THE VOICE CSP!

 

THE VOICE CSP:

Language and contexts

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

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

• Today's date
• Top menu bar with links to: Home, Sport, Opinion, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Faith, Careers, Education, Motoring, Business and Windrush 70
• Images
• Articles
• Search bar

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?

The items on the top menu bar include Home, Sport, Opinion, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Faith, Careers, Education, Motoring, Business, and Windrush 70. These topics suggest that The Voice is well rounded and they make sure they cover a wide range of topics.

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. 

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.

The Voice uses Todorov's theory of equilibrium to engage their audience. For example, they will cover both the disequilibrium and equilibrium of a recurring story.

Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the Voice audience?

• Health
• Food
• Fostering & adoption
• Female
• Travel
• Relationships
• Competitions

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

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

 I believe, challenges black prejudices in the British media. There are so many tales of black successful individuals on The Voice, despite the fact that black people are often stereotyped as being failures. For example, consider the profile of the hairstylist who became the first black person to be inducted into the Hair Hall of Fame.

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

Feature focus

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

This will appeal to the Voice's audience because it is a black woman making a great achievement and bringing her a step closer to her ambition. The audience would have the audience pleasures of 'personal identity' or 'personal relationships' as they feel that they can relate to the photographer.

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

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?

This feature further shows the fact that The Voice aims to encourage the black community to grow. They mention in the article 'Investing funds back into the black community is a form of self-preservation and an opportunity for us to prosper'. This viewpoint actually goes against Gilroy's theory of 'Black Atlantic' because it shows that the Black community does belong in Western societies and that other black people can do their part in helping them grow.

Audience

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

• Black-Britons
• Black-Caribbean
• Older (30-40 year olds)
• Working class
• Psychographics- strugglers

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

Surveillance- news on the black community in Britain and other countries
Personal identity- can relate to the people they report about

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

The news on Windrush 70, in particular, shows that this site is aimed at a niche audience because this was an event that affected black people. 

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?

We may claim that Black people in Britain feel this way because of Gilroy's thesis of black diasporic identity and the idea that people have been "scattered." There is this concept of 'cultural fluidity,' in which Black Britons are both British yet retain values and customs from their ancestral culture. Despite having been born and reared in the United Kingdom, some suffer prejudice and are asked, "Why don't you just go home?" Because they understand the effects of racism and are a part of its history, the material of The Voice will connect with them

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’?

The article on Rebel Wilson being accused of blocking black women on Twitter is a prime example of Clay Shirky's 'end of audience' theory.

Representations

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

The audience is set up to respond positively. The Voice allows its viewers to perceive the world through their own eyes rather than through the lens of white, often racist, mainstream British media.

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

Yes, the Voice presents its articles and news specifically through the eyes of black people.

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?

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

The preferred reading would be that audiences interpret the representations of black Britons on the voice positively and realise that this representation of black people is the true reality, not the negative representations that major media platforms show concerning black people.

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

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? 

This shows that the original values and ideologies of the Voice were to give a voice to black Britons who were born and raised here but never truly felt like they had freedom of speech or belonged anywhere. The Voice was the first newspaper to really target a niche black audience and that is the main reason for its huge success.

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? 

The Voice had lost many readers in 2001 and its circulation had dropped by 20%. 

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.

The Gleaner company also owns 'The Weekly Gleaner' carrying news of interest to the West Indians in the United Kingdom, the paper offers coverage of important issues and events in both the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. 

How does the Voice website make money?

Online ads

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?

The Voice's adverts are always fixed and generally very random. They aren't usually appropriate for the target audience of the Voice. At the moment, there are adverts on Small World Money Transfer, myTV, a dating advert, and job search.

Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make a profit?

I believe there is definitely an element of public service to the Voice's role in the British media. The whole point of the Voice being created was to give a voice to the niche black people in Britain and that is what the Voice has been doing since the moment it was founded.

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

There is a news article featuring a video interview with Amandla Stenberg. The Voice also has a YouTube channel.

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

Even if the Voice is forced to shut down due to financial or readership issues, there is still an opportunity for it to grow again due to social media and the ability for anyone to become an influencer due to the internet. 

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?

Interestingly, the Voice's Twitter feed seems much more modern and well-managed than their website. I was surprised to see that they have almost 35K followers. However, the Twitter feed does seem different compared to MailOnline and Teen Vogue. 

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

The Voice's YouTube videos have very low production values and seem to be filmed and edited by non-professionals. They have many videos with excellent content and potential (such as the 'Meet six influential black women in business' series) but the fact that they are presented in such a bad way makes them not appealing and deters their audience.