Magazine: Exam Questions

 Exam Questions 

How can magazines be aimed at a range of audiences? (For example, MOJO is aimed at a range of audience e.g a more niche, older, predominantly male audience with an average age of 41) (5 marks)

Magazines can use several conventions to target ranges of audiences. By the use of language, style of layout and content within the magazine this indicates to audiences who they are trying to target due to their style. For example, many pop magazines use informal, simple language to implement that thew magazine is suited for people of younger ages who enjoy this genre. Many magazines use social media to interact with wider audiences, for example, MOJO magazine has a website which can be read by anyone which branches out to a secondary audience however the content is aimed for an older audience. 

State one audience category that is more likely to read MOJO (go into detail about demographic & NRS) (5 marks)

The audience that is most likely to read MOJO is a predominantly male older people as when they were younger the style of psychedelic rock was more in fashion therefore nowadays they can still access this genre within mojo magazine. Mainly, rock artists within the genre are male therefore stereotypically male readers are more likely to enjoy this type of content. Mojo magazine tends to gain readership to a middle class audience as it contains some aspects of a quality monthly (high quality magazines) however is only semi glossy and has light weight paper so it is read by working class people too as it is affordable.  The NRS grade for MOJO tends to be ABC1 as the quality is high however can target C2DE as well. 

Explain how readers may get pleasure from reading Magazines. You may wish to refer to the Uses & Gratifications theory (10 marks)

Within magazine reading there are many conceptions that may steer a reader from the outside world and allow them to gain full interest into reading the magazine. The Uses And Gratifications theory by Blumler and Katz portrays this. Within this theory personal identity can be challenged and applied within the magazine, for example, readers may be reinforces with being a fan of a particular artist/ genre (e.g Mojo addresses educated lover of authentic music - may reinforce that identity). Also, Social interaction ties in with the pleasure of reading magazines as it offers news and gossip that can aid real life conversations and spark debates within groups (therefore offering social activity outside of reading). 

Analyse the representation of musicians, from any MOJO Magazine front cover you have studied. (10 marks)

In the MOJO magazine containing the Sex Pistols the front cover contains one of the Sex Pistols. The artist on the front cover is making direct eye contact to the reader - this portrays authority and dominance . As the artist on the front is male it reinforces the stereotype of dominion of males. Lydon is presented to be wearing a suit which conforms to the well presented male representation of well presented and smart. On the cover, there is only a male present. There is no women present which could suggest how the genre of rock is predominantly for males and how they are not in favour of women as they will not stereotypically favour psychedelic rock genre. In the time of MOJO magazine being created, men were superior and women  were inferior therefore targeting males if more common. The stereotype of a rock magazine is a white male who is dominating and strong on the front cover however in the 'Sex Pistols' have conformed to the dominant representation by there being a white male being the central image. The facial expressions of the artist on the front cover of the magazine conform to the stereotypical 'rock' magazine as they are serious. The countertype of the colour pink being used as a girl colour challenges the male stereotype.On the cover the ethnicity is white - this reflects the target audience and how it is mainly white men. The fact that there is only a white person on the front cover this shows how the magazine doesn't accept other ethnicities as only a white male is shown, showing that the magazine are in four of white people. 

Identify the regulator for Magazines in the UK (1 mark)

The regulator for magazines in the UK is IPSO. 

State two ways that a print magazine can gain revenue (2 marks)

Print magazines can gain revenue from sponsored content and social media upgrading . For example, product placement within magazines means that a company pays the magazine to promote their product in the issue therefore the magazine gains revenue from that product company. The way that social media upgrading  gains revenue is to reach a wider audience to allow anyone to read the magazines because the content is online which can aid the revenue as online, magazines can promote merchandise, subscriptions etc.