Question 1:
How does the text both subvert and reinforce the typical conventions for a newspaper front page? (12 marks)
The front cover for the 'i' magazine both subverts and reinforces the typical conventions for a newspaper front page by visualing image ratio, giving us information that assumes significant cultural and social knowledge and also by encoding institutional messages through word choices, we see many different codes and conventions on the front cover, the masthead is on the left of the page, and very big so it could show that i magazine is not as well known as other newspapers such as 'The Sun', the theme of the magazine is to celebrate the Queens diamond Jubilee, so the colours chosen by the editors are the same as the colours from the Union Jack, we see right in the middle of the front cover it says "A RIGHT ROYAL PARTY". By saying this the audience can tell that the aim of this edition is to promote the Diamond Jubilee and letting its audience know that it is the week of the Diamond Jubilee, the colours of "ROYAL" also fit in with the theme of Royalty as they are the colour of the Union Jack. From Barthes theory of sign, we can also tell that the three colours of Red Blue and White connote the celebrations taking place around the Country for the Diamond Jubilee. So this edition of i newspaper reinforcing the typical conventions of a front page.
Furthermore, we see what will be on the inside of the magazine on the front cover too, so its encoding institutional messages through word choice, it has sections of sport and gossip which will attract other reads towards the magazine. We also see at the top of the magazine it says 'News Paper' of the year, so its trying to attract other audiences to it, saying that event though it is not as popular as other magazines such as '|The Sun', it was still voted as newspaper of the year.
Media Institutions
Why might the ‘i’ newspaper have been successful in a newspaper industry that has generally been in decline?(12 marks)
We see that the 'i' newspaper has been successful in the newspaper industry that has been generally in decline, this could be due to the fact that the newspaper has been much cheaper now as they are selling it for 20p instead of 50p+ like how other magazines would, it has become as cheap as 'The Sun' but 'The Sun' has been changing its prices over the years unlike 'i' newspaper which dropped its price recently and it has kept at that price, we also see that on weekends their is only a 10p rise so its audience is not majorly effected its audience, we see that its primary audience would be the older generation so people over the age of 30 as we see the 'i' newspaper is more sophisticated than others. Furthermore on the front cover of the magazine, their price is at the top so it tells people that this newspaper is very cheap, we do not see any current affairs on the front page except for the Diamond Jubilee, it is not gossiping about celebrities so people could see it as a more sophisticated newspaper.
Media Audiences
What would you expect the ‘i’ newspaper’s target audience to be based on this front page? (12 marks)
We would expect the target audience of 'i' newspaper to be more sophisticated than those of 'The Sun', 'i' newspaper talks about current affairs which do not involve celebrity gossip, so the psychographics of the audience would be rich,sophisticated businessman who work in a place like canary wharf , so our expectations of this audience would be very high, the demographics of the audience would generally be succeeders who buy the newspaper to check stock prices rather than gossip about celebrities. Using Katz and Blumers theory of uses and gratifications, the audience is more likely to read this newspaper are the older generation who are 30+. Also tourists may buy this newspaper as it is cheap, being so cheap and it is also a Diamond Jubilee edition so being so cheap many tourists might buy it to see current affairs about Britain.
The crosswords on the front also appeal to people travelling to work, so the magazine could be for people travelling to work too so enforcing the stereotype that the newspaper is for businessmen.
Media Representations
How is Britain represented in this text? (12 marks)
The front cover of the magazine is based on the Diamond Jubilee so as expected there is pictures of the Queen and the concert. The images are of Buckingham Palace and she is sort of smiling, it shows that the people of Britain are patriotic, the fact that they are printing of editions to celebrate their Queen. The Queen is also shown as smiling so she is portrayed as happy. She is representing Britain to the world and showing that it is still a good country no matter what has happened in previous times.It also shows that many people would read this edition of 'i' due to the fact that Britain has been represented in a positive way. The stereotype that British people are very good in enforced so it shows how 'i' newspaper may have shown Britain in a certain way to enforce this stereotype. From Barthes theory of sign, we can also tell that the three colours of Red Blue and White connote the celebrations taking place around the Country for the Diamond Jubilee. So this edition of i newspaper reinforcing the typical conventions of a front page.
