Task 4: IPC Case Study

IPC is a magazine publisher with over 60 iconic magazines. IPC are a successful company that have experience in publishing and have been around for over 150 years. Originally, the IPC company was three different publishing companies, but then all three of them joined together in 1968. They first started publishing their first music magazine (NME) in the 50's. This means they have over 60 years of music magazine publishing experience. NME was recently celebrated to have it's 60 years celebration issue. It is also a british publishing company. According to Wikipedia: IPC Media groups its current titles under three magazine divisions each focusing on a core audience.

• Connect — mass market women
• SouthBank — upmarket women
• Inspire — men

                                                   

It's iconic titles include 

 What types of magazine and target audiences has IPC been associated with over the years?
IPC now has a wide range of magazines. The genres lead from music, woman, TV, sporting, home care, animal care, men's magazines, etc. The early magazines published in the 1800's ranged from country life, yachting, cycling, shooting and photography. These magazines where aimed at older audiences, however as the company has changed and more magazines have been published, their target audience has widened to a broader variety. However, with the exception of a few magazines such as 'Nuts' and 'NME' most of the magazines published are aimed at older audiences, such as 'Country Living' and 'Woman's Own'.

Why Might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine?        
IPC would be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine because at the moment they are only publishing around two major music magazine titles. This means that there would be a market for another music magazine, as they are not already publishing a lot.

What sorts of genres/music types of magazines might they be likely to publish?
There could be a space available for classical music magazine publishing, this is because most of the publications by IPC are aimed at older people and there are no classical music magazines being published by IPC. There could also be another opportunity to publish an alternative music magazine, because not a lot of young people like NME's style of reporting and writing.

Why Might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate? 
Bauer could be considered appropriate because it is publishing less magazines than IPC, and they are not currently publishing any music magazines, so there would not be any competition within the publishing group for music magazines. However, the Bauer company mainly focuses on publishing magazines such as puzzle magazines like su-duko and crossword books, also TV magazines. This also means they are not as well known for their publishing.

Task 3: To What Extent Should Magazines Be Held Responsible For The Social Ramifications Of The Representations They Offer?

To What Extent Should Magazines Be Held Responsible For The Social Ramifications Of The Representations They Offer?

This 'Cosmo Girl' magazine is aimed at young teenagers. This is proved because of the main article advertised is about 'Hottest back to school looks.' This gives a representation that going to school is about looking good, and that girls should strive hard to look 'hot' going back to school. Also Vanessa Hudgens is shown on the cover, giving a flawless image. Through young teens, presumably going through puberty, this could cause stress because of the strive to look as attractive and appealing as Vanessa Hudgens is portrayed as on the cover. Also, the media has been criticised to use photo shopping to edit out flaws, giving young teens an unachievable target on how to look, also adding pressure. The articles shown on this cover gives tips on how to be a 'great kisser', and there is also a quiz 'Are you too easy' which is not appropriate for younger audiences.







This 'Cosmo Girl' magazine includes Megan Fox on the cover, who is considered a 'sex symbol'. This also could be considered to make girls strive to be like her, which is almost unachievable for young girls, adding further stress. Also, the magazine gives tips on ow to have 'Moves for a bikini body' and a 'Swimsuit for your shape' This could be considered to be 'sexualising' young teens because of the strive to look good in a swimsuit. Also, there is an article 'I caught him cheating, what would YOU do?' This article appears to present young teens with adult relationship problems. This could also put girls under pressure to have a relationship, even if they are at a young age.







 The 'More' magazine is aimed at slightly older audiences than young teens, this is shown because of the 'How to have supersex' article, also, the budget for the holiday outfits article is £30 which shows it is aimed at people with a higher income than young teens, even if it is not a lot. As this magazine is also read by teens, it could encourage and pressurise them to become more sexually active at a younger age which could lead them to make decisions that could potentially be regretted. Also the outfits and people advertised in the magazine are very revealing and dressed up. This encourages people to dress more provocatively. It also gives girls high expectations of what they feel they should look and dress like, most of which are not practical or achievable. This could lead to depression or anxiety for not looking like the models on the cover.





The bliss magazine is similar to the 'Cosmo Girl' which is aimed at young teenage girls. One of the featured stories is 'Vodka made her a nightmare' which suggests that young teens are going out drinking and getting drunk at a young age, the way that the magazine presents it is about what boys think about drunk girls. The magazine cover shows it as a normal thing. There is also a story about a young girl taking drugs, which may not be an appropriate article for young teens to read even if it is encouraging them away from drugs. Also there is a story about someone being 'Paid to be a stalker' which is not usual for someone and if the article is read by someone of a young age it could potentially cause them distress. Also there are articles of celebrities talking about their love lives, which is something that would not interest traditional young girls, but now magazines have introduced the idea of a love life to girls, it has encouraged them to have an interest in these affairs, which leads to girls wanting a 'love life' of their own, even if they are at a young age. This could cause stress and upset for young girls, and young girls will have difficulty with boys the same age as them because at a young age boys have generally not matured. This therefore means the magazine have given them a different view on reality, and as the articles are written by adults, they may not be able to relate as well.

In conclusion, teen magazines appear to be encouraging girls to grow up too fast, and the articles and photos in the magazines are unrealistic and girls will not know what to expect later in life because their views have been manipulated by their response to the magazines. I think magazines, especially ones aimed for young girls, should be less 'sexualised' in general. This could involve having the models on the cover more natural looking, and posing less provocatively. Also, the outfits advertised for young girls should be always suitable, a good way to ensure this would be advertising clothing from shops dedicated to teens, or teenage sections in shops. Also the stories should be kept appropriate, and less about 'how to get boys' in younger aged magazines, because it puts on pressure for trying to get a relationship that is not necessarily needed or would work well at a young age.

Task 2: Magazines and Audiences

Terminology

                          Term                                                          Definition 

Left Third               Graphics or text that take up the left third of the screen

  Masthead             The title of a newspaper or magazine at the head or front 

of a magazine

Spread                 A set of two pages viewed together, such as two pages 

                visible whenever you open a book or magazine

Cover Lines         Short Statements found on the cover of a magazine that

  allude to or describe the articles inside

Flush                   To align text or images along one edge of a page layout

                       Gloss                     A shiny coating applied to a printed piece    

                      Margins              The white space that surrounds the contents of a page, can 

                                                   be set to the type/live area or smaller

                     Downrule               The vertical line that is placed between two columns of text 

                                                    to clearly separate them from each other

                     Dateline                 A line at the head of a dispatch or special article in a paper 

                                                   or magazine showing the date and place of writing

                    Puff/Plug               A piece of writing as advertising to draw a reader in

                    Selling Line            Short, sharp description of the titles main marketing point

                    Main Image           An image on the cover that catches attention and takes up 

                                                    most of the page, and usually relates to the main article

            

                   Colour Scheme      A set combination of colours, can be important when regarding

                                                   target audience 

                   Bar Code                Identifies the product and used by retailers

                   Font                         A set of type to a particular face and size

A website I used for research for some of the terminology was Magforum

Magazine Analysis 

    

The magazine cover of NME has a target audience of young adults and teenagers. This is shown because of the genre of music that it promotes. It appeals to a broader audience because of the different types of music that the magazine covers, such as Blur, Joy Division, Ramones etc which appeals to people who like older, retro music. It also covers modern music, for example, Pete Doherty, who is on the cover, has a target audience for the music that he produces which is for the younger generation. The character of Pete Doherty is also usually frowned upon, which is why he would be suitable for the cover, to give a rebellious image that appeals to young people. The cover also uses bright colours such as red and yellow to be eye catching, also the brighter colours appeal to a younger audience because it makes the magazine look slightly less formal. The red text also symbolises passion, and the heart on Pete symbolises love, this is because the theme of the issue is on valentines day. This is also shown through the promotion on the article about '25 greatest alternative love songs.' Pete Doherty is also photographed and presented to look like a heartthrob.  Also the text is big and easy to read. The text also shows that the magazine is aimed at younger generations because of the font. For example, 'The bleeding heart of...' is written in a font that looks similar to graffiti. The magazine also promotes at the top that it comes with free posters. This is also evidence that the magazine's target audience is younger generations, because they would be more likely to use posters and be attracted to buying the magazine because of the free posters. 

Task 1 - Getting To Know Blogger

Getting To Know Blogger

Things You Can Do With Blogger

• Create and edit posts for an online blog
• Add pictures, links and videos
• Have readers follow your blog, can have subscribers to your blog
• Comes in 41 different languages
• Can Post on the go from mobile devices, etc
•  Receive feedback from users
• Create new pages linked to your blog
• Customise text on posts such as font, sizing and colour.

How I Think Blogger Will Be Useful For My Coursework

• It will be an easy way to keep my work up to date and have a place where it is saved
• It can easily be viewed for marking and assessment
• I can edit my posts 
• I can access the blog from any computer