Analysis of a college magazine (2)

Language

The masthead on this particular magazine isn’t very clear. However this can easily be recognised to mean Wyke entertainment (the title of the magazine). All writing on the splash is very clear and also part of a colour scheme which makes it easy for the reader to associate the magazine with Wyke 6^th form. The anchorage on this front cover stands out as opposed to the ‘COLLEGE’ magazine. The main image is again a medium long shot of a female student; this follows the conventions of a magazine front cover. All cover lines are very engaging with the target audience, by using the repetition of Wyke. This front cover also follows typical magazine conventions of having a barcode the date and issue number as well as the website.

Institution

Because it is also a college magazine the institution analysis will be the same:

The institution is the group that control the production process. From the front cover you can assume that the institution that produced the front cover is associated in some way with college. This is because a large publication company would have no interest in producing a college magazine. This is because there would be a very small profit as the target audience is relatively small. Therefore it is fair to assume that it is the college itself that has produced the magazine. Due to the production company having a smaller budget than that of a company producing a national or global magazine, the magazine will look cheaper; this could be as simple as the type of paper or type of camera used. Also because the target audience is limited the stories in the magazines can be more particular and more specific to particular pupil/teachers and events.

Ideology

Ideology is the meaning and ideas of the text. This particularly aims to engage the reader. All the cover lines are stories that involve the potential readers in some way. The ‘model’ appears as an everyday student. This achieved by a use of mise-en-scene with the folder being in one hand. Also with the use of cinematography it looks like the ‘model’ has just been stopped on her way to lesson. This effect is made by other students being in the background. The front cover is the main way to entice the audience to buy the magazine. This particular splash focuses on creating a bond with the students. They do this with the cover lines that encourage communication with people at the college e.g. “Wyke worries: Wyke’s very own agony aunt and also the website is clearly visible.

Audience

The audience is again made clear from the splash. The target audience is obviously students of Wyke 6^th Form College. Many factors indicate this. One factor is that the main image is a student. Also the main cover lines are about student life and or problems. Another reason is that the website on the magazine is the college email. More obviously you can connote that the magazine is for Wyke as you can see that W.E stands for Wyke entertainment. This magazine is clearly meant to be read and then there is meant to be an interaction between reader and the production company.

Representation

Representation is all about the individual/groups that appear in the text and about how they’re portrayed. Wyke Entertainment magazine is portrayed by the student in the main image. The life of a student is portrayed as being hard-work this is implied with the ‘model’ holding a folder full of work. Wyke is also portrayed as being a very helpful community about offering the opportunity of interaction as well as providing opportunities such as getting your articles published in the magazine. This reward/competition also gives a certain prestige about the magazine. The main story still has a mystery about the story. This is a clever representation about this particular story which becomes a tease story. This story is anchoring the main image so you immediately wonder what she has done surrounding a hunger strike.