Drew's A Level Media

Explore how Zoella and Attitude online manipulate audiences through ideology. David Gauntlett  argues that audiences are not passive, but instead construct their identities through ‘ picking and mixing ’ the ideologies of the producer in whatever way they choose. Identity is an essential concept in media studies, as we as audiences will respond to texts in a lot of different ways. Through this interpretation there is a lot of potential for the producer to  manipulate  their target audiences through ideology. Zoella and Attitude online manipulate audiences through ideology via: Representations Mode of address  Preferred Reading  Product Placement Target audience  Hyper-reality  Industry contexts  Zoella: Zoella's target audience is young (aged 12-16), white, middle class, females and she targets this group by using simplistic and typical representations throughout her channel. For example, there is no variety of ethnic groups represented in her videos, it

To what extent does attitude targets multiple audiences? How Attitude targets its audience of g ay men, working class, aged 25 - 50, aspirational, interested in holidays, fashion and the theatre, and with a larger expendable income than average: Gay men: Includes a 'boys' section with many close ups/medium close ups of muscular men which is stereotypically attractive for gay men. Working Class: Attracts a working class audience with gossip style, easy to read/sans serif headlines designed to spread gossip. It is a stereotype that working class audiences would like this kind of gossip content because it is similar to the style of stories that tabloid newspapers such as the Mirror include which have a large working class audience. Aged 25-50: Furthermore, attitude appeals to an audience aged between 25-50 because almost all of the people that are featured in the photographs and articles are aged in this range meaning that they appeal to this age of audience. 

How far are the representations constructed in the set texts of Zoella and Attitude Stereotypical? Stereotype: A set of widely held beliefs/attitudes about a certain group of people or individual. Stereotypes are created when knowledge is lacking or unattainable and the substitution of thoughts and opinions are implemented. This often leads to misjudgement and unfair discrimination towards certain groups. (Stuart Hall) In media products, they have the potential to impact the mindset of audiences, often sustaining, perpetuating and creating stereotypes. Media products portray the unspoken norms of an ideology. Such products appeal to the widest audience - intellectually and globally. Stereotypes of gay men: Feminine Fashionable - conscious of their appearance Articulate More open with their emotions More friendly with female friends The representation of the LGBT community is often narrow and stereotypical. Gay men are often represented as camp, effeminate, theatrical

How have new digital technologies affected how the online media industry is regulated ? (15 or 30 marks) Regulation: Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt: The increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing of digital media, have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk. Regulation of online media in ineffective and difficult to enforce. The introduction of social media and platforms such as YouTube means that they rely on self regulation or creators. YouTube relies on creators to regulate themselves with the incentive of money.   Anybody can click that they are over a certain age on things like catch up tv. Increasing power of tech companies. More digital convergence of industries - new forms of media making it hard to regulate. Globalised internet - VPN can be used to bypass blocks. Lack of unifying regulatory body for online media. Mov

Stereotypically gay partners have less children than heterosexual partners meaning they would have more disposable income. Attitude website homepage: Websites encoded with meaning through their use of signs and signifiers (Barthes). Media language refers to the technical codes (layout, design, imagery etc), visual codes (colour iconography, mise-en-scene, etc) and language codes (mode of address and language style). The basic principles of print media apply in that a fundamental audience appeal is constructed from layout and design with the key fact that websites have their own conventions. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. Every aspect of a media product is a sign, whether it is a shot type, camera angle, graphic, font, sound effect or any other part of media language. So, semiotic analysis is pointing out what the different parts of a media product mean. Hermeneutic: Creates questions for the audience. (withholding meaning from the audience) Proairetic: An action

Attitude In what was does this product use media language to encode the ideology of the producer? Attitude was founded in 1994 and is the UK's best selling gay magazine. It is owned by Stream Publishing Limited. Sold worldwide as a physical magazine, and as a digital download for the iPad and iPhone via the app store, and for Android services via the Android market. Renowned for it's high profile celebrity events such as featuring Prime Ministers such as Ton Blair and David Cameron the cover as well as their first Royal cover star, Prince William. In it's first 20 ears Attitude has featured A-List celebrity exclusives that no other gay title in the world can match, including David Beckham, Madonna, Daniel Radcliffe, Lad Gaga, Cher, James Franco, Elton John. Attitude is also respected for its 20 ears of topical reporting and social campaigning. The brand includes serious features on a range of subjects, which have included the plight of ga asylum seekers and the r

The Million Pound Selfie Sell Off Influencers let followers into lives - build trust. Brands can advertise through social media. Industry worth $4 billion and increasing. 3 billion people expected to be on Facebook and instagram. Important to make it obvious when the are presenting an advertisement. Easier for companies to sell things that could be harmful for kids (eg gambling). youTube states that videos must conform to their guidelines and if the don't the videos will be removed. This means it relies on self regulation. Regulation can't keep up with the increasing technology. Social media can further damage specific younger audiences by presenting things such as unrealistic body standards etc.

Stereotypical male representation of Alfie. As soon as the video begins they talk about him going to the gym which is seen as stereotypically male.  Furthermore, as the video progresses Zoella makes a joke that Alfie doesn’t get up out of bed easily in the morning like the dog which again could be stereotypical of the male gender as being lazy. Everything is stereotypically feminine with feminine colours such as pink as well as cursive fonts. Obviously targeted towards women. When her brother, Joe comes in he identifies that as he is a male he is unable to use the feminine products. Binary differences between Alfie and Zoella, Alfie in gym clothes whereas she is more covered up in comfortable clothes.  Shows he is the stereotypical masculine character.She uses heavy makeup to reinforce conventional beauty ideals. Suggests femininity is achieved through a specific aesthetic or look. Zoella's channel could reinforce cultural binaries through almost total exclusion of non-w

Zoella - Industry and Audience Algorithm: An algorithm can be defined as a set of rules or calculations to used to solve problems and deliver a result. Algorithms are used in social media to deliver to content to the user. News feeds use algorithms to determine the content to show you based on your interests, activity and interactions on the platform. Causes issues with privacy because of the collection of all your data. Key words/terms in title to appease the algorithm. Content doesn't change as they know it works. Similarly to what Clay Shirky argues it can be argued that audience no longer exists and all that remains is a hyperreal construction forged by algorithms.  Additionally, Zoella is not targeting an audience, but is using algorithmic practice to target a theoretical machine fabricated audience. David Hesmondhalgh: Cultural industries and online media: He argues that major cultural organisations create products fir different industries in order to maximise

Zoella - Audience Zoella target audience: Female  12-16 White Middle Class Zoella has targeted/gained a niche audience. How Zoella achieves a female audience: Emotive content - show appeals to a female audience via narratives that engage with subject matter emotionally. She continuously tells us how she feels about the problem she faces. Zoella foregrounds stereotypical female based activities in her presentation: fashion, make-up, relationships. Costume stereotypically female - female colour palette deployed in mise-en-scene. Use of pets and pet orientated references (stereotypical small dog for a woman). Presenter constructs a version of ideal beauty - highly stylised, lots of make-up and attention paid to costume. Intimate confessional tone to create a relatable female character. quite/passive presentation style that fits with target audience expectations and female presenter stereotypes.  How Zoella achieves a 13-16 year old audience: Heavy use of a