The Voice CSP: case study blog tasks

 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?

• Brand home page link
• menu bar - classic website convention
• opinion section increasing for newspapers in digital age -  shirky
• faith- tells us something about the voices audience - christian beliefs

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?

The items on the top menu bar include:

• Home,
• Sport
• Opinion
• Entertainment
• Lifestyle
• Faith
• Careers
• Education
• Motoring
• Business

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. 

Traditional African clothes banned in Kenyan parliament 

According to the Speaker, a proper dress code for men "means a coat, a collar, a tie, long-sleeved shirt, long trousers, socks, shoes, or service uniform".

UK signs new deal to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda

Home Secretary James Cleverly said there is now no "credible" reason to stop the plans because the new treaty has addressed all of the issues that were previously raised by the Supreme Court

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.

To engage their audience, The Voice draws on Todorov's concept of equilibrium. They will discuss the equilibrium and disequilibrium of a recurrent story, for instance which therefore grabs attention.

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?

-food 

-health and well being 

-relationships

-travel

this suggests that The Voice explores many categories to appeal to a larger target audience.

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

London Race and Equality experts win aanational award 

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

They are mostly challenged however so stories fall into the categories of stereotypes as most headline stories are about sport and crime.

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

• Saracens call for more Ro blood donors

Saracens Rugby Club has rebranded row ‘R’ at StoneX Stadium to row ‘Ro’ for the remainder of the 23/24 season, as a nod to the blood type needed to fight sickle cell disorder

This shows that the community can help and take part in a good cause

• Ghanaian architect looking to build for the future 

Elsie Owusu has dedicated her professional life to dismantling the persistent challenges in architecture - inequality and barriers to inclusivity and diversity

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?

The Voice's viewers will find this motivating  because it features a black woman accomplishing a noteworthy goal and moving one step closer to her goal. "It’s time to start challenging our workplaces to do better and work towards a more inclusive environment at all levels." This makes the audience feel involved and have a personal relationship with the Voice newspaper.

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

It brings awareness about the challenges confronted by black business owners and  entrepreneurs when it comes to securing financial funding. almost a third (29 per cent) of Black business owners have encountered difficulties in raising funds and the voice shines light to this.

 

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?

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.

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?

, an event aimed at celebrating Black-owned businesses and giving the Black community a financial and emotional boost, after the anger at racial inequality in the UK evident by the protests that followed Floyd's death.

2) How did Black Pound Day utilise social media to generate coverage and support? several businesses shared on social media how they had experienced their biggest growth in sales after the event. Black Pound Day not only highlighted issues of systemic inequality in the UK, it held up a mirror to a major shift in how Black Britons supported Black-owned 

businesses.

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?  

Events like Black Pound Day and the Powerlist Black Excellence Awards are important because they highlight the achievements and contributions of the Black community in British society. They shed light on the economic and cultural power of Black individuals and businesses, and help to challenge the existing power dynamics in society. By promoting and celebrating Black excellence, these events contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society.

Audience

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

My perception of who The Voice's target audience may be is people from all black communities as there are numerous articles on the site which would easily be identified with by any person of colour. Despite the fact that it's aimed at all black Britons, the construction of the website is so poor would definitely not provide any visceral pleasure to readers, which is an expectation from a younger audience.

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

Surveillance is provided for the black community as the website informs them on recent news which applies to them e.g. about BREXIT and new policies.

Personal relationships are made with writers who place importance on issues which are prevalent in the black community, such as knife crime and black boys' exclusions in high school

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?

All of these themes  are interconnected as they all trail back to the history of the black community and their origins or their ancestors' heritage, allowing them to connect through personal identity.

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?

Besides the fact that the site is poorly constructed and has many faults, it does provide a safe space for Black Britons, which should be celebrated by audiences, specifically from the afro-Caribbean. the site site shines a light and correctly portrays BAME communities as not crime- driven 

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

Given how precisely The Voice portrays the black community, I believe Gilroy's theory on "double consciousness" is not suitable to the newspaper. Additionally, the absence of widespread negative prejudices on The Voice supports the writers' honesty and upholds the notion that double awareness is uncommon in this situation. The Voice doesn't aim to perpetuate unfavourable preconceptions like those found in other media publications; instead, it praises the achievements of the minority.

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?

• Liquidity of culture- adverts that aren't aimed at any specific community
• Unruly multiculturalism- no specific references to which groups within the minority are being reported about. Black people are spoken about as a whole.

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

It is desirable that viewers view the positive portrayals of black Britons on Voice and come to understand that these representations of black people are accurate and reflect reality, rather than the stereotypes of black people that are prominently displayed on major media platforms.

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.)

Voice shows a lot of older black males and females maybe because it is targeted towards the older generations.

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? 

The Voice  was founded to create a platform for under-represented BAME communities to voice their views on issues like politics and education.

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? 

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

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.

The Star, Go-Jamaica,, the Voice UK, gleaner Classifieds, Flair, Gleaner- North America, Hospitality Jamaica are invested in due to as it supports GV's values about giving black minorities a voice/ representation and to instil equal rights values.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

• Paypal donations
• Advertisements

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?

The Voice's adverts are always very random like a trip to Jamaica and hair transplant.

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?

Giving voice to the underrepresented black community in Britain was the primary goal of the Voice's founding, and it has been doing just that ever since hence The Voice has elements of public services.

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

An interview with a black start who appears on Wonks - Calah Lane

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

Social media and the internet's power to make everyone influential imply that even if the Voice is forced to close owing to financial or readership problems, it still has a chance to expand in the future.

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?

I feel like there is much more exaggeration in The Voices twittes

.

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

The Voice appears to be a non-professional and editor due to the extremely low production values of their YouTube videos. Their 'Meet six influential black women in business' series is one of their numerous videos with great potential and information, but because they are presented so poorly it loses potential views.