3. Four Four Two
Representation Overview
In four four two, the vast majority of the front covers are occupied
by a positive image. This is done to set the tone for the entire
magazine. Although four four two is the most formal magazine
that I will be looking at out of the 3, its lead story pretty much
always tends to be a positive one. There is usually a cover star on
every edition of the magazine with them displaying great emotion
and happiness. Some editions focus on more serious features such
as Eden Hazard ‘On the cusp of greatness’. This shows the player
sat in a chair relaxed but focused at the same time which shows
that he is ready for the challenge of becoming one of the best
players in the world. On the other hand other editions show stars
celebrating an upcoming event such as Neymar’s feature ahead of
the World Cup 2014.
4. Match Of The Day
Representation Overview
Unlike four four two, match of the day is presented in a more
informal format. Once again, the footballers on the front of
the magazine tend to be represented positively to set the tone
for the whole magazine. This magazine is targeted at older
kids and teenagers and is a slightly more accomplished
magazine than match. Just like four four two, match of the day
frequently have a main feature on their front cover of one
specific player as seen on the right with Raheem Sterling. They
also though show numerous players on the front for one big
feature and they again are shown as either happy or focused.
These are both positive representations.
5. Match
Representation Overview
This magazine is very informal and is aimed at kids. The
representation of people is clear in this magazine as some players
are provided with a funny quote about them. These are never real
but are used to positively represent the footballer. Unlike the other
two magazines they don’t tend to focus on one footballer and
instead look at numerous footballers to place on their front cover.
Once again they are represented in a good way as they are usually
shown in a live action shot of them scoring a goal or enjoying
themselves playing the game. Match also look at battles between
certain players quite a lot. These however are positive once again
as they are in healthy competition and they will usually look at
who's the better player rather than who's the worst.
6. RepresentationAge
The age of the people shown tend to range from 17 to 35. This is the average career
span of a professional footballer. Four Four Two occasionally feature managers which
are obviously older but in general this is the average age of the people shown in the
magazine. In Four Four Two’s case their target audience matches up with the footballers
in the magazine in terms of age as 85% of their readers are from the age of 16-34.
However when it comes to the other magazines their target audience’s age do not
reflect with the footballers in the magazine. Match and Match Of the Day are targeted
at kids and this is shown in the average of their reader. Match’s average is 10 and Match
Of The Day’s is 12. In Four Four Two these people are shown as formal and that they
mean serious business. On the other hand in Match Of The Day and Match the people in
the magazine are shown more informally to coincide with their target audience. Like i
have previously mentioned Four Four Two occasionally have managers as their feature
article, which is an example when other age groups are shown, and they also sometimes
look to legends of the game to be the lead figure in their magazine. Examples of these
include Ronaldo and Klopp which are shown right. The other two magazines primarily
focus on the current day and always look to players as their main feature. This could be
done due to the fact that kids will find reading about players more interesting than
managers, and also at that age they will be less aware about legends of the game than
teenagers and young adults will be.
7. Representation
Gender
Football magazines have a clear target gender of men. It has
been proven numerous times that more men like football
than women and this is shown in their audience. 87% of
people who read Four Four Two are male and the numbers
are even higher for Match and Match Of The Day. 92% of
Match Of The Day’s readers are male whereas the count is
94% for Match. The magazines represents this gender by
showing males on the front cover all the time. There are
occasional features of Women’s football in the magazines
but it is proven that every single issue of these 3 magazines
have male footballers/managers on their front covers.
Obviously men's football is far superior to women's football
both in terms of quality and viewing totals. This is shown by
the dominant representation of male’s in the magazines.
8. Representation
Social groups and issues
Like i have previously mentioned Four Four Two tend to primarily focus on
one specific footballer to lead their magazine, but they sometimes feature
more than one footballer for their lead article. There features vary from
formal to informal. There have been examples in the past where they have
looked at specific teams such as Klopps Dortmund team. This is an example
of a formal group as they have rules and regulations, as well as official roles
assigned to members. In the past they have looked at out groups where
they show rivalry between players in comparison articles. They have also
looked at informal groups such a a group of friends. These representations
tend to be positive. Match Of The Day and Match tend to look for rivalries
to head their magazine as out groups dominate their social representation.
I will show different representations of these social groups on the next
slide. Social issues however are never represented in my magazine. Like i
have referred to many times football magazines tend to focus on the
positive aspects, so therefore because of this they don’t look at social
issues.
10. Generic CharacteristicsContent
Because these magazines are all of the same genre, they tend to focus on very similar content. In terms of
the pictures shown, Four Four two’s tend to be more formal than Match and Match Of The Day’s. Four Four
Two often go for more focused pictures to represent their articles, whereas the other two magazines go for
live action shots of the players. Overall though the photos shown in the magazine are of players.
Occasionally though there will be pictures of stadiums, cups and managers. These are usually found in Four
Four Two. Match and Match Of The Day consider their target audience and feature pictures of Fifa and
Match Attax. This also applies in terms of the types of articles shown. All 3 magazines feature a lot of
interviews with players talking about their career as well as life off the pitch, as well as features on
upcoming tournaments and player/team of the season accolades. However the target audience comes into
play with other content. Four Four Two will continue to look at formal articles considering the fact that their
average reader goes up to the age of 35. Match and Match Of The Day include features on the video game
fifa including skill tutorials and the best players to purchase. These magazines also include articles on the
trading card game Match Attax, plus giant posters and free giveaways which we will come to properly now.
When it comes to advertisements Four Four Two and the other two alter drastically. Because of the fact
Four Four Two's average readers are adults they tend to giveaways much more luxury prizes such as
holidays and free stadium tours. On the other hand because Match and Match Of The Day’s main audiences
are kids they often giveaway Match Attax cards and copies of the new instillation of Fifa.
11. Generic Characteristics
Style and Symbolism
The style of a magazine is essentially any distinctive and recognizable
way in which it is made. The style of Four four Two, Match and Match
Of The Day are fairly easy to recognise. Four Four Two is the most
distinguished and formal magazine out of the 3 and this is proven by
their target audience of 16-35. Their front cover is formatted in a
much more simplistic style to the other two in terms of the content
featured. Although it still has a typical magazine feel to it, the visual
elements are much more spaced out. Match have a lot more features
on their front cover and it is laid out with a more wacky vibe to it.
Both these magazines have a main topic for discussion on their front,
but Match have a lot more stories on their lay out than Four Four
Two. Match Of The Day is very similar to Match in this instance. The
former also display their content in an informal style and place plenty
of different visual elements on their front cover. This again fully
represents their target audience. The 3 different styles are shown on
the right. There is no clear symbolism in Football Magazines
12. Generic Characteristics
Cultural
When it comes to four four Two, they aim their magazine at people aged
from 16 to 35 and these people have their own cultural understanding. This
basically stems from the things they are interested in. Everyone who reads
these magazines like football, and the people of the older audience will be
more interested in formal article rather than tutorials on video games like the
younger audience will. The wording in Four Four Two is also much more
accomplished and include phrases that kids will not be aware of. There are
examples where this magazine show players in suits which represents the
magazine and this would not be found in Match and Match Of The Day. This
also reaffirms with their Target Audience, due to the fact that this magazine
is far from cheap. Match Of the Day and Match uses much more simplistic
terms so that their audience can understand it fully. Just like Four Four Two,
these two magazines are aimed at specific groups which have their own
cultural understanding. Their target audiences of 10 and 12 respectively are
going to be more inclined to want to look at big text and pictures rather than
detailed articles with few visual elements. To the right are examples of the
different cultural understandings that these magazines show.
13. Generic Characteristics
Technical
Every type of media text has a set of technical conventions and magazine are no different, Four four Two has
on average 190 pages and is by far the most in depth out of the 3 magazines that i am looking at. Match
magazine comes in much smaller at 80 pages where as match of the day is slightly bigger at 100. The
amount of advertising in the magazines are fairly big however the format they are laid out in are extremely
different. Four Four two advertise on separate pages whereas the other two tend to clamp it all in together
on random pages. This again represents the target audiences, in the fact that Four Four Two is aimed at
teenagers and adults while Match and Match Of The Day are aimed at kids. In terms of the ratio of text to
images Four four two focus much more on the text side of things as opposed to the others focus on images
as proven by these articles below.
14. Generic Characteristics
Changes Over Time
in the vast majority of magazines, they are constantly
evolving. However football magazines and these specific 3
have tended to stick to a very similar layout throughout
the years. Obviously the stars of the front of the
magazines are constantly changes but in general their
structure has stayed the same. To the right is Four four
Two’s change from their first issue back in 1994 to the
current day's 2017 version. I will show the same on the
next page for Match and Match Of The Day.
1994 2017
