Homework one- Content analysis

1. Katie Woodcock
Homework One – Content Analysis
I have chosento analyse the contentof a popgenre magazine asthis
iswhat I hope to produce formy portfolio.The magazine Ichose was
‘Girl talk’.
Main Sections
There are manysectionstothismagazine, asit isaimedat a target
audience of younggirls.Therefore,the contenthastoappeal to
them. One of the main sectionsinthismagazine isthe interviews
withpopstars as seenonthe frontcover,such as RitaOra and
Megan Trainor. Thiswill appeal tothe targetaudience astheywould
wantto get to know more aboutthe artiststhat theylove tolisten
to. Anotherbigsectionof thismagazine isthe postersthatare in the
veryfrontand back. The specificonesare of popstar ‘Megan
Trainor’and popularYouTuber‘Zoella’.Again,the targetaudienceof
younggirlswill be familiarwiththese peoplesowill be enticedtobuythismagazine.Theyare also
shownonthe frontcoverwhichis an evenbiggergiveawayastowhat isinside. A lastfew mainsections
isthat in the middle of Girl talk,theyhave publishedadouble page spreadwithimagesof younggirls
showingoff the latesttrendsthattheirfashionartisticonmayhave beenwearing.Thisengagesthe
target audience asthisissomethingthatpeople aroundtheirage will be interestedin. Theyhave also
includedaquizon‘The XFactor’ whichiscurrentlybeingairedonthe TV before the watershed;so
again,the younggirlswill knowwhatthe show isabout.Theywill be able tointeractwiththe show
whilsthavingareadon the backgroundinformationwhichisnotnecessarilyspokenaboutonthe TV.
What the articles are about
Due to thisbeinga magazine forquite a youngaudience of 6-12 yearolds,there are not many
conventional style,longpage articlesthatyouwouldnormallysee.However,theyhave still included
them,butin a waythat the girlsreadingwouldenjoyreadingandunderstand. One of the firstarticlesin
the magazine iswithinasectioncalled‘GUESSWHAT!’ whichhasall the latestnewsandgossipfrom
variousgroups.It’san article abouthowto get Emily’shairfromthe CBBC programme ‘The NextStep’.
The target audience will be veryfamiliarwiththisprogramme asmostof themwill watchit.As well as
this,itfitsintothe genre of thismagazine well asit’sadance programme. The nextarticle isaboutJessie
fromLittle Mix and Jake fromRixtongettingengaged. Thisgivesbackgroundinformationintoartists
fromthese bands that the readerswouldbe familiarwith. Asthispage isa double page spread,onthe
opposite side,the publishershave chosentoproduce some articlesrelatedtothe Disney Company.
These articleswill have beenwrittenforthe youngeraudience of thismagazine,asopposedtothe
gossiponesbeingwrittenforthe oldestreaders. The specificcharacterstheyhave usedare onesfrom
‘Frozen’ asthe article isabout the newFrozen2 that will be outsoon.WhenFrozenwas released,the
girlswhoare withinthe targetaudience of thismagazine wentcrazy,therefore the publishershavebeen

2. verysneakychoosingtouse thiswithinthe magazine toincrease the amountof consumerismtheyget
by it. Ontothe nextpages,the articlesincludemore of animage ratioto text.Thisiscommon in a
magazine aimedatyoungerchildrenastheybecome more engagedinsomethingwhichtheycanlook
at; not justread. There are lotsof quizzespublishedthroughoutthe magazine whichrelateto
characters andpeople thatthe audience will be familiarwithsuchas‘The X Factor’ and ‘Disney’. The last
typesof articlesare onesthat are titled‘CelebConfessions’and‘Stuff We Love’.Bothof these
mastheadshelptoengage the audience astheywanttofindout more.The stuff we love breaksdown
intosectionssuchas ‘Tv,Films,Events, ShoppingandApp’.All the productsincludedare products that
the audience canrelate tosuch as ‘LegoFriends’and‘100 thingsto dobefore HighSchool’.The Celeb
Confessionsgivesaconfessionfromabout6 differentcelebritiesthatthe targetaudience shouldbe
familiarwith.Examplesof the celebritiesare NiallHoran,Leigh-Anne fromLittleMix andLiamPayne.
The target audience is quite obsessedwiththese peoplesowill lovereadingsomethingaboutthemthat
theyhave neverknownbefore.
What Band and Artists are Included?
As thismagazine is more female-leaning,the ratioof female tomale bandsandartistsisn’tequal.There
are manymore femalesincludedsuchasMegan Trainor,KatyPerry,Little Mix and RitaOra. These are
artiststhat both genderswouldbe familiarwith,however,younggirlswouldbe the type of peoplethat
wouldwantto readabout themandknow more aboutthemthan justwhotheyare andwhat type of
musicproduce.YoungBoys are stereotypicallythoughtof asnotwantingto reada magazine like this,
however,asthe publishershave chosentoinclude maleartists,theymightdecide toreadthisspecific
magazine fromthisline-up. Incomparisontothis,the male artistsandbandsfeaturedare OllyMurs and
One DirectionmembersNiall HoranandLiamPayne.Asyou can tell,the magazine isdefinitelymore
aimedat females,butyoucantell thatjustby lookingatthe front cover. All the bandsandartistsused
are inthe pop genre whichiswhatI wantedto analyse soI know what to include inmymagazine.They
are alsowell knownandsuccessful whichwillentice people toreadaboutthemmore.
What Types Of Products Are Advertised?
There are lotsof productsadvertisedinthisMagazine;infacttheytake up at leasthalf of the pagesof
the contents.Whenthe readerpurchasesthismagazine,theyare givenfree giftsalmostlikethe
publishersare sayingthankyoutothemfor buyingit.The giftsthatcame withthisspecificissue were
Pinkfake glassesanda lipbalm.These relate tothe targetaudience due tothemprobablyjuststarting
to wearmake-upandwouldintrigue themintobuyingthe magazine evenmore amongstthe others.The
typesof products beingadvertisedwithinthe contentof the magazine are School essentialssuchas a
watch,a juice beakeranda backpack.Thisrelatestothe target audience asmost of themwill be starting
a new, or theirlastyearat a primaryschool.Theywill all wanttobuy thingslike thistomake their
school yeara goodone,sowill like lookingthroughthissection.The publishershave alsochosentolay
themout inan orderedlayoutandevenputthe price and where the productisfrom nexttoit.This
makesiteasierforthe target audience togo outa buythe certainproducts. There isalso a competition
whichadvertises the newNintendoDSandsome of its new games.Thiswouldintrigue the gamers
amongstthe target audience.Opposite thispage isan‘Adoptadolphin’advertisement.Thiswould

3. intrigue the animal loverswhoreadthe magazine. A doublepage spreadmodelsyounggirlsshowingoff
the latestnewtrends.Again,the publishershave putinsmall textwhere theyare fromandthe price in
orderfor the girlsto go out andfindwhattheyare interestedineasilywhenshopping. Manicure sets
are alsoadvertisedasthe publisherswouldknowthateveryyounggirl likestohave theirnailspainted
whentheyare young. Girl Talkcaters foreverytype of person,girlsmostly,astheywill definitelyfind
somethingwhich theyare interestedin,withinthismagazine. Theyhave chosentoinclude partsfrom
everyside of the scale,whichshowshow muchresearchthe publishersputintothismagazine,before
puttingitall together.