AQA Exam Paper Media 2

1Q) New and digital technology has a huge impact on traditional media industries.
What challenges have media brands faced as a result of changes in technology? Refer to your online  ans social participatory Close Study Products (The Voice and Teen Vogue).

Media brands such as Teen Vogue (TVU) and The Voice (TVE) have faced an increase of competitors and difficulties due to changes in technology.

TVU from 2007-15 used to have a stereotypical and almost degrading patriarchal view of women. Women in the magazine are perceived  from the "male gaze" as Mulvey would say as they were being objectified. This led to the decline in TVU audience in 2015 but, changed as they used the internet to better interact with "digital natives" ( people who grew up with the internet and want rich,free and fast content) as Marc Prensky would say. TVU faced backlash on Twitter so severe they had to take down the comment section due to white male peoples' preferred readings of TVU's work. This shows how due to changes in technology that media brands like TVU have updated better, which they've been doing in contemporary times seen from TVU is focused on promoting women in politics, fashion, power as well as diversification.

TVE is a newspaper company owned by GV media and a Jamaican owner, who founded the paper in 1982 due to the Brixton riots in 1981. TVE main focus of viewership are the Black British demographic and try to give black people a voice in politics through the black community not white racist media. As it focuses on a niche group it is small, however due to using the internet as a platform they can compete with other media brand giants like Vogue even with smaller resources. Although due to the changes in technology they also face more media brands as competitors and because they focus on a "niche" demographic of people who face having, as Paul Gilroy would say a diasporic identity, which is theory when people belong to neither their home country or the country they currently live, causing TVE'S media presence to be week. This can also be seen from TVE'S YouTube channel which videos have lower than a thousand views as well as from the pitiful amounts of followers they have on Twitter and Facebook.This means that since TVE cannot effectively adapt/utilise the changes they cannot effectively build up their media brand.

TVU has also faced a need to increase their political appearance to the public due to the changes of technology. TVU had women appear:weak, superficial and catty. Van Zoonen talks about how gender is constructed through the media as weak and superficial and TVU had been making women appear this way for years. This idea has been cultivated over the years as Gerbner would say so that TVU can exploit young women insecurities to make a profit. Also due to technology people are becoming more socially and politically aware leading to a decline in TVU's viewership, however they have adjusted and used their online presence to promote women and events like the Teen Vogue summit on their online platforms.This shows the challenges that media brands like TVU face due to the changes in technology.

Feminist Waves

Wave 1

• Early 20th Century.
• Right to Vote.
• The women's suffrage movement (aka woman suffrage) was the struggle for the right of women to vote and run for office and is part of the overall women's rights movement.

Wave 2

• 1960's - 1990's
• Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity and thought that began in the United States in the early 1960's and lasted roughly two decades. It quickly spread across the Western world, with an aim to increase equality for women by gaining more than just enfranchisement.
• Abortion/pills.
• Reproductive rights.

Wave 3

• 1990's.
• Present, empowerment.
• Reclaiming of femininity (high heel, sexuality).

Wave 4

• 2010 ongoing.
• Use of new technology and digital media
• Twitter and social media for activism. 

Tori

There are many persuasive techniques used in advertising. A selection include:

·                     Slogan – a catchy phrase or statement

·                     Repetition – constant reference to product name

·                     Bandwagon – everyone is buying it

·                     Testimonial/association – e.g. celebrity endorsement

·                     Emotional appeal – designed to create strong feelings

·                     Expert opinion – ‘4 out of 5 dentists…’

How does the Advert create desire for the product?

(12 Marks)

How would I structure this?

Intro (theorist) (Mulvey, Butler, Van Zoonen, Bell Hooks, Gerbner)

Analyse Suggested narrative 3x examples of persuasive techniques backed with mise en scene.

Conclude with second theorist.

Van Zooonen says that images of women are are used against. In this advert you can see how the women is in a patriarchal ideology of women being at home as mothers and as being clean and girly, whilst the men work. This ideology can be seen from how the advert says "Nothing compares to family" which is using emotive language to create this strong feeling of women being a house wife seen from how she is with her son and by herself in a clean home. however you could say that this advert is promoting single mothers to be hard working and perfect.

Belle Hooks would say that the media uses images of light skinned women as a representation of beauty in the media. In the advert the image of the women is white, which suggest that only white celebrity endorsements are effective instead of darker skinned celebrities because they are not as attractive. This is how this advert uses celebrity endorsement to appeal to more people because the actress herself is white. however you could also that they are just trying to raise awareness of their shoes and are not trying to be racist.

Judith Butler says that gender is constructed, which means that certain genders like a cis-gender females would act more feminine in front of the media. The advert uses a catchy slogan like "Nothing compares to family" to suggest that family is the most important thing for females, cultivating as gerbner would say a hetoral normative ideology that women need to be straight and have a family which is empathised by how the women is portrayed pregnant and with her son happily at peace with her house wife position. This idea of being heterosexual is further emphasised by the colour schem of the advert that suggest that women choose pink because it represent females as being girly and boys in blue due to it being a more masculine colour. However you could say that due to this being Tori Spelling's actual son that this is actually how they are in real life that they are not trying to pressure people into anything but, to actually buy the shoes.

Stuart Hall Teen Vogue and The Voice

Dominant, or Preferred Reading - how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. Audience members will take this position if the messages are clear and if the audience member is the same age and culture; if it has an easy to follow narrative and if it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience.

Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with. It can also arise when the media has a complex narrative structure perhaps not dealing with themes in modern society. Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different culture.

Negotiated Reading - a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer's views, but has their own views on parts as well. This can occur if there is a combination of some of the above e.g. audience member likes the media, is of the same age as you and understands some of the messages, but the narrative is complex and this inhibits full understanding.

Teen Vogue

• Dominant, or Preferred Reading -  YouTube video called "Anne-Marie Creates the Playlist of Her Life | Teen Vogue". Commenter wigconic says "I would definitely listen to these songs cause Anne Marie told me to lol"

• Oppositional Reading - YouTube video called "Anne-Marie Creates the Playlist of Her Life | Teen Vogue". Commenter Magnificent Me  says "What’s up with her hair??"

• Negotiated Reading - YouTube video called "Anne-Marie Creates the Playlist of Her Life | Teen Vogue". Commenter hicloudy summer "Anne Marie I love you and you're so pretty but what did they do to your hair?"

The Voice Newspaper

• Dominant, or Preferred Reading -  YouTube video called "Afua Hirsch grateful for recognition and support from the black community". Commenter Gerald Francis says "Gerald Francis Gerald Francis, I'm a big fan of Aufa, a strong woman, a good role model to young woman, and a warrior for melanated people in Britain. She deserves this.💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿👍🏿👍🏿♥️"

• Oppositional Reading - YouTube video called "Afua Hirsch grateful for recognition and support from the black community". Commenter AngloHuscarl says "Just seen another interview with this 'Professor' and I have never seen such an outright 'Racist' as this woman. She sees colour in every aspect of life, it's clearly a rich vein to tap into within the MS 'Progressive' Media as it ensures coverage and other virtue signalling plaudits, and clearly air time!  Victimhood is a breadwinner, and she's not doing too bad for a woman of colour in a 'White Supremacist' Regime & Culture!"

• Negotiated Reading - YouTube video called "Afua Hirsch grateful for recognition and support from the black community". Commenter Wanda Woman says "Andrey Lebezyatnikov Are you a Russian bot? She is physically beautiful, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that she isn’t a deep thinker. She always relies on emotion and anecdotes to deflect attention from her dumb ideas."