How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social

groups?By Janet Bargmann

The word “representation” shows the way in which someone or something has been portrayed.

In media terms, it would be the way in which the object or the text is approached by the creators and how it is put across to the audience and how they view it.

“Representation”

For example, my front cover shows the main image of an all-girl-rock-band, as well as cover lines which mention bands like Paramore, Biffy Clyro and You Me at Six. These bands are well known to the public, and are very popular in the world of rock music so I thought that it would entice the readers to see what else Uprising has to offer.My pricing is £2.40,

and $4.00, which represents different classes- the magazine isn’t too expensive, so people aren’t limited by their social class. The UK and America are also multi-cultural, and I think it is important especially today, to be respectful and considerate of all races.

In the main image, the girls are wearing black and white clothing, and nothing that is very exposing or provocative. I did this because I wanted to show that it’s all about the music and they represent people, particularly women, who use their looks to sell their product. It makes them role models, especially for young women and teenagers.

The variety in fonts helps to show the different genres I am representing in my magazine.

Personally, I think it would be a successful magazine as it would appeal to more than one type of social group. I also have included a Facebook/Twitter link at the bottom, as social media is a very popular way for media to be advertised to many social groups online.

In my contents page, I have included an even bigger variety of bands- some include Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Halestorm, who produce music that is hard rock.As I wanted it to appeal to a wide range of people, and both genders, I wanted to have female fronted bands (like Paramore and Utopia) as well as all-male bands.

I know that people like more than one band so I tried to include many of the sub-genres in rock because I like to read magazines that aren’t always based around the same bands.

The colour scheme is mainly black and yellow, which could connote something to beware of. On the other hand, I think the two colours together make the magazine neutral- neither for men nor women specifically.

The image of myself as the editor makes it a bit more personal, and the audience can see who it is that has created this magazine. I thought by pulling a face, it could come across as humorous and easy-going, and not the stereotypical rock fan.

The photo of Jared Leto entices the reader, as it shows a world famous star and lets the readers connect with other fans through their images of live gigs.

My double page spread is based around Utopia, an all-female rock band. I think that this can represent social groups, because many people relate rock music to being more masculine and they make the presumption that women can’t necessarily be rock stars. Even though there are bands such as Halestorm and Paramore who are fronted by women, and bands like Neon Trees and the White Stripes who have a female drummer, there aren’t very many bands who are all-female and I think that rock is known for being rebellious and going against the social norm. With this in mind, I thought that having Utopia would be good because I know that there are many rock fans who understand that it’s good to be different and to stand out and an all-female rock band can be just as successful as an all-male band.

Having the “most successful female band… of all time” implies that this genre has been quite male dominated in the past.

The quote “we’re gonna take the world by storm!” suggests that they are on a road to success and it makes the reader think that anything can be possible.

The “Quick Questions” makes the reader more involved, and by including their inspirations, can make the reader feel they have something in common with the band if they like the same genres. By giving advice, it can make young readers have self belief.

Having images of the band in a recording session represents how they are true to their music. There are also comments on each photo, generally quite funny which is a convention of some rock magazines such as KERRANG!

I don't want to stereotype certain genres within my magazine so it appeals more for certain social groups than others, because there are young people who are in their early teens who like listening heavy metal as well as indie or alternative rock, so that is why I have tried to include a variety of sub-genres to make this a magazine for more than one group of people. I think this could be a way for people of different ages and backgrounds to have something in common with each other.