This is my second analysis of an existing double-page spread, as part of my AS Media Studies coursework.

1. Analysis of an Existing Magazine Double-Page Spread #2
The purpose of this article is to portray a bit of gossip that occurs within the football
‘universe’. The context of this article is about the feuds that have taken place between
footballers; this article has counted down the top ten most interesting and “gossip-
worthy” feuds. It is a known fact that audiences consume drama and fights, as
witnessed in many forms of media. The fights are there to convey the message that
football does include drama, which can relate it to reality television (for instance ‘Big
Brother’ and it could attract that audience to read this article, as they are presumably
accustomed to this type of drama). These types of fights would often also attract social
media attention and the fact that magazines provide the article can help with their public
relations. This would help the increase in magazine sales.
The readers will be engaged by the article due to the fact of the public’s yearn for
drama. As mentioned above, it is my understanding that readers are attracted to stories
that don’t portray formality (broadsheet), but they would find the tabloid method of
reporting to be very sufficient. Again, it is to my understanding that tabloids or gossip
columns are often the most read columns in a magazine. It would also integrate both
football fans (who know the sports and players) and people who enjoy gossip to read the
magazine, which would boost its sales. In addition to that, football fans would still
purchase the magazine because it includes the latest in football news that fans wouldn’t
want to miss and might also feature exclusives.
The images are nothing special in this aspect. There are pictures of confrontations
between two footballers on occasion; there are pictures of footballers that are
emotionally hurt or just plainly angry. There are also pictures of football club’s logos.
The main body of text acts as an anchorage (how meaning is fixed, as in how a caption

2. fixes the meaning of a picture) so the pictures match the text exactly so they have no
hidden meanings. The pictures are used, in the case of the footballer, to identify them
because their name might not be too familiar with audiences as opposed to picture
identification. It allows the magazine to tackle the ambiguous feelings that readers might
have in terms of identifying certain players, as football has such a vast amount of
players.
The mode of address is very unorthodox. It does show some amount of formal
conventions; the informality comes from the tabloid/gossip front. Due to the use of slang
words, and censored swear words, the article uses tabloid conventions in that way, but
the fact that they are censored might show that they are a bit formal. The formality also
comes from the use of quotations in articles to sight the arguments and to confirm that
it is not the magazine who are saying these words, but is coming from the interviewee
(the actual person who said the words), the use of quotations marks is imperative
because if it is not used or used out of context, the magazine could lose its credibility.
If I were to produce this article, I would involve more clear buzzwords… there is a great
emphasis of the buzzwords onto the conventional dramatic words. I would want to make
sure that more words are highlighted so that a variety of readers could be attracted to
the article. Another factor I would change is how small the font is, it wouldn’t be easy for
some fans (especially senior citizen football fans) to read the text, which is all cramped
up and small in font size, I would change the font size so that it would be easier to read.
There are buzzwords that are used in this novel, words that are inadequate and present
all the dramatic conventions such as slang words used in this article (they are censored
but they still are highlighted). The use of colour and dramatic terms would emphasise on
the fact that the readers have to read this article and it draws them in specifically
because of the use of slang terms. In addition to that (in my understanding) slang terms
have become very common within modern day context that includes sporting and
culture. It has often been described as a ‘catalyst’ for a fight between players, clubs and
even managers, with that knowledge, magazines use censored slang words (due to
magazine companies being aware of young football fan readers and wanting them not to
be exposed to such content) to often show rifts between two athletes and a slang term
used against the other often portrays a battle of insults.