Generic Research Case Study: Inside Soap

1. INSIDE SOAP
Hearst’s Entertainment Magazine: Background
and Case Study Analysis

2. INSIDE SOAP
• Hearst’s entertainment magazine is ‘Inside Soap’. It is a
weekly UK magazine which is published every Tuesday
(although this frequency was originally monthly when it
was first published in October 1992 – this is pure cultural
evidence as to how much society has an increasing need
for television and media in their personal lives.)
• They include updates and information on soaps including
but not limited to: EastEnders, Coronation Street,
Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.
• The content they state to include is:
• - Behind the scenes access
• - Big name interviews
• - In depth coverage of all the ‘hottest’ storylines

3. AN ANNOTATED EXAMPLE OF
A CONVENTIONAL HEARST
ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE
Slight stroke has been used
around the masthead itself,
seems to be a common
convention for entertainment
ang gossip magazines, gives a
fun but cheap and almost ‘tacky’
looking representation
All of the subheadings are in
bright and bold colours and
capitalized fonts.
Emphasis has been put on the
dramatic, ‘standing out’ factor
and the enigmatic statements
in order to initially attract the
audiences rather than focusing
on the quality of the articles
and information being
published for them!
Rule of three has been used when
describing the magazine itself, for
simplicity and effective attraction of
readers, ‘every story, every secret, every
week’.
All the
subheadings are
within the
semantic field of
death or violence,
which is a typical
dramatic
convention of
most television
soaps which are
broadcast post-
watershed due to
their content. They
are also in an
orange font, which
arguably connotes
the colour of fire
or anger, further
backing up the
violent theme.
Text has been put
inside coloured
boxes to make it
easier to read,
another typical
convention of
entertainment
magazines.
Every person is
giving the audience
direct mode of
address, connoting
confidence but also
theatrical and
dramatic themes.
Not all
entertainment
magazines give
direct mode of
address, but it is a
typical convention
adopted by those
relating specifically