Media Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Codes and conventions are typical in any media product. Many media products follow the same codes and conventions as it easier for the audience to identify the products and also to relate to the product.

Our product is far from conventional. Since the medium that we are working in is print, specifically our project was to create a local newspaper. We expect this kind of media product to be quite formal and cover very current affair related articles on topics that affect the local area in which the paper is based, as well as politics and worldwide affairs.

Our newspaper comes under no such category as our newspaper is aimed at youth, which is a very small market to be in as there is hardly and local papers aimed at youth just for youth. Also the concept of our paper which is a sort of social method of bringing all different types of stereotypical youth subcultures together and breaking down barriers – barriers which often perpetuate stereotypes.
This is why our newspaper focuses heavily upon festivals and nightlife as it these are the main two social gatherings where these stereotypes are pulled apart and broken down.

Furthermore, our final media products are quite edgy and very simplistically designed as we felt that our products are aimed at youth cultures in general, therefore our product must be attractive to this core demographic audience, it must speak to them in their own language and also the edgier the design and format of the language the more they can relate to our product.

Our product and the language it uses is quite informal as we feel that the more formal the language used, the less relationship the audience will have with our product, as they may feel that is not quite reflecting the thoughts and views about youth culture from an understanding perspective.

The images used within our product we feel reflect a ‘darker’ side of youth culture that perhaps isn’t as ‘sugar-coated’ as it is in other media products. We felt that if we showed this side to youth culture then perhaps the audience will relate more with it as it isn’t sugar coated but it isn’t shown in such a negative way that it is to be frowned upon. Our design and logos reflect the edginess of what we are trying to achieve, and furthermore what we are trying to show is the reality of the breadth and vitality of British youth culture.

We feel that our final media product appeals to our audience as it has quite rebellious connotations within the design. Furthermore, on the design we feel that getting the design of our newspaper right was key to reaching our target audience successfully. Although we had fed back on how the form of our newspaper fell back on some youth orientated music magazines, we felt that the key to attracting our youth audience is to have quite stylized and from feedbacks point of view magazine like, product rather than one that is quite bland and lacks substance as it would not attract a youth audience.

Our newspaper also focuses heavily upon music and fashion which in todays society is what youth culture depends on as it gives them a sense of inviduality and represents themselves as a person. We want our newspaper to embrace this as we feel that these two areas are very important to adolescent life and are key to attracting our audience. Another part of our concept was to portray youth culture in a way that makes it realistic but not shown in a negative way unlike other media that portrays youth culture in a very negative light. Through the use of language and the content of our articles we believe that have achieved this.

We feel that overall our product isn’t conventional and that’s why our product would do well in the market that it would be placed in as it appeals to teens in a way that other youth aimed magazine don’t as they use this method of ‘sugar-coating’ everything as where as our newspaper attempts to create a certain truth, different to that produced and created by marketing machine and shows it how it is and gives the audience what they want and is realistic.

Arron