The Voice: OSP
The Voice: case study blog tasks
Language and textual analysis
Homepage
1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice homepage?
The key news conventions on the Voice homepage would be the titles based on content they produce.
2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?
This would differ from Teen Vogue's website conventions as they would provide content was reflect their demographics.
3) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?
The items on the top menu bar for The Voice would be News, Sports, Entertainment and Faith. This suggests that their content would reflect the vales that the magazine holds but also their demographics as the Faith tab would connote their audience are much more older compared to Teen Vogue content which is seen as more secular.
4) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience.
The first news story would be the on based on the US election, "US Election 2020: Why are Black Americans voting for Trump".
The second story would be based on the current outbreak of CoronaVirus, "Inquiry launched into racial inequalities faced by health and social care workers".
5) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Todorov equilibrium or Barthes’ enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.
It uses narrative as a way to encourage readers through their click bait titles and applying Barthes enigma codes The voice uses their sponsorship that would appeal to their audience.
Lifestyle section
1) What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the Voice audience?
The items on the sub-menu bar for The Voice would be on Food, Health, Travel, Fashion, Relationship, and Beauty. This would connote that their demographics would interested in these sub-topics as the Health and travel sections suggest they are outgoing and wouldn't mind going abroad with a budget.
2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?
The main stories in the Lifestyle section currently would be linked to the current climate such as the "the inequality in children spending time outside during the pandemic" which suggests their audience are parents or older people.
3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?
The voice's Lifestyle section differs from Teen Vogue's as they produce for a specific target market which are older people with the stories they put out especially with the travel and food. As Teen Vogue's content would be based for younger people and their current situations with relationships of all types whereas The Voice provides advice and articles on heterosexual relationships.
4) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?
The stories and sections that The Voice provides would be subvert black stereotypes in British media as they have sections dedicated on health and relationships as normally black would be seen as having poor health and are in bad relationships as the men are seen as "aggressive".
5) Choose two stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?
The first story would be "Black British change makers talk makeup as self-care" this would reflect the values and ideologies as they are focusing on black women making a change in a dominant white industry. This fits with their agenda as they focus on black people making a difference and only their achievements as that would represent their audience.
Feature focus
1) Read this Voice opinion piece on black representation in the tech industry. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?
This article would reflect the values of The Voice as it talks about the difference black people are making in the tech industry as it is a white dominant industry and this means that this would be an opinionated article so we get a first-hand perspective on what a black representation would look-like or mean.
2) Read this feature on Michaela Coel supporting Oxfam's Second Hand campaign. Why might this feature appeal to readers of The Voice?
This would appeal to the audience as it would educating them on the current fast fashion industries' effect on the environment as it would be a cheaper and better alternative.
3) Read this Voice news story on Grenfell tower and Doreen Lawrence. How might this story reflect the Voice’s values and ideologies? What do the comments below suggest about how readers responded to the article? Can you link this to Gilroy’s work on the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?
This article would reflect The Voice's values and ideologies as this news story shattered London but were reconsigned by outsiders too as the Grenfell Tower incident mainly affected minorities living that estate as it was the council's fault for not advising and enforcing proper safety regulations on the construction company which resulted in many lives being innocently taken. The comments suggest that everyone felt a part to play in mourning those who lost their lives.
Audience
1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.
The target audience for The Voice would be older people who are of black descent as they're mainly centered around black culture and news, they would be linked to the strugglers as a term in psychographic.
2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).
The audience pleasures provided by The Voice would be surveillance as they learn about current affairs going on around the world and in London too, they would also apply personal identity as their audience see themselves in the articles they focus on such as black news and culture.
3) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.
An example that would show that this website is made for a niche audience would be their advertorial as they sponsor content that would for an older audience such as "hair growth surgery in turkey".
4) Studying the themes of politics, history and racism that feature in some of the Voice’s content, why might this resonate with the Voice’s British target audience?
This would resonate with The Voice's British target audience as it was started in Brixton amids the '80s where there was a lot of tension between the black community in Brixton and riots with the police.
5) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?
The examples provided within The Voice's content that could be applied to Clay Shirky's "End of audience" theory would come from the fact that many of their articles center around black identity and with their low production value as once article stated "Are you for or Against Brexit" then proceeded with the options of "Agree or Disagree".
Representations
1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations on the Voice website?
The audience is positioned to understand the themes that are expressed on The Voice's website as it would link to things they would normally read up on.
2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying?
The representations in The Voice that doesn't apply to Gilroy's "Double Consciousness" would be because they have the reflection of real stories being told through the perspective of other black people.
3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly multiculturalism” here?
The kind of Black British identity that is promoted on The Voice website would be through different articles such as "black women in the tech industry".
4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?
Different audiences may interpret the representations of Black Britons in The Voice as negative to an extent because they only talk about black Britsih culture and no other voices are heard in these articles.
5) Do you notice any other interesting representations on the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries, etc.)
The other representations that are introduced on The Voice's website would be younger people and mainly black women that are empowering.
Industries
1) Read this Guardian report on the death of the original founder of the Voice. What does this tell you about the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand?
The original value and ideologies behind The Voice brand before was centered around a niche audience with limited content for the mainstream audience to like.
2) Read this history of the Voice’s rivals and the struggles the Voice faced back in 2001. What issues raised in the article are still relevant today?
The issues raised in the article published in 2001 would be relevant in 2020 today as it talked about newspapers becoming less popular with the news industry going digitally making them less valuable.
3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.
The media brands that the Gleaner company owns would be The Voice and Young Voices magazine, they would be interested in owning The Voice through the adverts posted on the website.
4) How does the Voice website make money?
The Voice makes money through adverts they put on their website which they will receive through the traffic generated on their page. A newer form in which they make money now is by having a paywall which their audience can donate to keep them publishing news stories and content for them.
5) What adverts or promotions can you find on the Voice website? Are the adverts based on the user’s ‘cookies’ or fixed adverts? What do these adverts tell you about the level of technology and sophistication of the Voice’s website?
The adverts on The Voice's website would be based on fixed advert's about basically anything related however some ads are targeted based on the cookies. The level of sophistication isn't there as they advertise anything that they can.
6) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?
I think that this could be argued as the production value for The Voice would suggest it's a vehicle to make a profit as the ads wouldn't correlate with the content being put out however the element of public service could be seen too because of the news and articles they put out to reach their niche audience.
7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?
The technological convergence that The Voice leads into would be their video content which is available on their YouTube page.
8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?
It has helped many niche products to grow as it would reach the mainstream media and grow their audience base through digital awareness and the number of platforms they're on.
9) Analyse The Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?
The contrast between The Voice's Twitter page and Teen Vogue would be the content they put on there. This means that the content The Voice puts out doesn't always corrlate to wat they post on the website.
10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTubechannel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?
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