Magzine 1 - Lesson 6

To what extent is Woman magazine examples of specialised and institutionalised media productions? Make reference to their distribution and circulation.

• Magazines are specialised as they target an extremely specific audience so specialised advertisers can have their product advertised to their exact target audience so they may pay a premium.

• Woman magazine is casual and friendly so it is an institution.

• IPC is a large mainstream organisation. It is part of a conglomeration.

• Other IPC titles include Rugby World, World Soccer, Angler's Mail and Family Circle.

Key Theory - Curran and Seaton - Power and Media Industries

• The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the profit and power.

• Media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality.

• More socially diverse patterns of ownership can create more varies and adventurous media productions.

Woman Relaunch Advert 1985

• Still about cooking and women in the kitchen 'high street cookery competition', so they haven't exactly changed their ideologies as there is still a focus on the kitchen.

• The model looks like she's more dressed up and she's going out.

• The masthead has changed, the font has completely changed was naive now its full on and it seems informal but a more gossipy mode of address.

• The competition with 4 cars, if this was in the 1960's then the idea of a women driving would not exist whereas in the 1980's its not anything much different.

• The audience is still working class so not much has changed at all, due to the clothing they've used to advertise.

• 'exciting again' shows that the 1964 edition wasn't as good and it went really downhill but now its back and its exciting again.

Promotional material from Time Inc UK's profile page for woman.

• This is selling audiences, the advertisers which would be interested in woman magazine would be the market of fitness/diet.

• The brand identity is much more different now.

Regulation of Magazines

• IPSO - Independent Press Standards Organisations

• IPSO regulating the stories and editorial content.

• By todays standards Woman would probably break IPSO's rule of discrimination as they are discriminating women by cultivating ideologies into others heads about the way that women are. 

• Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) regulates adverts.