OSP: The Voice - blog case study

OSP: The Voice - blog case study

Our second Online, Social and Participatory CSP is the Voice newspaper website - a niche publication targeting the black British community.

The Voice has a significant place in the social and historical context of race relations and representation in Britain, launching in 1982 in the wake of the Brixton race riots. It is also the perfect case study to further develop our understanding of Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory we studied last lesson.

The Voice - background and notes

The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in London and is published every Thursday. 

The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.

You can read more of this background from the original source - the Voice website About Us page.

The Voice: social and historical context

In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain. 

The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons and also due to a business loan from Barclays Bank. The bank was keen at the time to improve their reputation with the black community due to investments in Apartheid South Africa.

Social context - The Battle for Brixton documentary

The Voice analysis: production values

The Voice offers a strong contrast to Teen Vogue with significantly lower production values across its digital operations – website design, video content and social media. However, the growth of digital technology means that the Voice can effectively compete on the same playing field as Teen Vogue, albeit targeting a niche audience.

Watch this video on influential black women in business and compare it to Teen Vogue’s video content – similar in ideology but very different in production values (note the view count too):

The Voice: representation

The Voice was launched to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see the world through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-racist mainstream British media.

The Voice: industries

The Voice is owned by Jamaican media organising the Gleaner company and published in Britain by GV Media Group. It is a significant contrast to Teen Vogue and the international giant Conde Nast.

The Voice: case study blog tasks

Language and textual analysis

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

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

Title page

Date 

Topics bar

2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?

Teen Vogue is more "professional" and well presented where as The Voice has a less organised structure with more colours.

3) 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?

Education and opinion stand out because they try their best to empower black people and they also have 'faith' linking to religion knowing alot of black people and other ethnic minorities are religious.

4) Look at the news stories in the Voice. To what extent does the selection of news stories fit Galtung and Ruge’s News Values theory?

Closeness  eg. Manchester, London.
Negativity- many stories including natural disasters around the world, etc.
Continuity-sports tournaments 

5) 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.

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?

Fostering and adoption, Food Caribbean recipes, Female- feminism, Travel, Relationships,Competition

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

Will Smith opens up about relationship with eldest son

Usain Bolt "I don't think London has proper Jamaican food"

3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?

Many of the stories are about the achievements of black individuals

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

Many of the stories highlight a sense of 'black excellence', as they revolve around achievements of black individuals in the community.

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

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice Lifestyle feature on the first black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue magazine. Why would this appeal to the Voice’s audience?

The photographer- is from South West London,

2) Read/watch this Lifestyle interview with The Hate U Give star Amandla Stenberg. How does the interview reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice? What do you notice about the production values of the interview?

3) Read this feature on ‘buying black’ for Black Friday. What does this feature tell you about the values and ideologies behind the Voice? Does this viewpoint reflect Gilroy’s theory of the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?

Audience

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

 Afro Caribbean, 30+, C2/DE
 Aspirers

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

Personal identity (as a reflection through the positive, more realistic media)
Personal relationships (a community)

3) Give examples of content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

Young Authors Spotlight Black Heroes
Helping the faithful find an approach to healthy eating

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?

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?

They are meant to respond to issues affecting the black community as a whole not just on individuality.

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

I feel like the concept is being applied which is why stories like this and the newspaper itself exists

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?

The whole community progressing while also facing challenges.

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

Trying to educate those in the community of that challenges they face.

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.)

Focus on news abroad, stories on the decriminalisation of marijuana, but they do have a focus worldwide on issues affecting 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? 

when it first came out it focused on proving a source of valuable news to those born here and spent a lot of their lives in London a voice

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 article talks about newspapers facing issues of selling and circulation, being bought by other organisations

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.

They own power 96 and other newspapers.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

They advertise on their website.

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 advertise things like winning money, movie channels, plane flights etc.

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?

I think that there is an element of public service as they are currently the best thing to give the the black community a voice however they do make money of it so may be for profit.

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

https://www.voice-online.co.uk/video/reggae-girlz-v-nottingham-forest-ladies-windrush-celebration-match

https://www.voice-online.co.uk/video/sport-hindsight-0

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

I think it has helped a lot as i believe that is one of the main factors of why it is becoming more main stream for the black community.

9) Analyse the Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as MailOnline or Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

It seems like they talk about celebrities more om Titter which is understandable as the majority of Twitter users are young.

10) Study a selection of videos from the Voice’s YouTube channel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?
theres a huge difference in views that the videos produced by the voice and teen vogue get