The document summarizes how a magazine represents young people aged 17-28. It represents them as creative, clever, and free-thinking individuals through the dress, age of models, bands featured in the magazine, and advertisements for new music. The magazine portrays young people in a positive light through fashionable vintage clothing, natural makeup, photographs in window scenes featuring musical instruments, and artistic font styles. This challenges stereotypes of young people as anti-social binge drinkers who cause trouble and are going nowhere. Though the magazine targets a specific age group, it aims to be accessible to all cultures and religions.

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

2. Who is being represented in my magazineMy target audience is young people (from teenagers to young adults aged 17-28) I feel this was demonstrated through several different aspects; dress, age of model and band and the bands represented and that the magazine mainly advertises new music. I did this to represent them as creative, clever and free thinking individuals. I think this is a fair representation because it shows an alternative representation in comparison to stereotypical anti-social young people.

3. How I have represented young people in my magazineThere are several ways in which I chose to represent young people, through image location, dress and make-up and font style. The dress style was fashionable but vintage/bohemian and not ‘chavvy’; the make up was very discreet and natural; the location of the photograph was in a window scene, and not in a crowded busy place, with an acoustic guitar (acoustic guitars connote more of a natural and quieter sound) and this shows the model to be skilful as she can play the guitar and piano (shown on double page spread) and the font styles are nearly all unusual and arty. All of these aspects connote young people as creative, smart, free and individual thinking people showing alternative representation for young people. These stereotypes show young people in a negative light , who go to university and college and binge drink and party while causing havoc to local areas.

4. My picture expresses emergent ideology as the young person in my photograph is shown wearing different clothing that’s bright and individual and she is playing a piano with a guitar in the background. All of these aspects connote my young person as happy, clever and skilful, challenging dominant ideology. Through the representation in the magazine this will give society the perception that the majority will be aspirers with the some radicals and some possible underachievers, they will be slightly higher on the jicnars scale (C2,C1,B) and represent social values of hedonists and post-modernists. This picture expresses dominant ideology as this is how young people are viewed by society, as intimidating, anti – social, binge drinkers, drug users and smokers who cause nothing but trouble and are going nowhere. Wearing mainly in tracksuits with little care as to others and only think of themselves and branded as in the infamous ‘hoodies’. These young people will be stereotyped to be in the C2, D, E sections of the jicnars scale with post-materialist values of society and be all round underachievers.

5. Even though I have represented young people in a positive light. By having absent representation of different religions/cultures/ages this does not make them insignificant. It is not necessary for my magazine to be specific to a certain culture or religion, because of this I think it highlights how even though there is a target audience for my magazine it is accessible and Reader friendly to everyone.