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

                                                                                    The social group I represented with my magazine is teenage and young women. Within this, the main social group I chose to represent is Individuals. My magazine is based on mostly indie rock/pop music which is often a fairly individual style and doesn't always follow mainstream bands. This would appeal to my individual audience as it helps them stay individual and keep their own style. Inside the magazine are fashion pages which allows them to be inspired and for them to create their own fashion style. As the majority of my target audience are young they are likely to have their own style and want to be individual. I think the demographic profile of my audience would be single, living in a detached house (with or without parents), be well educated and to fall into the B C1,C2 categories on the socio-economic scale.I have tried to represent this audience by using an image of a girl reading a book. This implies that she is studious and educated like my audience. She is also a similar age to my audience meaning they will be able to relate to her.

The image above shows the differences and similarities between my magazine and another in a similar style. I chose to use a black and white image for my front cover as I thought it would appeal to my audience and they would appreciate the artistic side of the image. The magazine I'm comparing it to,  has also used a black and white photograph. It is similar to mine not only because of the colour of the image but also because the models who are in the photo. The models are looking away from the camera but all are smiling creating a positive mood towards the audience and the magazine. This may draw the audience in as they are intrigued to find out what the models are looking at. Another similarity is there clothes. They are all wearing smart dark clothes which adds to the dark tones of the image. Wearing dark clothes may help attract a slightly older audience as it is more formal and mature compared to someone wearing yellow. The distance and camera angle the photo has been taken at is slightly different but they are both long shots meaning you can see their whole body on both images. The locations are different. I chose to take my photo in a park as it adds to the artistic feel of the photo. The other is more basic with less going on in the background possibly drawing the audience's attention to the model's featured. I didn't use slang in my article as it is aimed to higher educated and higher class people which are less likely to use slang language.Also, I imagine my audience to be aspirers so they aspire to be intelligent and appreciate being addressed to like an adult. I haven't represented any race or class in anyway. However, i do expect a higher class audience to read my magazine and have tried to make it appeal to them. I may have stereotyped girls slightly as I used a pink colour for the title of my magazine making it appeal to my female audience. Also, by including fashion, I guess I could be stereotyping girls again as I assume they will enjoy this. However, I do not think that it is an unfair stereotype and comes across as positive in my magazine as these features would appeal to my target audience.

I think my magazine is slightly pro-consumerist as it contains fashion pages which would include names of shops and would encourage the audience to buy from there. It also includes a competition and a technology review allowing you to win/read reviews of different 'Apple' products. This may encourage my audience to buy some of their products as well as the adverts that would be included in  the magazine.