as disequilibrium), Nike can be seen as the equilibrium as it is introduced every time a character's issue is established. Nike is continuously reappearing in throughout the advert to make it recognisable to the audience as well as to connote that Nike can be seen as the solution to all problems. We can also apply Propp's elements of a character theory to the text. This is because Nike as the brand being promoted can be seen as the hero. The saviour to all the problems as mentioned above. The characters can be seen as the princess' who are in dire need of help.  We also apply ...
Read more