Evaluation 2How does my media product represent particular social

groups?

Genre of MusicThe music genre for my magazine is an urban hip-hop style. This particular music originated from the black culture of the USA. Below is an image of Run DMC, an American rap group who fit the same genre of music associated with my magazine.

Graffiti Clothing - Black jacket, jeans & trainers

Urban environment

My magazine's intention is to entertain my target audience of teenagers from working class families by informing them of the news from the world of underground hip-hop. My main images feature one particular model; linked to my feature article on my double page. The mise-en-scene of the images of my model attempt to denote an urban vibe; linked to the genre of music in my magazine.

My Target Audience

Graffiti

Clothing - Black jacket, jeans & trainers

Urban environment

When comparing the two previous images, you can see the similarities in the mise-en-scene. What I have done is attempt to adapt the American style of music to my British audience, who are already aware and are fans of this genre, to suit our culture; graffiti shown in both images is a key aspect of hip-hop music. There is no UK based magazine which incorporates this specific genre of music so my intended audience may be easier to attract due to a lack of competing media products.

Representation in my Product

Masthead: The title of my magazine, "Cypher", is relevant to the genre of my music.

Clothing: Connotes a relaxed vibe; related to the social class of my readers.

My product aims at the working class teenagers of the UK. The dominant ideology of UK teens is that they're loud, anti-social and streetwise; the hip-hop and rap genre is also stereotypically associated with teenagers due to the relaxed clothing style (jeans, jackets, etc.) and the urban settings which UK teens relate to. The main model used for my magazine's images supports the dominant ideas of my target social class by his clothing and the urban environment of the images and so represents them sufficiently.

Social Class

The bright colour scheme of my magazine connotes a loud and "in-your-face" attitude, something which my target readers can relate to and notice.

The price is similar to that of genre-specific magazines aimed at those of the working class.

Images include places with brick walls and garages which sets the urban environment in the UK, relating to the social class of my target readers.

To conclude, my media product represents the teenagers of the working social class by supporting the dominant ideologies and stereotypes of them. It targets a specific audience within this social class unique to the media business, particularly the magazine industry, and uses connotations within the images and colour scheme to attract the target readers of UK, working class teens.

Conclusion