attitude - media language Flashcards
analysis of website
- black and white - sophisticated - not ‘overtly’ gay - appeals to wider audience - subverts expectations
- ‘trending’ language code - draws attention and summarises topics covered (queer icons, politics, lifestyle)
- ‘connect with us’ - hyperlinks to social media - digital convergence
- ‘subscribe’ - draw in extra revenue and frequent consumers
- global story content to create a global brand and therefore appeal to readers with interests outside
conventional features - reportage style of articles
- sense of professionalism
- serious journalists writing - sobering articles - engaging
- no patronizing tone - serious and not whimsical
- avoid cliche throughout articles
conventional features - real people
features real people reflecting the magazines appeal to the masses as a relatable product
features such as ‘real bodies’ allow the magazines readers to reflect on their own health and fitness
conventional features - ideology
content reflects and constantly reinforces the ideology of the magazine
conventional features - specialism
multiple avenues for specialism regrading different types of lifestyle attributed to the magazine
conventional features - content
serious news mixed with entertainment
theater and the arts
diverse lifestyles within the niche audience of gay men catered for to maximize appeal
conventional features - male representations
men are sexualized throughout e.g. 7 steamy pics of attitudes bold cover star
challenging conventions - exclusive interviews
most popular politicians celebs etc. - good publicity - discuss their beliefs which are parallel to the magazines
challenging conventions - long running
25+ year heritage - trusted long running publication with a solid brand reputation - attracts most popular and diverse stars
challenging conventions - aesthetic
professional look and aesthetic upheld, helped maintain popularity
challenging conventions - text within magazine
text is engaging and written in a manner which may make the reader think - enigma - ‘man jailed for 9 years for raping another man in soho bar’
challenging conventions - mainstream
become more mainstream and popular than many more conventional issue
ML establishing BI and meaning - high image to text ratio
broaden reading demographic adopting tabloid reading format - images say more than headings at the online browsing stage
ML establishing BI and meaning - shot paragraphing
maintains focus and concentration – a tactic used by tabloid journalism in order to appeal to a broader audience and younger demographic
ML establishing BI and meaning - salacious content
often used to attract those readers who are promiscuous with their sexuality
ML establishing BI and meaning - global content
create a global brand and therefore appeal to readers with interests outside of the UK
ML establishing BI and meaning - teaser headlines
used on story ‘blocks’ online to act as clickbait for browsing readers – often used in conjunction with hyperbolic language depending on the importance or seriousness of the stories content
intertextuality
Attitude often employs standard heterosexual imagery (whether used in mainstream films, adverts, etc) and subverts it accommodating homosexual imagery/slight alliteration which suggests the content will accommodate a homosexual audience
This may be in the form of an update or used as a comment on the celebrity/event which the story covers
roland barthes semiotics application - jake sheers interview
Use of eye shadow and lipstick on male to indicate his feminine nature, but juxtaposed with his stubble and military clothing connoting his masculine persona – an androgynous clash of gender attributes and something of a purposefully conflicting syntagm (large sign consisting of smaller ones – each, if considered individually with their independent meaning).
Use of a military uniform from the paradigm (sign selection) of clothing and not an item such as a less masculine cardigan or even dress which would of better paralleled his make up.
levi strauss structuralism
variety of binary oppositions exist within the stories and articles essentially using them to more completely humanize and ‘normalize’ homosexuality (to make it just as established as the hetero-norm of contemporary society) including: Old/Young, Straight/Gay, Tolerant/Intolerant, Confident/Nervous, Progressive/Regressive, Rejected/Accepted, Safe/Fearful, Homosexual/Heterosexual, Genuine/Fake, etc
jean baudrillard simulacra
idyllic version of reality as a much more accepting UK society
readers who may be situated in locations of the country with far more traditional (less open minded) widespread ideologies may struggle to reconcile with this very specific mediated simulation of a progressive society
through the proliferation of imagery and positive words of progression within Attitudes articles and features, a hyper-reality of ‘how the world should be’ is often alluded to, with its messages of equality and its promise of a brighter future
