The document discusses representations in media of different social groups related to jazz music. It notes that jazz magazines typically represent jazz musicians as older, middle-class males. Younger people and women are rarely depicted. The author's magazine challenges these dominant representations by featuring a young woman on the cover and including a fashion spread. It also challenges stereotypes of younger people as uninterested in education by profiling a hard-working, educated young woman focused on her future rather than partying. The magazine aims to appeal to younger audiences interested in education.

1. Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

2. DOMINANT REPRESENTATIONJazz musicians are often represented in magazines as part of the older generation, because of when the genre of music was most popular. They are often seen to be middle class, well dressed and well mannered people – dominantly male. Young people, in jazz magazines are an absent representation – and women are almost never seen. However, jazz magazines represent people of different ethnic groups. Dominant representation occurs on the contents page of my magazine with the image to the right of the page, of an older man, who is well dressed in a suit jacket. ALTERNATIVE REPRESENTATIONMy magazine challenges these dominant representations – first enforced by having a young female on the front page of the magazine. This is something you would almost never see in a jazz focused magazine, and “Wire”, the modern music magazine I did research into, very rarely uses a young female for a front cover. The double page spread shows a fashion side to the magazine – with the bright red tights challenging the sleek look that most people would consider for a jazz musician.

3. STEREOTYPESYoung people in today’s society are often seen as being uninterested in the environment around them. They are more concerned about partying than the education side of life. “Live for now and not for the future”. This is dominant ideology as this is the majority of peoples views on young people.

4. CHALLENGING DOMINANT IDEOLOGYMy magazine challenges dominant ideology by presenting an alternative representation of young people. I have shown used images to show a much more “neatly put together” image for the younger generation. The article for my double page spread uses a lot of text, and focuses on a highly educated young woman, who is hard working and doesn’t often have time for the partying life-style. Although my magazine is aimed at a lower socio-economic class than you would usually expect a jazz magazine to be aimed at. It is there for the young people who enjoy education, reading, and gaining knowledge in life for the future.