OSP: Paul Gilroy - Diasporic identity

Paul Gilroy - blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

Gilroy suggest that racial identities are formed by colonialization, slavery, nationalist philosophies and consumer capitalism.

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?

Gilroy says that it was not about the "race" of the person but it was about the complexity of the skin and the historical wars that were prevalent a long time which he identified as . Also, he believes that racial differences and racial identities are the product of racial oppression

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?

Gilroy stated that ethnic absolutism is a line of thinking which sees humans are part of different ethnic compartments, with race as the basis of human differentiation. Gilroy opposes this because it counters his idea that race is caused by racism.

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

Diasporas are considered to comprise of members of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious groups who live in countries to which their ancestors migrated. Identities of individuals within a diaspora are formed over time, as a result of the historical, social and cultural relationships within the group and other groups

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

The dominant representation of black Britons was as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation.” As such, to accept the role of slavery into the cultural identities of Britain would be to challenge the negative stereotype of black Britons at the time, and reverse the “external and estranged” relationship with the nation.

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?

Diasporic identities can  become trapped within a national ideology. diasporic cultural ideologies and practices exist within a national ideology based upon its social, economic and cultural integrations and as such there is a cultural difference with the diasporic identities.

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.

Diasporic communities can use the digital media to stay connected to their cultural identity. The BBC offer a great range of information about cultural identities so that

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?

He believes that slavery started diasporic identities this is when black people where shipped around the country.

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?

They consistently feel they are looking at themselves through the eyes of others

10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.#





They challenge black women stereotypes by making three women work for NASA. A traditional stereotype would be a white man working for NASA. But the fact that three women are working for them and doing very well in NASA, tells us that women are just as good as men when it comes to knowledge.

Teen Vogue: Industry and social media blog tasks

1) Research Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast. What other magazines do they publish and how much money did they make last year?
The magazines that are under Conde Nast's name are Wired, The New Yorker, Glamour, Vanity Fair and a few more. The company made £6.9 million in 2017 which is half as much as they made in 2016.

2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of income?

Their main source of income is advertising and monetisation online along with selling data about their audience to advertisers to make a revenue.

3) How are traditionally print-based products like Teen Vogue diversifying to create new income streams?

They would use celebrity endorsements to give their brand a certain exclusivity that this celebrity supports this brand, more recently companies have taken advantage of the new age of more active readers and publishing content that they would be interested in.

4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’ particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry?

This is due to fashion shopping now being done mainly online but also due to the wide appeal that the industry has and the potential revenue the companies can make by exploiting the readers.

5) Do you view Teen Vogue’s content as a form of public service media or is Condé Nast simply interested in clicks and profit?

I believe that the paper is in limited regulation from Conde Nast allowing for more freedom in what is published which allows for Teen Vogue to feel and look unique with what is published. Overall, I believe that the people a Teen Vogue see it as a public service while Conde Nast see it as a way of making large amounts of revenue, so is a plus for both companies.

Closure of print edition research

Read the following short articles to learn the background to Condé Nast's decision to close the print edition of Teen Vogue in 2016 and then answer the questions below:

BBC: Teen Vogue: How will going online-only affect readers?
New York Times: Condé Nast Ends Teen Vogue’s Print Run
Folio: Your Teen Vogue Hot Takes Are All Wrong

1) Why does the BBC suggest “Teen Vogue’s digital game is strong”?

This is because of their large social media followings with three and a half million Twitter followers and 6 million Facebook likes.

2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible for the Teen Vogue website’s success?
This is because the titles are concise and relatable.

3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of the print magazine?

Their audience is using the digital content more than the paid for magazines. This is also because people want their content for free, rather than paying for it.

4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it?

He says that when you go website only you lose the brand values as well as what the brand actually stands for, meaning that you "are just another website."

5) How do online-only publications make money?

This is through advertising on the website and talking about specific products in dedicated articles, which companies would pay for them to do. In addition to this, there will be advertising slots on the website which companies can also pay for to get that slot.

6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for Generation-Z?

Penny says "Print is a very difficult medium to sustain," which may be because Gen Z has grown up with the digital presence, therefore they're more likely to use that medium rather than print.

7) What does the New York Times say Conde Nast is known for?

NYTimes says that Conde Nast  is known for rich, glossy magazines.

8) The New York Times states that Conde Nast expects to bring in less revenue in 2017 than 2016… by how much?

This is by $100 million

9) The Folio article also looks at the switch from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only approach.

The amount of people that went to the Teen Vogue website increased to nearly 9million, from 2 million.

10) Finally, Folio also highlights some of the aspects we have studied elsewhere. Pick out two quotes from the article that link to our work on the Teen Vogue audience, representation or design.

"Teen Vogue, skewering Fox News for “brainwashing” its viewers with “propaganda masquerading as a serious source of news,” went live Thursday afternoon." Challenging capitalism.

Social media analysis

Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Teen Vogue's social media presence:

1) Look at the Teen Vogue Twitter feed (you don’t need to sign up to Twitter to see it but may need to log-in at home). How many followers does Teen Vogue have?

Teen Vogue has 3.36 million followers in it's twitter account.

2) Now look at the content. Classify the first 20 tweets you can see using the sections on the Teen Vogue website: News & Politics, Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and Homecoming. What does the Twitter feed focus on most? Does this differ to the website?

The 20 tweets that I have seen focus on the more gossip and celeb part of teen Vogue with 2 posts of transgender politics, this is understandable as the surveillance of the elite class is a big reason of why people use social media.

3) How are the tweets and headlines written? Can you find examples of click bait?

From what I have seen the headline are one liners and quick to read and lead to a link to the main site which is a clever way of gaining more traffic on both of their platforms. I did not find any examples of click bait.

4) How does the Twitter feed use videos and images?

There is a use of professional photos taken from red carpet premiers or from advert that give the site a consistency of a professional feel.

5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have?

Teen Vogue on Facebook has a total of 5.9 million likes and 5.8 million followers.

6) Click on the Videos link on the left-hand menu. What type of content do the videos feature? Does this differ to the website or Twitter feed?

The videos that are featured here are much more interactive with the audience providing further conversation amongst the community. 

7) Now look at the Events tab to explore past events. What are these events and what do they tell us about how audiences interact with the Teen Vogue brand?
There are multiple summits and meet ups that have taken place all over the USA and these lead to the audience feeling a part of a group and community that brings the brand together and gives the readers a connection with the creators and editors.

8) Go to the Teen Vogue Instagram page. How many followers do they have on Instagram?
Teen vogue have 2.7 million followers on Instagram.

9) How does the Instagram feed differ from other social media channels?

Once again the Teen Vogue Instagram profile posses most  of the old Teen Vogue conventions by focusing on the Fashion, Make-up and entertainment topic.

10) What examples of digital convergence and synergy can you find on Teen Vogue social media including the Teen Vogue YouTube channel? (E.g. opportunities to engage with the brand across different platforms).

I can find that the content is presented in the same way amongst all the platforms as they all posses the same theme and configuration in their content, there are also completions posted on most of the platforms so that they can reach a wide reach of viewers.There are also the same stories featured on all the platforms so that the article can have the highest volume of traffic as they possibly can.

Gina Miller: ‘The threats against my family and children are terrifying’ - The voice

•  Written by Vic Motune

• Miller, 52, became a public figure when, in 2016, she led the successful legal challenge which forced Theresa May to get Parliament’s approval before triggering Article 50 and leaving the European Union.

• Her victory was hailed as the greatest legal upset of modern times. It came as no surprise to many in the black community when she was named as the most influential black person in Britain by the 2018 Powerlist, beating the likes of British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, grime star Stormzy and boxer Anthony Joshua.

• businesswoman Gina Miller’s role in the increasingly divisive national debate about it has seen her hailed as a remarkable woman of courage and principle, someone who took on the government and won.

• She has inspired many young females who are from different backgrounds to become successful. Her influence was widely recognised by different political groups being praised on numerous occasions.

Sinéad Burke Opened Up About Bullying, Beauty, and Activism- Teen vogue

• Written by Brittney Mcnamara

• Sinead Burke strongly believes that many groups in fashion are very underrepresented such as "black people, fat people and transgender people"

• Sinead suffers from dwarfism inspiring her to stand up and speak out for the underrepresented people

• She also has many campaigns and is a usual activist.

• Sinead is one of the people working to widen the fashion industry's lens, advocating for little people like herself.

• She's been honoured as one of Business of Fashion’s 500, been on the cover of British Vogue, was the first little person to attend the Met Gala, among a dizzying list of other achievements.

• Sinéad said she's working toward that goal through visibility, and showing people that the definition of beauty is not restrictive.

‘Mugabe remains a hero despite political errors’- The Voice

-he stuck to the letter of a deal that included controversially ensuring Zimbabwe’s white minority retained many of its economic and political privileges, for example a guaranteed 20 parliamentary seats.

-Mugabe was a hero to Zimbabwe people

-Championed liberation struggle in Zimbabwe

-Motivational figure

Maisie Williams Said Playing Arya Stark on Game of Thrones Affected Her Body Image - Teen Vogue

- Article by Brittney Mcnamara

- OCTOBER 3, 2019

-  Maisie williams talks about how famous show game of thrones made her feel uncomfortable with her body.

- SHe targets a feminist audience as she speaks out about issues that other girls may also have with their bodies.

- Maisie talks about how she was forced to wear certain clothes and props which she did not agree with/ did not want to wear.

- Tries to empower females by saying that they should always embrace their body types whatever shape they are.

- Maisie wants to change her public image as she was PERCEIVED as a tomboy through most of her fame ridden career through playing arya stark in game of thrones.

teen vogue audience and representation

1) Analyse the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What is the Teen Vogue mission statement and what does this tell us about the target audience and audience pleasures?
Their mission statement is to empower, enlighten and empower and this means that the audience pleasures include surveillance as it provides a political agenda and information that audiences would want to know. There could also be audience pleasure of personal relationships as it provides an inclusive environment and amplifying voices so audiences feel engaged.

2) What is the target audience for Teen Vogue? Use the media pack to pick out key aspects of the audience demographics. Also, consider the psycho graphic groups that would be attracted to Teen Vogue: make specific reference to the website design or certain articles to support your points regarding this.
The target audience is still interested in celebrity content and beauty – which Teen Vogue addresses by featuring the ‘opinion leaders’ (two-step flow) of social media. They tend to target young girl audiences like the generation z as it raises issues to do with 'pop feminism'. The psycho graphics would include middle class who are aspires as they have goals they want to achieve.

3) What audience pleasures or gratifications can be found in Teen Vogue? Do these differ from the gratifications of traditional print-based magazines?
There could also be audience pleasure of personal relationships as it provides an inclusive environment and amplifying voices so audiences feel engaged. This also provides surveillance about gender fluidity as it is a progressive magazine. This is also a 'woke' magazine as it raises awareness building this sense of personal identity so now you can identify yourself on the spectrum of today's society,

4) How is the audience positioned to respond to political news stories?
The audience is positioned to respond by giving their own voice and political agenda because it talks about issues that are very discreet in society. They are positioned to agree to the news and give their opinions about the topic where everyone can discuss it on the website and social media.

5) How does Teen Vogue encourage audiences to interact with the brand – and each other – on social media? 
The ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ section of the media pack may help with this question.
Teen Vogue encourages the audience to interact with the brand on social media by providing adverts and banners as it also had a June event that focused on activism. Another one focused on career called '@work' which means that there is online connectivity for audiences to engage with.

Representations

1) Look again at the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What do the ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ (key events and features throughout the year) suggest about the representation of women and teenage girls on teenvogue.com?

Teen Vogue is mostly aimed at women where they offer different representations of women. There are female opinion leaders (two step flow model) that can help encourage that women can make an impact on society.

2) How are issues of gender identity and sexuality represented in Teen Vogue?

These issues are given a progressive approach in the magazine, as gender fluidity and multiculturalism are well known.

3) Do representations of appearance or beauty in Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge traditional stereotypes?

They challenge traditional stereotypes as influencers like Skai Jackson were a niche type of clothing but still embraces it.

4) What is the patriarchy and how does Teen Vogue challenge it? Does it succeed?

Patriarchy is the idea of where men take control and are more dominant in the society. Teen vogues challenges this because they try to empower women which challenges this idea of men being more powerful than women, 

5) Does Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge typical representations of celebrity?

Teen Vogue try to write articles on celebrities which centre around not only their appearances, but also their achievements and political views

Feature: how Teen Vogue represents the changing nature of media aimed at women

Read this Quartz feature - The true story of how Teen Vogue got mad, got woke, and began terrifying men like Donald Trump - and answer the following questions:

1) How was the Teen Vogue op-ed on Donald Trump received on social media?

It was received very well on social media as people respected and were surprised by the opinions and views teen vogue were giving.

2) How have newspapers and magazines generally categorised and targeted news by gender?

Politics and current affairs were something that were always targeted at men and topics like fashion and beauty have always been targeted at women. However, this has changed as they are now using politics to target women

3) How is this gender bias still present in the modern media landscape?

It is still present because some people dint like the idea of Teen Vogue speaking about political issues for example, Gaslighting America. People responded negative towards this and some were surprised. A man even said, "Go back to your acne treatments".

4) What impact did the alternative women’s website Jezebel have on the women’s magazine market?

It changed how magazines edit their print and digital media as this challenges traditional women stereotypes which meant that other magazines should be doing the same thing as well by subverting these stereotypes

5) Do you agree with the writer that female audiences can enjoy celebrity news and beauty tips alongside hard-hitting political coverage? Does this explain the recent success of Teen Vogue?

I agree with her statement as i believe that women should be able to participate in these serious, political discussions and i think they should be aware of what current affairs are happening around them etc. But this doesn't change the fact that they can read news about make up etc. Teen Vogue saw this gap in the market and decided to utilise it by targeting these people.

6) How does the writer suggest feminists used to be represented in the media?

She said that they were represented as people who were not interested in hard news 

7) What is the more modern representation of feminism? Do you agree that this makes feminism ‘stereotyped as fluffy’?

I believe that it doesn't make them fluffy. It just means that women want to discuss other topics that a traditional women wouldn't really talk about.

8) What contrasting audience pleasures for Teen Vogue are suggested by the writer in the article as a whole?

This magazine provides surveillance and personal relationships to be formed with this magazine, as it covers a variety of things.

9) The writer suggests that this change in representation and audience pleasures for media products aimed at women has emerged from the feminist-blog movement. How can this be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory?

This can be connected to his hypothesis as he connotes that now in the public have more power than any other time in recent memory to change things.

10) Is Teen Vogue simply a product of the Trump presidency or will websites and magazines aimed at women continue to become more hard-hitting and serious in their offering to audiences?

I believed that websites and magazines aimed at women will continue to be hard-hitting and serious as now women do hold a position in the political spectrum than before.

teen vogue

Teen Vogue: background reading

Read this Guardian feature from 2017 on Teen Vogue and answer the following questions.

1) What was the article that announced Teen Vogue as a more serious, political website – with 1.3m hits and counting?

"donald trump is gas-lighting America" - Lauren Duca

2) When was the original Teen Vogue magazine launched and what was its original content?

It was launched in 2004, Teen Vogue used to focus on the standard cocktail of fashion must-haves and celebrity worship.

3) How did editor Elaine Welteroth change Teen Vogue’s approach in 2015?

the team, including then beauty editor Welteroth, engineered a shift. That issue featured three unknown black models on the cover, seemingly breaking all the rules (that you should have a famous person; and that having no Caucasian faces on the cover is a commercial risk).

4) How many stories are published on Teen Vogue a day? What topics do they cover?

between 50 and 70 a day, they cover fashion, entertainment and current affairs.

5) What influence did digital director Phillip Picardi have over the editorial direction?

his influence was diversifying the backgrounds of the people in our newsroom.

6) What is Teen Vogue’s audience demographic and what does ‘woke’ refer to?

the demographic is 18-24 and woke means a slang term, as “a byword for social awareness.”

7) What issues are most important to Teen Vogue readers?

“Identity is big. We want to help make them feel better about themselves, whether that’s giving beauty tips, or empowering them with political information to have smarter conversations and feel they can stand up for themselves.” Career advice “is an evergreen topic”; above all, “young people are craving something real, craving authenticity”.

8) What does Tavi Gevinson suggest regarding the internet and ‘accountability culture’ with regards to modern audiences? Can you link this to our work on Clay Shirky?

 She believes the internet has created an “accountability culture”, where the relationship with readers is closer and more transparent, and says brands have had to respond to that. “It is in their best interest to subvert expectations of teen girl magazines,” Gevinson says. “The general response to Teen Vogue’s shift seems to be shock and praise, because they are a Condé publication whose main concern is making money. And being political and feminist are considered risky, PR-wise.”

9) What social and political issues have been covered successfully by Teen Vogue?

Dakota Access pipeline protests ,  Black Lives Matter movement, 

10) What do Teen Vogue readers think of the magazine and website?

teen vogue readers thoroughly enjoy reading the magazine where they see many of the topics they care about being expressed.

Homepage analysis

Go to the Teen Vogue homepage and answer the following:

1) What website key conventions can you find on the Teen Vogue homepage?

• Task/menu bar at the top of the homepage
• Consistent colour scheme throughout the homepage
• Most relevant/popular stories are at the top of the homepage

2) How does the page design encourage audience engagement?

Trending sections and a layout targeting younger audiences.

3) Where does advertising appear on the homepage?

It's clearly labelled as 'Sponsored'

4) What are the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content of Teen Vogue?

Their content is very widely ranged.

5) How far does the homepage scroll down? How many stories appear on the homepage in total?

Scrolls for a very long time.

Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of Teen Vogue and answer the following:

1) What are the items in the top menu bar for the Lifestyle section?

The menu bar for the lifestyle section includes tech, campus life, careers, decorating ideas and food.

2) How is the Lifestyle section designed to encouragement audience engagement? Think about page design, images, text and more.

There are a lot of images relating to the text which could intrigue the audience and the style in which the articles are places are very formal and easy to engage with.

3) What do you notice about the way headlines are written in Teen Vogue?

The headlines are more about the reader and more based on the images shown. Furthermore the headlines also include sub headings which could catch the readers attention to read the article.

4) What does the focus on education, university and ‘campus life’ tell you about the Teen Vogue audience demographics and psychographics?

This tells me that the audience demographics are not just teens and are also people who are older studying in university etc. The demographic is widely diverse and it is based more around educated individuals

5) Choose three stories featured in the Lifestyle section – why do they fit the Teen Vogue brand?

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Five key articles

Read the following five notable Teen Vogue features then answer the questions below for EACH feature.

Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America

The new face of teen activism 

Black Teens Have Been Fighting for Gun Reform for Years

Netflix and strong female leads 

How to Break Away From the Gender Binary

For each article:

Donald trump Is Gaslighting America.

1) Who is the writer and what is the article about?

The Writer is Lauren Duca and the article is about the impact of Donald Trump becoming the president and how he has impacted America as a country

2) How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.

The article uses narrative to enhance Donald Trumps views and his manipulation and lies

3) Why is this article significant?

The article is significant as it is about politics and about Americas society right now presenting the truth and the consequences of Donald Trumps presidency

4) How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

The article appeals to all demographics of Teen Vogue readers as it focuses on politics which is seen as something that the readers need to be more awake and 'woke' about

How to break away from the gender binary.

1) Who is the writer and what is the article about?

Writer: Samantha Riedel

This article is about how gender should not be stated at birth as sex characteristics should not be associated with gender expression. Things like body shaming and using pronouns to describe gender should be subverted as a result as it is found that one in every hundred babies are said to be different from being classed as male or female.

2) How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.

The article uses narrative through Todorov's theory as there is a disequilibrium set up about gender and the way people see this which disrupts the equilibrium.

3) Why is this article significant?

ng issues to do with gender and creating a new outlook towards it.

4) How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

This reflects the ideologies of modern teen vogue as it takes a new approach to gender which means that it is creating a voice for the 'z' generation and creating this movement so that it can be made easier. This is what teen vogue aim to create a platform as the editor describes for everyone so they feel part of society.

The New Face Of Teen Activism

1) Who is the writer and what is the article about?

The writer is Alexis Manrodt and the article is about social activism and the role of the internet and the media on the issue.

2) How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.

It helps us understand that the goal of Teen Vogue is to create a better world for our generation.

3) Why is this article significant?

The significance of this article is that it is based on the future of the readership and how the internet can influence a lot of things.

4) How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

It reinforces how Teen Vogue is a 'woke' brand and influences change.

Black Teens Have Been Fighting For Gun Reforms For Years

1) Who is the writer and what is the article about?

The writer is Lincoln Anthony Blades and the article is about gun control and how teens have been fighting an ongoing battle for gun reform.

2) How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.

The article talks about how students have would out of class, rallys and how they have been trying to fix this issue for a very long time. This can engage the reader as they can link it to the amount of mass shootings there have been in America.

3) Why is this article significant?

This is significant as there has been a lot of stories in the news about gun violence for example school shootings and how teenage voices can impact a change on this.

4) How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

Talks about how teenagers can stand up to this and create change. It also highlights issues and how people may be affected.

Netflix and Strong Female Leads

1) Who is the writer and what is the article about?

The writer is De Elizabeth and the article is about how Netflix has changed gender stereotypes and the way we view women.

2) How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.

The article talks about general stereotypes of women and how media has changed this linking to the idea of feminism and the feminist movement.

3) Why is this article significant?

This article is significant as it could help raise awareness on how people view women as stereotypes could have a huge impact on someone and a community. Furthermore, stereotypes are usually invalid now as things are now changing due to society and changes in the world.

4) How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

It helps make young females feel strong and independent in their own skin empowering the to become something great.