Oh Comely - Audience blog tasks

Oh Comely - Audience blog tasks

1) How does Oh Comely introduce itself?

Oh Comely introduces itself by talking about what the magazine is all about and also provides statistics to show how well the magazine is doing and how many people they have managed to reach. 

2) How do the print circulation/readership statistics for Oh Comely compare to Men's Health?

Men's Health seems to have a broader age range and also reaches a lot more audience; this could be because they produce more editions of their magazine and give some out to free in places where they know their target market would be and Oh Comely could also have less audience reading their magazine because they have more of a niche market compared to Men's Health. 

3) How is Oh Comely distributed to the audience? 

Oh Comely only do a few prints so their regular customers would tend to buy from them and other than that they reach out to audiences by selling their magazines at popular cafes as they know their target audience go there and they'd be able to have a read of the magazine that way. 

4) What do you think the target audience demographics for Oh Comely might be? Some details are provided by the magazine (e.g. average age 27) but make an educated guess on further demographic details.

They'd mainly be aiming at middle class, young white women who have strong feminist beliefs and are also most likely to go to places like cafes regularly as they also have their magazines there.

5) What psychographic groups might be attracted to Oh Comely?

Explorers as they seek difference and are looking for newer unique things and Oh Comely are a modern magazine that talk about new things that traditional magazine wouldn't tend to mention. Explorers also tend to be a younger demographic.

6) What social class classification would you expect most Oh Comely readers to be? Why?

Most of them would be middle class as Oh Comely is a luxurious magazine rather than an affordable one and they have made it quite clear that they're aiming it at a higher class audience rather than people looking for an on-budget magazine as it also sets a brand image for them. 

7) What level of education would you expect for most Oh Comely readers? Why?

Oh Comely readers would most likely be well-educated as the magazine talks about inspiring women and women that work hard which comes with good education. It is also laid out in a more complex way that is for educated people to understand and find attractive rather than general audience. 

8) What audience pleasures are offered by Oh Comely?

The themes are easy for the audience to understand  the magazine talks about them in detail and makes it interesting for the audience to read. 
It is also pleasurable for women as they've been given a platform to praise other women, be supportive and also motivate others which would be pleasant for them to read. 

9) It has been suggested Oh Comely is a “magazine about people, their quirks and creativity rather than money and what it can buy”. How does the design and advertising content of Oh Comely support this view?

They have used a very aesthetic design in their magazine to reflect their artsy side rather than making it full of colour and text to promote as much things as possible. The uniqueness of the layout also reflects the articles that can be found inside as they are quirkier than usual magazine articles and have content that they think need to be spoken about in society rather than writing about it knowing that if they do, they'd attract a lot of customers. 

10) Why do you think Oh Comely has been able to build a loyal audience of subscribers in the eight years since it launched? Think about audience demand, rival magazines and the overall media landscape in the digital age.

Although their magazines aren't at an affordable price, they don't release their magazines often which leaves audience eager and waiting for the magazine to come out so that they can read the newer articles. Rather than publishing news and gossip, they write about peoples lives, inspirational stories, social issues etc. which would make readers come to them because they could find news and gossip elsewhere but it's rare to find these articles which is what their target audience is interested in.  

End of Year 1 exam learner response

End of Year 1 exam learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).

WWW - This is a very good, consistent exam that also offers potential to reach the higher grades. You've clearly revised terminology and theory and made good point throughout.

EBI - Question focus on the essay questions is the main EBI. This may also mean you need to revise postmodernism and industry for TV.

A little more theory and more detailed analysis needed to open up B+ grades.

2) Read the mark scheme for this exam carefully, paying particular attention to the 'indicative content' for each question. This is some of the best learning you can do all year as it gives you an idea of what the exam board is expecting. For your LR blogpost, identify ONE point you could have added for the first three questions in Section A:

Q1 additional point/theory: 

Binary opposition: cover image creates classic binary opposition of good and evil, hero and villain etc.

Q2 additional point/theory/CSP reference: 

Gauntlett – identity becoming more fluid; changes over time; generational differences. (Maybelline)

Propp’s character types reflect traditional gender roles in wider culture – active male hero, passive female heroine (‘damsel in distress’). (Man's Life)

Q3 additional point/theory/CSP reference: 

Bell Hooks: “normalised traumatisation” – bell hooks would suggest media products such as the Score hair cream advert help create a corrosive, toxic hypermasculinity that damages both women and men.

Jean Kilbourne’s work on the representation of women in advertising can be found in the

Score hair cream advert.

3) The final question in Section A was a 20-mark essay that required an extended response containing a coherent argument. Using the suggested content in the mark scheme, write an essay plan containing five paragraphs/points that answer the music video and postmodernism question.

Para 1 - finding originality in the Billie Jean video; The postmodern idea of ‘copying copies’ (that nothing is truly original)

Para 2 - How the editing, effects, camera shots etc. portray postmodernism

Para 3 - the narrative within the music video which was quite new during the time it came out.

Para 4 - Comparison to Letter to the Free and how it doesn't have much elements of postmodernism.

Para 5 - Conclusion; compare the differences between the two and talk about which one uses postmodernism the most.

4) Section B began with two questions testing your knowledge of industry terminology. Make sure you know the answers to these (get the answers from the mark scheme if you have to):

Two benefits of vertical integration: 

The business would have different fields giving competitors heavy competition and even if they don't do well in one sector, they'd be getting profits from another one. 

Definition of diversification: 

When a business or in this case, a media institution expands by introducing a range of products which don't need to be similar to each other e.g. having a TV channel and a radio station which are both for two different types of audience. 

5) Question 8 (TV industry) was arguably the hardest question on the exam. Write a new paragraph that answers the question referring to either Capital or Deutschland 83 and the global TV industry. Use the indicative content in the mark scheme to help you.

Capital reflects the global nature of London (multiculturalism) but perhaps less the global
nature of TV industry. State-of-the-nation drama largely aimed at British BBC audience who understand cultural references to house prices, Eastern European builders, city bankers etc. 
D83 reflects rise in foreign-language TV drama. Walter Presents from Channel 4 is VOD
streaming service with international long-form drama. Audiences increasingly comfortable

with subtitles and open to stories told over many hours.