Media Forms
How does the text both subvert and reinforce the typical conventions for a newspaper front page? (12 marks)
The text of the front cover of the newspaper 'i' has text which reinforces the typical conventions of a newspaper front page due to the size of the font. For example, the way the masthead of the front cover is larger in order to catch the audience's attention. Also, the idea of presenting a game section in the newspaper such as crosswords for example, it's stereotypical of a newspaper to generally have one at the last few pages; this would make people such as travellers on their way to work catching public transport want to complete the puzzles in order to pass time, this is a method to attract customers in to buying the newspaper as it's cheap and fun.
Furthermore, the heading underneath the masthead which says 'the essential daily briefing' is a summary of what the newspaper itself is and the word 'essential', meaning a necessity would mean that everyone needs to have one of these daily newspapers; a sell-line which will make people buy the newspaper, overall, the print tends to promote itself by it's sell lines and rhetorical questions making the audience wanting to know the answer within.Also, the textual information assumes significant cultural and social knowledge as it is showing a stereotypical side of Britain in itself talking about 'A right royal party' highlighting typical elements of the UK that most people would tend to know about interesting tourists for example to buy the newspaper in order to raise their awareness about Britain; the stereotypical topic on the cover can also be seen as a unique selling point (USP) as not many other print adverts would do this. In contrast, the different story lines on the cover subvert the typical conventions of a newspaper front page as there are more stories on the cover like a magazine cover would usually have making this 'newspaper' appear to people as a 'magazine' instead.
Media Institutions
Why might the ‘i’ newspaper have been successful in a newspaper industry that has generally been in decline? (12 marks)
The newspaper may have been successful due to 'i' using the theory of Katz and Blumler of Uses and Gratification showing that the audience use media for a lot of purposes. This would be because the newspaper may be an impression of a magazine and by the audience reading this newspaper, they would feel a sense of escapism and feeling like they are a part of something, which highlights one of the factors of reading the magazine for personal identity purposes of this particular theory and to also reassure them about themselves being a very sneaky and sly method in order to gain more sales; this links to the 4 C's of young and Rubicam.
Moreover, in an industry that has been in decline, the occasions taking place such as the Queen's Diamonds Jubilee may have allowed the newspaper, 'i', step back into business as they may have attracted the attention of viewers. Also, as the price of the newspaper was only 20p, this may have also been another USP as it may have allowed the demand to increase and lead to an automatic increase in sales revenue and profit for 'i'.
As mentioned, the price of the newspaper was 20p on weekdays and 30p on the weekend, this is a clever business tactic as on weekends, more people may tend to go out and by increasing the price, people would buy 'i' as it would still be relatively cheap compared to other newspapers such as the Times which would be a lot more expensive, not many magazines or newspapers would tend to do this therefore making it a very clever tactic.
Media Audience
Based on this front page, I believe that the target audience for this magazine would be approaching tourists as (mentioned above), it helps to raise their awareness on Britain in itself and other British people travelling to work to complete 'Daily crossword puzzles' as written on the front cover of the newspaper. The understanding of the audience all depends on the psychographics such as their lifestyles and the audience for 'i' would have lifestyles such as travelling to work or just simply tourism.
This audience in particular would tend to consume this paper the most as it is affordable and contains a lot of information which may intrigue them.
The primary audience of the magazine would be the adults of the older generation of 30+ who would tend to buy magazine compared to the secondary audience of the younger generation of teenagers aged 16+ who would usually buy magazines such as the 'SUN' for 50p as it approaches the younger target audience compared to this newspaper of 'i'. Also, stereotypically, teenagers would usually read magazines compared to newspapers.
Moreover, you would expect sophisticated people who would usually have less money to purchase this newspaper as it is cheap or the young students who would have no 'pocket money'. 'i' would be a cheaper option to purchase compared to the other more expensive newspapers and magazine such as the SUN and the TIMES which are worth 50p or above.
Media Representations
How is Britain represented in this text? (12 marks)
Britain is represented within this text as it shows a patriotic society and the main image shows the huge 'party' being thrown and lots of indications of the typical British colours such as blue, red and white which are in the flag and represent the whole of the United Kingdom, the fact that this was done was to inform and advertise it to people all around the UK in order to create a 'buzz' about both 'i' and the Diamond Jubilee in itself. Also, as the queen is world renown, this allows the target audience(s) of this newspaper to purchase it even more. Camera angles used such as long shots and mid-shots shows the atmosphere of Britain and the Queen's expressions make it seem that she is enjoying the celebrations and the connotations from this may show the cultural side of the UK. The body language of the image of the queen shows that she is not making a direct mode of address towards the audience making them want to take a good look at the cover of the newspaper.The newspaper presents the community of people living in the UK. The queen is being represented as a woman of authority and because her picture is larger than the rest connotes her importance towards this nation. The words 'A RIGHT ROYAL PARTY' are written in blue, red and white which reinforces the stereotypes of Britain and also represents us as a country who has a view of themselves as being very proud of their nationalities. Binary opposition is shown within the text itself between the colours creating a sense of juxtaposition and the contrasting colours connote Britain being of a multicultural background; also being welcoming.Moreover, the largest story of the paper is about the Diamond Jubilee this is seen as it is covering most of the page automatically catching the audience's eye.
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