The document discusses how the media product, a music magazine, represents various social groups. It notes that the three models featured were white male teenagers, representing the intended male audience. It acknowledges that the music industry and survey respondents were primarily male. It also notes the lack of diversity in gender, ethnicity, age and social class represented in the small sample of models, but aims to feature a broader range of groups throughout the magazine, limited by the demographics of the location. The document discusses challenges in representing various groups and how stereotypes were considered in the representation.

1. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
For the three models that featured across my four pages, all three of themwere white, male
teenagers so this immediately suggests that this groupof people is my primary audience.
Gender
Arguably, the music scene, I feel, is dominated by men.
This means that when a sample of musicians is taken to
appear in a magazine and represent the industry, it is
likely that there will be a higher proportion of men. In
addition, the market research I performed was primarily
answered by men, so the results of my survey reflected a
mainly male opinion, meaning I should target themas
their contributions mostly influenced the decisionsI made
regarding the magazine. The most effective way of
targeting a particular audienceis to represent themin the
magazine therefore I have used only males. However, my
intention was never to completely excludefemales frommy magazine. These
are just three models that appeared in four pages out of an 80 page
publication so it is an unfortunate example. Throughoutmy magazine I would
have had an ideal ratio of 3 male models for every female. Another more
practical reason is I didn’t have much access to female models as they aren’t
any suitable candidates in my friendship group. As for the way in which I presented my product
to epitomise males in the media, I chose not to in anyway sexualise the models as it is instead
often done with women models for the male’s gaze- had I included women artists then it could
have been a possibility. Instead I focused more on their abilities and actions rather than looks
which is a typical representationof men in the media. Furthermore, the style of the article on
the double-page-spread reflectsthe interests of a male as there is
less focus on feelings/ emotions linking into escapism, which is more
likely to be found in a gossip tabloid for women, and more
concentration on facts and field-specific terminology. Also, on my
front cover I used semantic fields, for example: Samu.L.Bond ‘erupts’
back onto the scene with ‘Vesuvius’ and he ‘spills’ all, ‘Second Heist’
‘steal’ the show, there is also a link with ‘wanted’ artists and a picture
of one having a mug shot taken. These semantic fields (crime, natural
disaster and police) have more masculine connotationsand are more appropriate for a male
audience.

2. Ethnicity
Once again I have represented only one ethnicity with the use of my
models and this is White British. Generally, in music there is quite a
diverse range of backgrounds- we see a lot of African American
artists especially in genres such as R&B and Pop, howeverthe
ethnicity holds less of a share in the Indie/ Alternative category I
went for. It is a similar situation as with the gender where I would use
minorities elsewhere in the issuebut my three examples do not fairly
embody what would feature in the rest of the magazine. My survey
did not include a question about ethnicity so I cannot identify any
other than the obvious White British. Representing only one race
could be problematic as it fails to connect/ relate to others therefore deterringthemfrom
buying the product. Realistically, the only other commonly reoccurring ethnicitiesfor this genre
are African American and Scandinavian. I would have included models with these backgrounds
but unfortunately there is not much diversity in York so it is difficult to get hold of models. This
lack of diversity may not be a problem depending on where the
product is distributed though. For example if it is only to be
distributed locally then it may not be as big a problem as if it
were dispersed nationally to large cities which have much higher
levels of ethnic minorities (London, Birminghametc.). The
language I used is Standard English, rather than any kind of
slang or American variety as White Brits are generally presented
as being more educated and therefore using more Standard
English than perhaps those of African American descent who are
seen as stereotypically being part of an embedded speech community.
Age
I have used teenagers for my music magazine to directly
represent the audience. The magazine’s USP is the focus on
young, upcoming artists which to some extent goes to explain
the young ages of the models. I don’t have access to more
mature models (21-35 years old) as I am in a college
environment, however if I did, I would have featured them. This is because regardless of the fact
I have a young target audience, some of the most successful Indie artistsare older and I
concluded you would want to hear about a big musician in your favourite genre despite age a
10 year age difference. It also gives thema mature figure to look
up to. Considering my young audience I have challenged many
representations by decidingto use a sophisticated approach and
treat themmore as if they are adults. It means I use more complex
lexis and grammar as I feel they have been educated enough to
understand it. The design is also sleek and simplistic whereas
many others publishers would have chosen an intense, packed
style with lots of content piled on. I have challenged the
stereotypical representation of teenagers by showing themas
successful with one being the main feature of my magazine, and

3. also reflectiveon their past experiences with his quote “Fame had distorted my view of what
was genuinely important”.
Social Group
My magazine is aimed for those who do (or want to) belong in
the indie culture. This social group prides themselveson being
individual and are representedin the media as quite cool and
sometimes eccentric. I have represented this eccentricity with
one model wearing a sheet of paper with holes for the eyes and
mouth, over his face. It is this quirky style that provokes curiosity
and has become an almost unconventional convention for the
Indie lifestyle. They’ve also got a reputation for being highly
knowledgeable about music to the point of being arrogant so it
is important to use lots of terminology and show a
knowledgeable understanding of music. Consequently, because of their concentration on
content there is no need to sexualisemodels unlike with Pop. Instead, models are posing in a
way which shows a confliction of emotions as Indie
followers are stereotypically seen as beingmore open with
their emotions and would be more enticed by someone
they can relate to. My use of black and white photography
on the front cover is another stylistic feature commonly
used for/ by an indie demographic as it connotes an
abnormal attitude or outlook on life. As Indie is all about
avoiding the mainstreamand being the first to discover
artists, I have included mainly unknown acts and put great
emphasis on the potential side of things (my tagline
epitomises that, as does the cover lineregarding wanted
artists). Indie followersthrive off of this exclusivity. I
represented this social group by having a concentration on emotions.
Class
It is difficult to assign a class to my young audience as it is
likely they do not have a full-time job and their status is
instead based on their family. However, generally Indie fans
belong in the middle class, this is supported by their
tendencies to have expensive, unique fashion and an
educated but pretentious approach to music. The middle
class is represented in the media through: use of Standard
English therefore less dialect and colloquialisms, a witty tone if the topic is not serious as they
enjoy more sophisticated humour (rather than slapstickgags)
and fully dressed models though not necessarily formally
dressed as long as it is stylish. I feel I have conformed to these
representations with my final product. Furthermore, the colour
scheme of black, white and red that I exercised is a classy,
tasteful, mature palette rather than the garish yellows and blues
commonly found in publications aimed at a lower class of

4. people. The hidden positioning and small size of the price on the front cover shows it is not
trying to be sold through low prices as this can give the brand a cheap image which I wanted to
avoid.