OSP: The Voice CSP

Our second Online, Social and Participatory CSP is the Voice newspaper website - a niche publication targeting the black British community.

The Voice has a significant place in the social and historical context of race relations and representation in Britain, launching in 1982 in the wake of the Brixton race riots. It is also the perfect case study to further develop our understanding of Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory we studied last lesson.

The Voice - background and notes

The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in London and is published every Thursday. 

The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.

You can read more of this background from the original source - the Voice website About Us page.

The Voice: social and historical context

In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain. 

The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons and also due to a business loan from Barclays Bank. The bank was keen at the time to improve their reputation with the black community due to investments in Apartheid South Africa.

Social context - The Battle for Brixton documentary

The Voice analysis: production values

Despite being an important part of the British media landscape, The Voice arguably offers low production values across its digital operations – website design, video content and social media. 

Watch this video on influential black women in business and analyse the production values (note the view count too):

The Voice: representation

The Voice was launched to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see media through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-biased (or even racist) mainstream British media. This also links to Hall's work on representation and the idea of individuals having their own 'conceptual map'.

The Voice: industries

The Voice is owned by Jamaican media group the Gleaner company and published in Britain by GV Media Group. It is a significant contrast to international giants such as Conde Nast (GQ).

In a similar move to The Guardian's request for donations, The Voice asks its readers to support the publication by paying donations via PayPal. This raises interesting questions regarding the financial viability of online news media and particularly niche publications such as The Voice (or indeed Oh Comely).

The Voice CSP: case study blog tasks

Language and contexts

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

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

2) 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?

3) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience. 

4) 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 and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.

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?

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

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

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

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice opinion piece on black representation in the tech industry. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?

2) Read this feature on The Black Pound campaign. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?

3) 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?

Social and cultural contexts - 40 Year of Black British Lives

Read this extract from The Voice: 40 Years of Black British Lives on rapper Swiss creating Black Pound Day (you'll need your Greenford Google login to access the document). Answer the following questions:

1) What is Black Pound Day?

2) How did Black Pound Day utilise social media to generate coverage and support? 

3) How do events such as Black Pound Day and the Powerlist Black Excellence Awards link to wider social, cultural and economic contexts regarding power in British society?  

Audience

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

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

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

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?

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’?

Representations

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

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

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?

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

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.)

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? 

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? 

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 or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

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?

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?

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

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

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

10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTube channel. What are the production values of their video content?


Homework and deadlines

There is plenty of work here - at least four hours - but this is the only blog task on the Voice and covers all four of the key concepts.

Finish for homework - due date set on Google Classroom.

Coursework: Statement of Intent

Our coursework projects are developing well with filming underway and rough cut edits due before Christmas. We now need to update our Statement of Intent with our projects fully planned. 

This week, we need to write and submit a second draft of our Statement of Intent that will be marked and given feedback in terms of a current level and approximate grade. The Statement of Intent is worth 10 of the 60 marks so if we want A/A* we'll need something close to full marks on this component. 

 
One important point to remember is that your Statement of Intent is what you are planning to do - so it must be written in the future tense ('I will...' rather than 'I have...') This is not an evaluation but instead a written account of what you intend to produce.

You need to submit the second draft of your Statement of Intent as a NEW blog post AND email or share a version from Microsoft Word / Google Docs with your coursework teacher. Statement of Intent guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to open these documents). 

Finally, here's an example Statement of Intent from a previous year (note different brief - TV drama) to give you some ideas on how you can use layout and bullet points to include a large amount of information while keeping close to the 500-word limit.

Statement of Intent deadline: see Google Classroom

Mark scheme

A few of you have requested the mark scheme for the Statement of Intent. You can find it in the A Level Media specification document here - on pages 21-22 (if you keep scrolling you can also find the mark scheme for the remaining 50 marks for your productions).

Your statement of intent is a vital part of the project so make sure you are demonstrating your excellent knowledge of media concepts, terminology and theory.

Coursework: Filming

Our coursework projects are really starting to take off with some great preliminary exercises. Now it's time to complete filming on our full three-minute video productions.

This next stage of the project is critical - it is where the video project will stand or fall. The next tasks and deadlines are as follows:

Production filming window

Film everything you need for your three-minute video production.

Filming window: Friday 18 October - Monday 18 November. This means you need to film everything between these two dates.
Deadline: Monday 18 November

Video rough cut deadline

Full three-minute edited and exported rough cut (first draft) of your production uploaded to YouTube and linked on your blog. 

Deadline: Monday 9 December

Tutorials
While you work on the above deadlines, you will have another tutorial with your coursework teacher looking at your pre-production planning, statement of intent and checking your project is on track. For those who film early in the filming window, it will also involve checking the 'rushes' (the film clips as they come in). 

If you need a recap on the brief from AQA, you can find the brief here - Brief 4: Music video & Music magazine.

This is the moment you need to step up... we're asking for professional standards to match the incredible production work Greenford Media students have produced in the past. Good luck!

Coursework: Preliminary exercise feedback and LR

The preliminary exercise is a brilliant opportunity to learn or refresh the basics of filmmaking before creating your actual coursework project.

After the screening of the preliminary exercises in class, you need to create a blogpost called 'Preliminary exercise learner response' and embed your video from YouTube. Then, complete the following tasks as your feedback and learner response:

1) Type up your teacher's feedback in full plus a summary of the comments you received from other students in the class.

2) Using a combination of your own reflection on the preliminary exercise and the feedback you were given, write three WWW bullet points and three EBI bullet points for your work.

3) How effectively did you complete the objective you laid out in your mini preliminary exercise statement of intent?

4) What have you learned from the preliminary exercise that will help you in the actual coursework project?

5) Now you have completed the preliminary exercise, will you change anything about your actual coursework video plan? This could include your concept, cast/actors or technical elements such as mise-en-scene, camerawork or editing.

The deadline for these feedback and learner response tasks will be set by your coursework teacher and on Google Classroom.

OSP: Paul Gilroy - Postcolonial theory and diasporic identity

There are several important theories we need to learn and apply to our Online, Social and Participatory media unit.

These include Clay Shirky's End of Audience theories, Stuart Hall's work on representation and reality and Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory of black diasporic identity.

Notes from the lesson

Stuart Hall: representation and reality

Stuart Hall suggests individuals each have their own conceptual map – effectively what we use to decode and understand media texts.

Building on this, Hall outlines three approaches to understanding the relationship between reality and representations: 

Reflective approach: the media simply mirrors (or reflects) the real world. This is a limited approach that minimalises the power or complexity of the media.

Intentional approach: the producer of the text constructs the world as they see it and the audience accepts those values encoded in the text. This is effectively the dominant or preferred reading (reception theory) and leaves no room for the negotiated or oppositional reading.

The constructivist approach: this was Hall’s preferred approach and closely matches reception theory with preferred and oppositional readings. This suggests concepts and signs do have some shared meanings but they are not all inherent and can be interpreted by the audience in a number of ways (dependent on their own ‘conceptual map’).

Paul Gilroy: black diasporic identity

We first explored Paul Gilroy’s theories of black diasporic identity when studying music video.

This is the idea that black identity is informed by diaspora – literally the ‘scattering of people’ across the world. He suggests this creates a “liquidity of culture” that means black identity is formed by journeys across seas, not the solid ground of a home country or culture.

Importantly, Gilroy sees this identity as impossible to reverse – there can be no return to the place of origin as the experience of slavery and displacement can never be “rewound”.

Gilroy: black British identity

The Voice newspaper was formed in 1982 to create a voice for the black British community. Gilroy wrote of the dominant representation of black Britons at that time as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation”.

Gilroy suggests diaspora challenges national ideologies and creates “cultural tension”. This tension helps to create the diasporic identity but often comes with negative experiences such as exclusion and marginalisation. 

More succinctly, Gilroy sums this up as the white racist’s question to BAME people: “Why don’t you just go home?”

BBC controversy

Gilroy wrote about this in the 1970s and 1980s but it's been in the news much more recently with Brexit and Trump bringing debates about race and immigration to the fore. In 2019, the BBC found itself embroiled in a controversy regarding BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty's response to Donald Trump suggesting congresswomen should 'go home' to the countries in which they or their parents were born. The original clip and full article can be found below:




Paul Gilroy and Russell Brand

Paul Gilroy took part in Russell Brand’s Under The Skin podcast, exploring ideas and modern culture. Russell Brand has since been accused of unacceptable behaviour but the focus of this is on Paul Gilroy's answers and opinions which remain valid. Watch the following two extracts and consider how Gilroy’s ideas reflect recent events and media culture.

Extract 1: 17.50 – 25.45
Extract 2: 44.30 – 48.08

Paul Gilroy - blog tasks

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 or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login.

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

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

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

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Due date: on Google Classroom.

Y13 Baseline assessment: Learner response

Well done on completing your Y13 Media baseline assessment - it's an important first step towards success in the exams next June.

This also gave us the opportunity to revise two key topics that are likely to come up in those exams - Magazines and Radio. It's the nature of the two-year linear course that we will be assessed on topics that we may have originally studied over a year ago. As a result, it's vital that we build in revision activities and assessments across all nine types of media as we progress through Year 13. 

The first part of your baseline assessment learner response is to look carefully at your mark, grade and comments from your teacher. Next, read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully and note in particular the anticipated content for each question. 

Baseline assessment learner response

Create a new blog post called 'Y13 baseline assessment learner response' and complete the following tasks:

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

2) Focusing on the BBC Newsbeat question, write three ways it helps to fulfil the BBC's mission statement that you didn't include in your original assessment answer. Use the mark scheme for ideas.

3) Question two asked you how useful media effects theories are in understanding the audience response to War of the Worlds. Complete the following:

• Gerbner's Cultivation theory: useful or not useful? Why?
• Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle model: useful or not useful? Why?
• Stuart Hall's Reception theory: useful or not useful? Why?

4) Write a full essay plan for the 25-mark Magazines question. The mark scheme contains plenty of ideas you can use here. Your plan should include notes/bullet points addressing the following:

• Introduction: one sentence answering the original question and laying out your argument clearly.
• Paragraph 1 content/ideas:
• Paragraph 2 content/ideas:
• Paragraph 3 content/ideas:
• Paragraph 4 content/ideas:
• Conclusion: sum up your argument a final time in one sentence

5) Finally, identify three key skills/topics you want to work on in A Level Media this year before the final exams in the summer.

You will not have enough time to finish this LR in the lesson your work is returned so complete for homework - deadline on Google Classroom.

OSP: Taylor Swift CSP - Audience and Industries

The final part of our Taylor Swift case study explores Audience and Industry contexts.

The exam could focus on anything from the changing nature of digital audiences to the regulation and financial power of social media giants.

Notes from the lesson: Audience

There is a lot of interesting demographic data regarding Taylor Swift's fans:

• Overall, Swifties skew female, Democratic, millennial, and likely live in the suburbs
• A survey from American polling company Morning Consult found that 53% of Americans identify as Swift fans - meaning over half of all Americans are potentially in this audience
• Race/ethnicity: just under three-quarters White, 13% Black, 9% Asian. 
• Income: Around half make under $50,000 a year; the other half is divided between $50k-100k and $100k+
• 55% are millennials, 21% Gen X (Gen Z not covered by this survey as it was only 18+) 
• A YouGov poll found a pretty equal gender split - 52% female, 48% male 
• YouGov also found Swifties like Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga and Adele
• Swifties pay attention to ads more than the average (56% versus 38% general population)
• They also trust influencers more than the average population (42% v 27%) 

Swift's fanbase also skews very close to the overall demographics of the US population which shows what a mainstream sensation she has become. Overall American population demographics (2020 figures): 

• Men 49.2%
• Women 50.8%
• White alone: 57.8%
• Black or African American alone: 12.4%
• Asian alone: 6.0%
• Some other race alone: 0.9%
• Generation Z: Approximately 23% of the US population (roughly half of which are legal adults)
• Millennials: Approximately 24% of the US population
• Generation X: Approximately 21% of the US population
• Baby Boomers: Approximately 28% of the US population
• About 29% of US households had an income of $100,000 or more per year in 2020.
• About 28% of US households had an income between $50,000 and $99,999 per year in 2020.

How Taylor Swift uses social media to connect with her audience - parasocial relationships: 

 

Taylor Swift: Voice of the Millennials or Generation Z?

Generations:

• Generation X: Born between 1965 – 1980
• Millennials / Generation Y: Born between 1981 – 1995
• Generation Z (or iGen): Born 1996 – 2010

Taylor Swift is a Millennial but most of her fans are Generation Z. Which generation does she best reflect? 

Industries

Social media companies overwhelmingly make their money through advertising – promoted or paid-for posts.

For Facebook and Instagram, the amount of data the parent company Meta holds about users (everything from the school they attended to their postcode) means adverts can be micro-targeted which is hugely appealing to advertisers.

Social media companies: in focus

Twitter

• Twitter was started by Jack Dorsey in 2006. It has over 200 million active users worldwide. 
• Twitter’s revenue is around $3 billion. 
• Twitter makes most of its money through advertising – promoted tweets or ‘trend takeovers’.
• In 2022 Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 BILLION and has since added controversial new features.
• Twitter is now coming under pressure from rivals including Meta’s Threads and has been criticised for promoting hate and extreme political views.

Instagram

• Instagram is an image and video sharing site launched in 2010. 
• In 2012 it was bought by Facebook for $1 billion. Facebook and Instagram’s parent company is Meta – a global conglomerate owned by Mark Zuckerberg.
• Instagram has over 2 billion active users worldwide.
• Instagram revenue is more than $40 BILLION a year.
• Taylor Swift has 280m+ Instagram followers.

Taylor Swift and TikTok

In 2024 there was a dispute between TikTok and UMG (Swift's record label) regarding licensing the use of UMG artist songs in TikTok videos.

It was eventually resolved via a new deal but this nonetheless demonstrates the power social media companies now have across different types of media - including the music industry.

Regulation: Livingstone & Lunt

Livingstone and Lunt suggest that the British media landscape has prioritised consumer choice and commercial interests when it comes to regulation.

This fits with neoliberalist ideology.

Neoliberalism: a political approach associated with free-market capitalism prioritising free trade, globalisation and deregulation.

Livingstone & Lunt: global media regulation

Livingstone and Lunt argue the global media landscape has made it difficult for UK regulators:

• Online content has increased at a rate far faster than regulators can react to.
• User-generated content (e.g. social media) means tech giants do not technically publish their own content.
• Ofcom can’t impact on American tech giants. 
• Online anonymity makes enforcement difficult.

2023 Online Safety Bill

The 2023 Online Safety Bill is attempting to regulate the internet – but has been heavily amended and criticised as it makes its way through Parliament. 

Watch this BBC News interview on the topic: 

Watch: Channel 4 debate on regulation

Watch this Channel 4 News debate featuring the President of messaging service Signal on end-to-end encryption.

Where do you stand on this debate? 

Taylor Swift: Audience and Industries blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Taylor Swift: Audience and Industries blog tasks' and work through the following to complete your case study.

Audience

Background and audience wider reading

Read this Guardian feature on stan accounts and fandom. Answer the following questions:

1) What examples of fandom and celebrities are provided in the article?

2) Why did Taylor Swift run into trouble with her fanbase? 

3) Do stan accounts reflect Clay Shirky's ideas regarding the 'end of audience'? How? 

Read this Conversation feature on the economics of Taylor Swift fandom. Answer the following questions: 

1) What do Taylor Swift fans spend their money on? 

2) How does Swift build the connection with her fans? Give examples from the article.

3) What have Swifties done to try and get Taylor Swift's attention online? 

4) Why is fandom described as a 'hierarchy'? 

5) What does the article suggest is Swift's 'business model'? 

Taylor Swift: audience questions and theories

Work through the following questions to apply media debates and theories to the Taylor Swift CSP. You may want to go back to your previous blogpost or your A3 annotated booklet for examples. 

1) Is Taylor Swift's website and social media constructed to appeal to a particular gender or audience?

2) What opportunities are there for audience interaction in Taylor Swift's online presence and how controlled are these? 

3) How does Taylor Swift's online presence reflect Clay Shirky’s ‘End of Audience’ theories? 

4) What effects might Taylor Swift's online presence have on audiences? Is it designed to influence the audience’s views on social or political issues or is this largely a vehicle to promote Swift's work? 

5) Applying Hall’s Reception theory, what might be a preferred and oppositional reading of Taylor Swift's online presence? 

Industries

How social media companies make money

Read this analysis of how social media companies make money and answer the following questions:

1) How many users do the major social media sites boast?

2) What is the main way social media sites make money? 

3) What does ARPU stand for and why is it important for social media companies? 

4) Why has Meta spent huge money acquiring other brands like Instagram and WhatsApp? 

5) What other methods do social media sites have to generate income e.g. Twitter Blue? 

Regulation of social media

Read this BBC News article on a report recommending social media regulation. Answer the following questions:

1) What suggestions does the report make? Pick out three you think are particularly interesting. 

2) Who is Christopher Wylie? 

3) What does Wylie say about the debate between media regulation and free speech? 

4) What is ‘disinformation’ and do you agree that there are things that are objectively true or false? 

5) Why does Wylie compare Facebook to an oil company? 

6) What does it suggest a consequence of regulating the big social networks might be? 

7) What has Instagram been criticised for?

8) Can we apply any of these criticisms or suggestions to Taylor Swift? For example, should Taylor Swift have to explicitly make clear when she is being paid to promote a company or cause? 

A/A* extension tasks

Read Deconstructing Taylor in Media Magazine MM51 which covers representations, postmodernism and the relationship between Swift and her fans. You can find this in our Media Magazine archive.

Read this Guardian article on teenagers and phone addiction. Do you recognise what it is discussing?

Read this Guardian article on the Online Harms Bill. What does it suggest regarding regulation of social media companies?

This Guardian article also explores the mental health implications of social media. Do you think that strict regulation of social media should happen?

Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.