The Voice 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?
A banner at the top displaying different genres of news
Main articles on the front page
A search option
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?
Sport
Lifestyle
Entertainment
Competitions
Opinion
Faith
The content covers a wide range of topics, values, and ideologies
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.
Mum’s shock after armed cops arrest 13 year old over colourful water gun
The story is about a Black child who was arrested because the police thought his toy gun was real. It is often said that the police are "institutionally racist", and that they tend to react harsher towards black suspects compared to white suspects. Black people reading this story may have experienced racial profiling in the past and so they may relate to this story.
The story is about a Black child who was arrested because the police thought his toy gun was real. It is often said that the police are "institutionally racist", and that they tend to react harsher towards black suspects compared to white suspects. Black people reading this story may have experienced racial profiling in the past and so they may relate to this story.
"We can make reparations happen"
The story is about a black historian supporting reparations to atone for slavery. Black people reading the story may have ancestors who were slaves so they may support the cause.
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.
A headline such as "Mum’s shock after armed cops arrest 13 year old over colourful water gun" can trigger a disequilibrium, as it leaves the reader curious about the details of the story. They may want to know why a 13 year old boy was arrested over having a water gun.
This same headline is also an example of an enigma code, as it leaves the viewer on a cliff-hanger, and they may want to know the full details of the story
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?
Fashion & beauty
Food
Health & wellbeing
Relationships
Travel
The voice audience is interested in these things
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?
They challenge stereotypes - for example, there is a news article about a Black woman leading an army
4) Choose two stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?
Disrupting hair discrimination at work
Jamelia and SheaMoisture launch ‘Same Roots, New Rules’
These articles shine a light on Black hair, something that is underrepresented in the media, which reflects The Voice's mission of giving black people a "voice"
Jamelia and SheaMoisture launch ‘Same Roots, New Rules’
These articles shine a light on Black hair, something that is underrepresented in the media, which reflects The Voice's mission of giving black people a "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?
It gives black people a voice
2) Read this feature on The Black Pound campaign. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?
It supports black people, giving them a 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?
It is about a Black woman giving her opinion on something, so The Voice is giving her a "voice"
The comments below suggest that readers disagreed heavily with Lawrence's comments
No, I can't 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?
On the first Saturday of each month, people are encouraged to buy from Black-owned businesses and invest in communities that have been historically economically disadvantaged
2) How did Black Pound Day utilise social media to generate coverage and support?
It became the top-trending topic on Twitter in the UK
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 such as these suggest that Black people in British society are disadvantaged socially and/or economically. Therefore, these events exist in order to give Black Britons representation in British society.
Audience
1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.
Demographics - older Black people (30+)
2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).
Information
Surveillance
3) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.
Most if not all of the articles are about Black people
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?
The news stories on The Voice website are heavily contextualised with British culture. The article about making reparations happen links to Britain's history of using Black people as slaves.
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’?
The comment section is written by the audience. This lets consumers become producers as the comments can be seen as a piece of content on the website.
Representations
1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website?
They are positioned to sympathise with Black people
2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying?
Yes, because The Voice allows Black people to be represented by the media through the perspective 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?
There are articles about Black British news, but there are also articles about African news, suggesting a "liquidity of culture"
4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?
Preferred: People are proud of The Voice because it is the only magazine that is directly made for Black Britons. The Voice frequently uplifts Black individuals in its articles, so Black people feel as if they have a "voice" in the media
Negotiated: People may be proud of the The Voice because it is the only magazine that is directly made for Black Britons, but they may also feel as if some of the representations of Black Britons are inaccurate
Oppositional: Some people may completely reject or oppose the representations in The Voice. They might see them as biased, stereotypical, or not representative of their experiences and identity. They may even challenge the newspaper's agenda
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.)
There are usually more articles featuring older Black people compared to younger Black people
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 created to give Black Britons a "voice" in the media
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 does a lot more racism-based stories - maybe it's because they came out of the 1981 riots. But people now want to know what's going on in the mainstream community that will affect them.
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?
Display ads and advertorials
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?
They are fixed adverts, suggesting that The Voice website is not very sophisticated
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?
Yes, there is an element of public service, as the newspaper was originally founded to give Black Britons a "voice" in the media
7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?
There is no video or audio content, although there are links to other websites such as sources
8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?
Nowadays, it is easier to find niche products due to the internet
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?
The Twitter feed is straightforward and free from clickbait
10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTube channel. What are the production values of their video content?
Low production value - Poor lighting, backdrop, microphone quality, and editing
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