media evaluation

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

2. My magazine is aimed at teenagers and young
adults around the ages of 18-25. In the media this
group of people are represented quite badly with
the majority living away at university partying all
the time and living in messy and dirty
accommodation. My magazine however challenges
this as it is kept very organised and tidy with a
simple colour scheme and style. I have done this
by using black and white with a splash of blue
(from my audience research) and also by leaving
quite a lot of whitespace in the background of my
magazine to avoid it looking cluttered and messy.
Also, by including information about festivals and
collaborations with Smirnoff (alcohol brand) as well
as club nights it makes my audience appear fun
loving and happy. I have immediately appealed to
those that enjoy these activities as I have included
it on my front cover as coverlines to interest
readers.

3. My target gender I have aimed my product
as is quite neutral as there was 65% female
and 35% male, therefore I tried to appeal to
both sexes. To do this I have used a simple
colour scheme but also included blues and
purples and they are quite gender neutral
colours. My audience themselves also voted
for these colours and since the majority were
female it would appear it is what appeals to
them as well as males. The class of my
audience was defined by 78% ABC1 which
suggests the majority are all middle-class,
therefore I have used a stylish look and
clothing on my models as that may be
something that appeals to them. Also, by
keeping the magazine looking professional
and uncluttered it further challenges
stereotypes of that social group being messy
and lazy. I also had my cover model
appearing quite serious so that people also
took my magazine seriously which is the
opposite of how the media often conveys
that social group.

4. The models I used represent the social
group I was appealing to because I
used a mixture of males and females
all around the same age as my target
audience. This makes them appear
relatable to the target audience and
by having some looking happy and
some serious they all appeal to each
reader quite well as some images are
quite light-hearted and fun but others
and more serious and professional.
This challenges stereotypes in the
media of this social group as the
media represents them as slobs and
miserable yet here the models I used
look professional and happy or quite
serious to give that social group
something to look up to perhaps.