online media - attitude magazine WORK AT HOME 2

Possible Exam Question = To what extent does attitude targets multiple audiences?


Audience targeting refers to how a producer addresses a particular audience. Every media product will have a target audience, and these should be as specific as possible.


There are two explicit reasons why producers must target a specific audience rather than anyone and everyone:

• To allow the target audience to identify with, and to engage with the media product. This means that he will hopefully keep buying it, and
• To sell advertising space to advertisers who will be able to target this audience

The second point is very important due to the fact it's often said that media products are not in the business of selling a product, they are instead in the business of selling audiences.
If a media producer can say to an advertiser "Attitude online's audience are gay men, working class, aged 25 - 50, aspirational, interested in holidays, fashion and the theatre, and with a larger expendable income than average", then advertisers can use targeted adverts with confidence.


Attitude online targets the audience of "Gay men, working class, aged 25 - 50, aspirational, interested in holidays, fashion and the theatre, and with a larger expendable income than average" 

- under the style tab, there are many posts about "this weeks hottest clothes and accessories" which have very expensive products. For example in the article posted on the 10-2-2020 some of the items featured are "Logo trainers by Armani Exchange" £155, "Sirus Jacket by 6 Moncler 1017 ALYX 9SM" - £1115 , Ted Baker bag costing £299 - the mise-en-scene of these items connotes wealth and having a large and disposable income - they are able to spend their money easily as many don't have children - the lexis of "this weeks" suggests that they are able to buy expensive and luxurious products on a weekly basis which many are unable to do 

- under the travel tab, there are many articles with tropical and exotic places for people to travel to. One article is titled "ESCAPE THE WINTER GLOOM IN THAILAND" in which it gives details about what it would be like for an LGBT person to travel to Thailand "Thailand is a mecca for LGBTQ travellers looking for an exotic escape. The country has a predominantly Buddhist population, so the Thai people are generally very open-minded when it comes to sexuality and gender-identity." and goes on to link some of the hotels that "suit every budget from boutique to five-star luxury" and the majority are 4* or higher - the mid shot photos show the luxurious hotel whilst also including the setting which is a beach for a lot of them - the mise-en-scene of the location suggests luxury

- target aspirational gay people by including many articles that feature some very popular celebrities (some homosexual and some heterosexual) for example, Sam Smith 

- Under the theatre tab on attitude online, it takes you to a website that shows what are some of the current west end performances taking place in London that they can go and see  live - there are then many options within this page that would target what people specifically enjoy, for example "theatre" "Dance and opera" "Dinner and show" and more - as well as this they include a "special offer" tab where the readers can find out special deals and book there and then. The lexis of "special offer" attracts a working class audience due to the fact it acknowledges the facts that some people may be unable to pay for this but still want to go

- having a particular part of the website that is focused around "boys" demonstrates how Attitude online targets Gay men as there are many images and articles of homosexual and heterosexual men posing with little clothing on which makes it a highly sexual magazine - 

- the advertisement on the side is a Jaguar - symbolic code of wealth as it is an incredibly expensive car that - the image of the car anchors the audience to click on it and find out more because of the mise-en-scene of the professional exterior

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Matching up theories and theorists to explanations of theories: 

15 - Media effects - Albert Bandura - 
Audiences are likely to be influenced by an ideology after being exposed to it over time

16 - Cultivation theory - George Gerbner - Audiences are likely to be influenced by an ideology after being exposed to it over time

17 - Reception theory - Stuart Hall - 
Media products can easily manipulate the ideology of an audience member

18 - Fandom - Henry Jenkins - 
Audiences can form an intense bond with a media product, and use it to define their life

19 - ‘End of audience’ theories - Clay Shirky - 
Audiences can increasingly 'speak back' to a media product, and are more of a producer than an audience member

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The othering of gay audiences and queer readings

LGBT DVD display from FOPP in Covent Garden

What assumptions, messages and ideological values are constructed by placing 'gay' films separate from other films?

The ideological value and message that is being spread by placing 'gay' films separately is that they are excluded from every other film and shouldn't be considered as the same.

Having these DVD's separately assumes that the films would only attract a niche audience instead of a mainstream and large audience - suggesting that they are unlikely to make as much money as other films. 

This section includes historical dramas, documentaries, comedies, romance films and hard hitting dramas. Why are all in the same section? What assumptions does this make about gay audiences?

The multiple genres are all included within the same section because they all include a large 'gay' theme to the film - putting them all together could be argued to represent the strong LGBT community. 

By putting all the films together it assumes that the audience are more interested in the LGBT aspect of the film instead of the sub-genre of the film. 

If I were to ask you "what is your favourite heterosexual film", how would you answer?

I would answer by naming my favourite film because it doesn't include any members of the LGBT community - similar answers from other people are likely to represent how the LGBT community isn't largely represented within films 

How can we apply postcolonial theory to this display?

postcolonial attitudes have constructed certain hierarchies in our society - this display represents the hierarchy of heterosexual people of homosexual people. By doing a separate display for the two, it shows how though they are regarded as different to each other and the small display for 'gay' films suggests they are less important than the films that feature straight people

Why do we arguably need LGBT sections? You may wish to check your notes on visibility from the previous session

By having a separate section for LGBT films, it could bring more visibility to the films and therefore may attract a larger and more varied audience. Making these films for visible to the public has many benefits including stereotyping many homosexual people into 'groups of characteristics' they may not even fit into - this could lead more social acceptance of the LBGT community
The more people watch these films, the more popular they get and the more money they make. 

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Gregg Araki makes fun of heteronormativity in his post-apocalyptic homoerotic road movie The Doom Generation (1995) by announcing the audience are about to watch "A HETEROSEXUAL MOVIE". It draws attention to the assumptions that we make about films, and how we unwittingly use sexuality as a genre convention. It aso indicates the frustration that queer audiences feel by not being represented on screen.


 
Many television networks, particularly in America, which tends to be more conservative in its representations, have previously avoided depicting gay characters for fear of upsetting and alienating straight audiences. The 1994 TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, while mainly depicting heterosexual relationships later on depicted a same sex relationship, and became one of the first network TV shows in America to depict two women kissing - Buffy is still talked of fondly by LGBT audiences



article about BUFFY and how Attitude is targeting it's gay audience, and how Buffy is important for queer audiences

- attitude is targeting its gay audience by including relatable situations the LGBT community may have been through, for example by relating what Buffy went through and relating it to how when an LGBT person comes out and struggles after like Buffy did when she had a difficult time and by saying "like too many LGBT+ youths, ends up" this immediately attracts an audience as it makes people feel like they shouldn't feel different because of what has happened to them 

- despite Buffy not being part of the LGBT community her story clearly resonated with a generation of LGBT+ people, allowing them to have someone to relate to - Buffy has "demons" that she has to fight figuratively and literally to fight which can compare to some of  the struggles people go through when they are part of the LGBT community 

- During Buffy, two of the main female characters become increasingly close and end up in a relationship together - highlighting the normality of being a part of the LGBT is crucial for Attitude magazine to include in their articles and to see how Buffy is important for queer audiences as they show that their sexuality doesn't mean they are any different to anybody else - the two girls (Willow and Tara) became one of the most iconic lesbian couples in TV history which demonstrates how important this programme was to so many people

- Also it is highlighted in the article that "Buffy and her friends struggled to come to terms with their true natures" which shows that it is normal for people to have to take time to realise who they truly are and how it is okay for this to happen - this demonstrates the importance Buffy had on queer audiences as most issues were dealt with and overcome within the series (even when LGBT people weren't widely accepted in society due to the time Buffy was aired on TV) which shows how the audience are able to learn from what Buffy had to go through and they know that everything will be alright in the end.