Reveal CSP: Case Study

General:

The type of people that read Reveal are most likely to be white females rather than males, this is shown by the term "the reader's best friend: fun gossipy and full of advice...". This fits in with the common stereotype of typical girls in our society which suggests that Reveal is targeting females. They are expected to be ages 18-35 due to the fact that they focus on issues such as motherhood, beauty and diets which may appeal to older audiences whereas the younger audiences may be interested in the topics such as relationships and gossip. Additionally, the average age of a Reveal reader is 28 which is around the age of those who feature in the magazine. They are most likely to be working class and part of the Struggler psychographic group as due to the fact that Reveal mainly involves gossip it can make Strugglers feel pleasure from the celebrities misfortune and feel better about themselves. Reveal readers are also likely to live all around the country as usually in every area there ought to be quite a few that are of the working class, unemployed or of the Struggler psychographic group.

The editor introduces Reveal magazine as a fun and gossipy magazine full of advice quite similar to a woman's best friend. This makes the magazine seem as active and helpful for readers as it assists them in a lot of lifestyle problems and informs them of the lifestyle of other celebrities. Additionally, the fact that it talks about the breakdowns of relationships suggests that, everything about the celebrities is going to be shared and nothing will be kept secret. This could be seen as an invasion of privacy by Reveal as incidents like that should be kept secret and should not be made public by them. Furthermore, the tag-line, "talking with you, not at you!" implies that Reveal is a friend of the readers and they are sharing the gossip of others rather than gossiping about you which almost makes it seem as though the magazine is close to the readers. This could also imply the magazine won't really be giving information on the news but instead only gossip and so it could be seen as a distraction from the real world.

Reveal's target audience mainly consists of those that are much younger than Tatler as the average age for audiences is 28 years old whereas the average age of Tatler readers is 41 years old. This is a whopping difference of 13 years which emphasises the age difference and therefore suggests that the difference in content may also be quite large due to the different interests of the age groups. Additionally, the kind of people that read Tatler are all incredibly rich displayed not only by the fact that the price of the magazine is over £4 but also the luxuries and sophisticated topics talked about within the magazine. This is practically the complete opposite of Reveal readers who are mostly made up of working class people who are more interested in the misfortune of celebrities and the latest things going on in their lives rather than their own in order to 'escape' from their own struggles. This is reinforced by the fact that the magazines cost 99p and this information is relayed to the audience in big bright bold letters making it the first thing you see when you pick up the magazine. This emphasises the fact that Reveal readers are nowhere near as upper class as Tatler readers and stick with magazines that are more within their budget and give them pleasure.

Reveal readers are interested in issues involving celebrities including: home life and families; failures in relationships; beauty tricks; misfortunes and failures within their life/careers. Reveal featured a pregnant celebrity, information about the home life of Mark & Michelle and details about Cheryl's becoming of a 'very posh mum' on the front cover of Reveal - 18th March 2017. A Reveal reader would be interested in these issues not only because they like gossip but also because it is something that they themselves may be able to relate to and in turn read it in order to seek advice. On the same front cover information about how Katie 'plots secret meetings' with Pete and Lauren's story of love with someone in jail. A Reveal reader would be interested in this because the relationships they have have either broken down or involve difficult circumstances which could make the readers feel pleasure from such. Finally, a diet and a 'simple trick for your best skin ever' was mentioned on the front cover. A Reveal reader would be interested in this because making themselves look better and similar to celebrities is likely to make them feel better about themselves as people.

Media Language:

On this edition of Reveal a number of key conventions are used involving: the title of publication positioned in the top third of the magazine cover; a central image with celebrities Katie and Pete; cover lines on the outer parts of the magazine; a flash line right in the middle of the magazine; a colour scheme involving a lot of different colours making it look like quite a busy magazine; name checks to provide readers with information on who will be in the magazine and so they know exactly what they're paying for; the language utilised is similar to that typically used by those of the working class/that are unemployed; the use of direct address emphasises the fact that Reveal is your friend as it feels as though they are speaking to you personally; barcode, date and price so you are able to easily identify which edition it is and whether or not it's within your budget. The fact that the title of publication was slightly covered by the central image suggests that Reveal believes that they are so well known that it doesn't matter if the title is covered or not because readers will know that it's Reveal immediately.

The font used on the Reveal magazine is all sans serif, this connotes that Reveal is quite a modern magazine that is up to date and provides readers with the latest news. This relates to the Reveal magazine as the content is usually about what is happening currently and so the font is a perfect fit to give the magazine a more trendy feel. Additionally, the fact that Reveal thinks of itself as the "reader's best friend" is also less professional and is instead a rather present-day statement that can make Reveal seem as a more state-of-the-art magazine compared to those like Tatler. However, the fact that there is no font in serif suggests that the content won't be as detailed or high quality as magazines such as Reveal and the level of sophistication will also not be incorporated. This could suggest that Reveal is less serious about their news and magazine than Tatler as they are more about being ahead and the first to share the news. Furthermore, the fact that Tatler uses a mix of sans serif and serif ultimately means that they cover a large variety of topics contrary to Reveal who uses the same consistent font throughout. Finally, the fact that Reveal's cover design is so busy and messier compared to Tatler clearly shows the difference in Social Class.

The cover lines of the Reveal magazine may seem to be quite interesting to some readers especially as there are so many cover lines on the cover. This suggests that Reveal will cover a lot more content in the actual magazine itself which can attract more people to buy it as they know that they are going to be getting a lot of information. However, the fact that are so many cover lines on the magazine causes it to look quite busy, squashed and also unprofessional this could stop readers who do judge books by covers not to buy it despite the fact that they may be interested in the content. Additionally, the fact that the cover lines are about all kinds of different topics for different kinds of people will cause it to appeal to a larger number of people. This is due to the fact that there ought to be at least one topic in the magazine that someone will enjoy which will make them prone to buy it.

The connotations of the colour red on the front cover suggests ideas of danger but at the same time of love. They might have used this because the fact that Katie is plotting secret meetings with Pete could imply that it won't be a peaceful meeting and in fact may be more dangerous than previously anticipated/expected. It could also connote love as another cover line talks about Lauren's true story about 'the strongest relationship' she's ever had which does sound quite romantic. However, this could also be seen as dangerous due to the fact that Lauren met him in prison this means that e must have committed some kind of crime that could possibly make him a threat. The connotations of the colour yellow suggest ideas of vibrancy and happiness. This could be because Reveal sees itself as the reader's best friend and so it gives a sense of friendliness and familiarity.

Images are used to create interest in the readers by the fact that actors are seen without make-up due to the fact that they were paparazzi shots taken without the celebrity being aware. The fact that these are never before seen shots is sure to ignite some kind of interest in readers to possibly buy a copy of the magazine. Additionally, the fact that Katie is wearing such a discrete looking outfit suggests the fact that she really doesn't want to be seen emphasising that the meetings really were secret. The use of casual clothes also suggests was not a studio shot but rather was yet another paparazzi shot that was done during their own time. Finally, the fact that Cheryl is smiling suggests that she is proud of the kind of 'posh mum' she has become which may interest people because they want to know how to be just like her.

Representations:

The types of people represented on the front cover of the magazine are upper class celebrities who are quite well known in society today. Specifically, quite a few of the celebrities have children or are pregnant which could appeal to audiences raising kids themselves. Additionally, those who are more about the home life are able to read about the lives of their favourite celebrity couples at home which gives us an idea of what they're like when they aren't on the screen. Furthermore, those who are interested in diets and looking good also have sections for them to learn some new tips and tricks that they may not have heard of before from a trusted celebrity who has actually tried it out themself. The stereotype that women care about their looks and go on diets in order to achieve that look is as evident as ever. Additionally, the stereotype of man dominating and planning things was disregarded by the fact that Kate was the one that initiated the secret meeting with check. I think that Reveal would want readers to think quite highly of celebrities as most of their content is about celebrities too.

Social and Cultural Context:

The aspects of British life in Reveal are mostly about celebrities and how to make yourself look good for cheap. This is very different to Tatler who are not at all interested in those of the working class and act as though it's not their problem at all. This is very different to Reveal who's magazine is made for the working class meaning that it's not only within the budget but also sharing news that can be discussed among the working class. The cover lines for Reveal suggest that they are more laid back and also gives the idea that readers are quite nosy and interested in what's going on in other people's lives rather than their own. The issues that regularly appear in all of these magazines is usually something to do with relationships that aren't going to well or some kind of conflict, Most of the things mentioned are negatives which also shows that Reveal does not like to speak of the positives of the lives of celebrities but rather the negatives in order to make readers feel better about themselves. Katie Price is seen to appear on all of the Reveal magazines below, I think she may be popular with Reveal readers because she was quite successful but is now going through with a lot of drama that may interest people who gain self-satisfaction from other people's misfortune. Therefore, when such a well known person is starting to suffer it may bring amusement to Reveal readers which may be the reason why they tend to feature her in a lot of the magazines.

Grade 8/9 Extension Task:

The front cover engages audiences as almost all of the flash and cover lines are quite dramatic and sometimes quite extreme. Also by using cliffhangers readers are more likely to read in order to be able to find out more about the situation as most Reveal readers are interested in gossip and so they will be more than willing to purchase the magazine in order to read it. Additionally, the fact that the magazine does mainly focus on gossip and the stories/lives of celebrities those who seek escapism from their own lives will immediately be drawn in by this as soon as they see the front cover.

Paparazzi images are photos usually taken with a very long lens that allows them to capture images of celebrities from quite a far distance without the celebrity being aware of this. They are usually taken when the celebrity doesn't expect it and so images of celebrities without make-up or dressed casually are quite common. These images are crucial to the front cover of Reveal as they would like to show celebrities in their worst possible state in order to gain more readers as the type of people that read Reveal are Strugglers who feel happiness from other people's suffering.

The images used for the Reveal magazine are mostly Paparazzi shots rather than studio shots which is what Tatler normally uses. Tatler is a more sophisticated magazine and so studio shots are the only images used in the magazine whereas Reveal derives off of Paparazzi shots as that is when they can catch celebrities at their worst which is exactly what they want.

These 2 magazines are representations of both the rich and poorer parts of British society. This is shown by the fact that Tatler is such an expensive and upper class magazine that completely contradicts Reveal which is more lower class and much cheaper. This is a very clear representation of the contrasting classes that do exist in British society and the types of things that those classes enjoy.