Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In Essay Form

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

    My media product does represent particular social groups in many ways; firstly the age it is targeted, my magazine is for the aspiring young teenager towards the mid aged average age, (roughly 15-25). The main representations of an average 18year old would be quite modern news which would be featured in the magazine, news which is based on current artists who would be considered in the charts. Teenagers are often associated with quite hectic things, so a plain layout of my magazine wouldn’t take much of a shine to particular social groups. The front cover of my magazine is made to catch the eye of the reader, and the colours, layouts and the cover overall is quite representational of certain social groups in my opinion. For the gender which my magazine is aimed at, it would most commonly be male based as that is a type of social group I think I have successfully represented, the main articles in my magazine are of male based content and the type of genre as a whole is mainly stereotypical male based, as it is hip-hop/rap genre. For the social class which I think I have represented, as my magazine is a weekly magazine and therefore would be fairly cheap when compared to a monthly magazine, it would be suitable for all classes, but mainly middle/working class. In my magazine front cover, the font types used are of an edgy style as they are kept fairly different to the main simple types of fonts used, also as my tag line used, is a fairly simple phrase which teenagers can catch on and also see how that’s used on the front cover. The tag line is: “reflecting your vibe” and there’s shown a reflection of the phrase which puts emphasis on the actual tag line itself. The connotations of my magazine are what similar to the social group I am representing, connotations such as…

• Bold
• Modern
• Makes a statement
• Unique

    These are similar qualities which 21^st century teenagers (mainly male, as that is the gender my magazine is focused on) are often trying to be like or already are, which is why they will have the most to relate to this magazine, and therefore it will be of most interest to them too and also as the price would be fairly cheap (£2) this will widen the range of consumers willing to purchase my magazine.

    The costumes used in my magazine, do in fact relate to my type of magazine as they are wearing quite casual clothing which is how my social groups should be like and not made to dress up and to just look natural in their clothing so the audience can see their style of clothing and if it relates to them which it should, then the targeted social groups can relate to this, furthermore encouraging them to buy the magazine. The facial expressions of the people used in my magazine are also made to fit the theme of the magazine as the facial expressions are often quite serious, as hip-hop/rap enthusiasts are often quite serious people too and again, this can relate to the specific social groups.