OSP: Teen Vogue & The Voice month in focus

07/11/19 - The Voice - Police officer is charged with murder of Dalian Atkinson

This story is about a footballer, Dalian Atkinson who was tasered outside of his fathers house which resulted in his life being cut short as he passed away in hospital following the altercation. One of the officers were charged with assault, causing actual bodily harm. Atikson has a successful career playing for Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.

07/11/19 - Teen Vogue - I was brought to the U.S. as a baby. This is why I left

This story is about Cindy Carrillo. At eight months old, Cindy's parents smuggled her into the U.S. from Mexico. However, at the age of 13, with the fear of Cindy's parents being caught by immigration, they voluntarily chose to leave the U.S. in 2013. I think that this news article is a strong example of quality journalism.

10/11/19 - Teen Vogue - Instagram to Test Hidden "Likes" for U.S. Accounts

This story is about Instagram, the social media app that is testing a new feature within the U.S. that hides users "like" counts from other Instagram users. Personally, I think removing the like count on Instagram will cause a decline on social influencers because they highly rely on likes to generate revenue.

10/11/19 - The Voice - Jay-Z Is Officially The First Rapper To Become A Billionaire

This story is about Jay-Z becoming the first rapper to become a billionaire. From this you can see that The Voice is celebrating the black rapper's success on becoming the world's first rapper that's a billionaire.

The Voice highlights that Jay-Z didn't just become a billionaire from rapping and his music career: " The breakdown of his ventures which made him a billionaire include investment in real estate, his art collection and music catalog."

15/11/19 - Teen Vogue - Halsey Released Her "Graveyard" Video Starring Sydney Sweeney of Euphoria

This story is about the female musician artist, Halsey. This story gives us all a insight into her new album and what we can expect from it. I believe that Teen Vogue is not being click-bait and is genuinely trying to help Halsey promote her new album. 

15/11/19 - The Voice - Football Tournament Held To Remember Murdered Teen

This story is about Adjel's fatal stabbing in October which shocked the community. The stabbing took place in East London.

Baptista’s coach, Jeff Merrifield spoke highly of the teen. He told the Newham Recorder: “He was part of a team I ran until last year. He was very bubbly, very high energy. He continued: “He was full of spontaneous laughter, with massive smiles. He was only 15, just starting out in life.”


7/10/2019-Teen Vogue -LGBQT Asylum Seekers 
LGBQT Asylum seekers are facing layered Marginalisation, the article focuses on Four Organisations who are trying to help. The four organisations, The asylum process, AsylumConnect, Rainbow Railroad and Al Otro Lado are working towards helping LGBQT Asylum seekers.

14/10/2019-The Voice- Boris Johnson urges Turkish leader to end military assault on northern Syria
Boris Johnson calls the Turkish leader and voiced his concern that the action could worsen the humanitarian situation in the region and undermine the fight against the so called islamic state.

Online, Social and Participatory index

Online, Social and Participatory index

1) OSP: Clay Shirky - End of Audience blog tasks
2) OSP: Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
3) OSP: Teen Vogue - audience and representation
4) Baseline Assessment learner response
5) OSP: Teen Vogue - industry and social media
6) OSP: Hall and Gilroy - media theory
7) OSP: The Voice - blog case study
8) OSP: The Voice and Teen Vogue news articles (minimum 4 from each)

Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

Women and videogames: blog tasks

Work through the following blog tasks to complete this introduction to women in videogames.

Part 1: Medium article - Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?

Read this Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:

1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?

In videogames, women are traditionally represented sexually and are presented to be objectified. 
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?

42% of the video game demographic is female.

3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?

Recent popular games like Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series have female protagonists, co-protagonists or otherwise important characters. These games were all released within the past 5 years. These games each have characters who are role models for real women, because they are strong, independent, intelligent, willful and compassionate.

4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?

Yes, I agree that the audience will reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them. As an example, if in a game, females were misrepresented, I still think they would play the game however they wouldn't be happy with the way they've been represented.
5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?

"Brianna Wu’s 2015 article in Polygon details how Crystal Dynamics saved Lara Croft by making some big changes in the reboot Tomb Raider (2013) and its sequelRise of the Tomb Raider (2015)."
Part 2: Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis

Visit Anita Sarkeesian’s ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games Series 2’ YouTube playlist and watch ONE other video in the series (your choice - and feel free to choose a video from season 1 if you prefer). Write a 100 word summaryof the video you watch:

Title of video: Tropes vs Women in Video Games - Season 2  

100 word summary: 

To start with, Sarkeesian talks about Assassins Creed and how all the assassins in the game are males. When questioned about why they couldn't add females to the game, they responded "It's double the animations, it's double the voiceovers". 2 years later, Ubisoft has created a female assassin. Assassins Creed isn't the only game with this, Fifa took 20 years to bring out female teams which they did in Fifa 16. It took 10 years for Call Of Duty to introduce female soldiers. However, there are still games such as Battlefield who haven't still introduced female characters. Although some games haven't introduced females to it, there are still games such as Hitman which are sexualising women. Sarkeesian says that if females are presented as straight forward, normal and believable, players have no problem believing it.

Part 3: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

Finally, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and answer the following questions:

1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.

In regards to her videos about her feminist frequency project, she received a lot of negative feedback and hate.

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

Sarkeesian summarises feminism as the following: "Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings."

3) Why do stories matter?

Stories matter because they change the way people might view certain issues. 

4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?

Sarkeesian views Samus Aran and Lora Croft in a both positive and negative manner. Sarkeesian clearly likes the idea of the two females being the main characters and the protagonists in the game as it is subverting traditional stereotypes in the media. On the other hand, Sarkeesian see's this as negative because the female characters are clearly sexualised and objectified.

5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?

There has been a clear increase in females being in video games. Games such as Fifa have introduced a female mode with female football teams which was in 2016. There are many more games such as Assassins Creed, Call Of Duty who have also introduced females as well.

6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?

Women are presented as more strong and dominant and less violent. Both the protagonists are females. The camera angle for the first person shooter style of the game doesn't sexualise women a lot.

7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?

Overcoming personal flaws. Not tied directly to their sex appeal. Some emotional depth and expression.

8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?

The impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated is that everything is seen from a males perspective even though females are in videogames now. Females are seen from a male perspective therefore, they are objectified and highly sexualised for the males pleasure.

9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?

Sarkeesian hopes to promote media literacy and also ties to make people more aware of the issues surrounding video games. 

10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?

Sarkeesian hopes that her YouTube series creates recognition and makes people aware of what is already happening about women in games. 

The Voice: case study blog tasks

The Voice: case study blog tasks

Language and textual analysis

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice homepage?

One of the news website key conventions I can find on the voice homepage is the top bar. The top bar has a range of news categories you can choose from e.g. News, Sport, Lifestyle, Entertainment etc.

Another news website key convention that I can find on the Voice homepage is the advert which is below the top bar. Furthermore, they have a 'trending now' section which a lot of other news websites have.

2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?

The layout of Teen Vogue's website is more of a layout you'd see when you're on your phone scrolling through social media. Teen Vogue's top bar is completely different to The Voice. Teen Vogue offers politics, culture as well as style/fashion. On the other hand, The Voice has News, Sport, Lifestyle, Entertainment etc. as their top bar.

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 top menu bar on The Voice's website is: News, Sport, Lifestyle, Entertainment, Faith, Opinion, Video and Publications. This suggests that the content that The Voice shares is the typical things you'd see on other news sites such as The Sun.

4) Look at the news stories on The Voice homepage. Choose three stories and discuss how they have presented the news from an angle or perspective that reflects The Voice's role as a voice for black Britons.

1. Key' Mo' returns to the UK

This particular story discusses how Keb' Mo' is a Legendary Bluesman and a 4x GRAMMY Award-winner and he has announced selected UK shows for January 2020. The voice is successfully sharing the positive aspects for black britons.

2. SBTV founder Jamal Edwards launches youth centres

SBTV FOUNDER Jamal Edwards has opened a number of youth centres to provide children in London with somewhere safe to go after school.

As part of the initiative, Edwards will support four youth centres across Acton, west London, where he grew up. 

He told BBC Newsround: “For me it’s really important. Just having a safe space to go to outside of school and your home. And a lot of the centres have been closed down so if I can try and help and I had a youth centre when I was younger, I want to try and set these kids up to have the best possible start that they can have.”

This clearly reflects that The Voice is playing a key role in giving black Britons a voice and they're doing this by sharing positive news because usually mainstream news usually share the negative aspects of black Britons.

3. Rory Stewart under fire for calling black men 'minor gangsters'

FORMER CONSERVATIVE MP Rory Stewart has been criticised for referring to black men as “minor gangsters”.

The politician, who is running to be the next mayor of London, met the three men as he campaigned to be prime minister in east London during the summer. He filmed and posted on his Twitter account in June.

The brief video clip showing Stewart meet the men, who were walking through Brick Lane, has resurfaced and attracted new criticism after recent comments he made about it.

The voice has definitely given black Britons a voice as no mainstream news has shared this news of racism however, The Voice has perfectly done this.

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.

Todorov's equilibrium is successfully used in The Voice's homepages. The equilibrium that attracts the audience is e.g. "Key' Mo' returns to the UK". This will make the audience question why did he leave the UK in the first reason and the disequilibrium is the reason he left the UK and then the new equilibrium would be the reason he is returning to the UK. Barthes' enigma codes could also be applied to The Voice. E.g. the audience may question why did Keb' Mo' leave the UK, why is he returning to the UK?

Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

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 are fashion and beauty, food, health and wellbeing, relationship and travel. This suggests that the audience of the Voice is very family oriented.

2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?

The latest stories in the lifestyle section is "Honourees aplenty at 2019 Black Magic Awards", "Is devolution the key to a happier and healthier Manchester?"

3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?

The Teen Vogue Lifestyle section focuses mostly on fashion and shopping. Furthermore, it is targeted at a younger audience. However, The Voice is targeted at a much older and mature audience

4) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?

Personally, I think that the Voice Lifestyle section challenges the black stereotypes in the British Media. This is because they talk about successful black people whereas, the British media portrays them negatively.

5) Choose three stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?

Black Magic Awards - 2019

This story reflects the values and ideologies of the Voice by sharing the success of black people. This particular story reflects black people in a more positive way.

Young, Gifted and Black showcase takes place next month

This story shares how young black people are doing well in education and this particular showcase is to praise the people who are aiming high, chasing their goals and dream careers.

Black male grooming brand secures investment to support its growth

This story talks about how Aaron Wallace has secured an investment to help him grow his grooming brand. "As a black man, he could personally relate to their frustrations and decided to do something about it" This clearly illustrates that he worked hard and despite being a black man which UK people portray negatively, he has successfuly been able to secure an investment which a lot of people don't get the chance to do.

Feature focus

1) 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?

Doreen Lawrence stuck with her viewpoints that the fire brigade didn't try their best nor get there as quick as possible because Grenfell was full of ethnic minorities. Furthermore, she says that "if the block had been full of white people in there, they would have done everything to get them out as fast as possible and make sure that they do what they needed to do" This story might reflect the Voice's values and ideologies positively because Doreen Lawrence is a black lady who is standing up for what she thinks truly took place.    

2) Read/watch this Lifestyle feature about the Black Magic Awards. How do the article and video content reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice? What do you notice about the production values of the video interviews?

This article "Honourees aplenty at 2019 Black Magic Awards" successfully reflects the values and ideologies of the Voice. The Voice is about showing the positive side to the Black community which the British media doesn't do.

3) Read this feature about the Young, Gifted and Black Awards. What does this story suggest regarding how The Voice is trying to change the representation of black people in British media? 

Within the British media, black people usually don't get recognition for doing positive things or for their successes, the Voice is trying to change the representation of the British media by instead of being focused on the negative things, they're focusing on the more positive things which doesn't get enough recognition. In this case, the "Young, Gifted and Black Awards" celebrates young people who have done exceptional in their education.

Audience

1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.

In my opinion, I think that the target audience for the Voice is a aged 18-40 educated audience. Furthermore, I think it is mainly targeted at black British people.

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).

Personal Identity: The audience being able to relate to the content on the Voice.

Surveillance: The audience are being informed about what is going around in the word and telling black people how they could make a significant impact  to the world.

3) Give examples of content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

The Voice is mainly targeted at a black audience. Here are some examples of content from the website that tells me this: "Honourees aplenty at 2019 Black Magic Awards" "The rum market in the UK could grow by 8.8% in coming years" "Four black-owned plantain chip brands" "IKEA remove jerk chicken and "rice and peas" dish from menu after image goes viral"

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 might resonate with the Voice's audience because the Voice's audience might be able to relate with some of the experience that the Voice shares. E.g. Brixton Riots.

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’?

Personally, I think that the quality of the Voice's content and their production values is reflective of mass amateurisation. This is because despite there being access to the digital media, there has been no professionalism especially in the video which decreases the quality of the Voice.

Representations

1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website? 

I think that the audiences are positioned to respond to the representations of the Voice website in a positive way as it portrays black people in a more positive way whereas, the British media does it in a negative way.

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying? Why?

I think that the representations in the Voice is an example of Gilroy's concept of "double consciousness"

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 Voice promotes their audience that are from another country. Predominantly places in the Caribbean/Africa.

4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice? 

The preferred reading would be that the Voice is portraying black British people in a much positive way by sharing the success stories.

The negotiated reading would be that the despite their being positive representations of black British people, a lot of the content could be seen as clickbait to some of the audience.

The oppositional reading would be that the Voice is only focused on the black community.

5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)

Age - The Voice is portraying the black youth as much more intelligent and creative.

Gender - The Voice portrays females in a much more independent and positive way. Standing up for what they believe in.

Health - The Voice touches on gender health issues, diet/lifestyle along with sexual health.

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 main idea of the Voice is to give black Britons a voice. The black Britons that were born and raised in Britain felt like they've never had freedom of speech or felt like they actually belonged in the UK.

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 Voice's early sales were poor, but it was buoyed by job adverts from the newly aware London boroughs, which were willing to pour in money to satisfy their consciences, regardless of the response."

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.

The other media brands that the Gleaner company own are: The Company's subsidiaries include Independent Radio Company Limited (IRC)- Power 106 and Music 99 FM, Gleaner Online Limited, Creek Investments Limited, Selectco Publications Limited, GV Media Group Limited and The Gleaner Company(Canada) Inc. and The Gleaner Company (USA) Limited.

4) How does the Voice website make money? What is your opinion of the 'asking for donations' approach that The Voice is now using?

I think that The Voice doesn't make a ton of revenue from website views hence why they are asking for donations. I think that asking for donations is perfectly fine rather than having no income at all.

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 voice uses adverts which are fixed. Typical websites use cookies so the audience that is browsing see's adverts which are similar to something they've may been looking at online. This tells me that the Voice is not on a high level of technology and sophistication.

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?

Personally, I think that the Voice is a public service.

7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content? 

On the Voice website there is video content available such as interviews from business men and women.

8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice? 

The growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice. This is because the audience are more aware and they're able to get multiple viewpoints of different stories.

9) Analyse the Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as MailOnline or Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

The Voice has much fewer texts on their Twitter feed.

The Voice's Twitter is much more clickbait.

10) Study a selection of videos from the Voice’s YouTube channel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?

The Voice's YouTube channel receives a significantly lower number of views compared to Teen Vogue.

The Voice's YouTube channel production values are very low as some of their videos have whiteboards with things that aren't related to the video.