ATTITUDE-ONLINE MEDIA

Attitude:

Media language-

Conventions of online magazine- high image to text ratio, lede intro (includes who, what and where for the article), white space, teaser headlines, list article/articles in bullet points, emotive language, foreground adverting, wraparound advertising, sponsored content 

Levi-Strauss theory of structuralism- focus on the LGBTQ+ community presents the idea of conflict, the community being the 'good' whilst those against it being the 'bad', forming the opposition 

Front cover- 'The Masculinity Issue'- dark background and pink title, bold title, central image breaks conventions through the use of a man wearing makeup and having painted nails, use of a celebrity- Jake Shears lead singer of Scissor Sisters

Zanzibar article- shows community around the world and the news, reflects how the magazine not only writes 'fun' articles but also hard hitting news, 'suspicion of being gay' presents how being gay is still seen as a 'bad' thing in other places in the world and can lead to imprisonment or death, the word 'catch' is also used dehumanising the men and reflecting the inhumane treatment, 'encouraged citizens to report people suspected of being gay' turns people against the community again reflect Levi-Strauss' theory, 'these men must be released immediately' is emotive language reflecting how the readers of the article are likely to feel for those going through this

Title being Attitude- they have a strong moral compass. Important part of brand identity. All in lower case- element of equality, doesn't have a name because of no capital letter so is more like a characteristic

Colour- black and white/binary opposites which has an effect: minimalist. Colours associated with newspapers- serious journalism

Navigation bar- subjects that the demographic would enjoy

Image driven

audience encouraged to scroll

house style- rectangular image with bold typography, sorted in date order- show they keep up to date with the 'news'. grouped by genre (colour line underneath article)

Subscribe buttons- giving a number of different ways of consumption

Representation-

• Represents a whole different group of people that the mainstream usually avoid, arguably the way the community is constructed presents a stereotype of how you must look and act, this is reinforced by the lack of presentation in the mainstream media
• Gauntlett's identity theory- 'Attitude' does not show straight forward ideas about identity, agrees that the media is now more diverse allowing readers to pick and choose their identity 
• Butler's gender performativity theory- breaks conventions of gender norms reflecting how gender is a social construct 
• Gilroy's post-colonial theory- presents people of colour and their struggles, their sexuality is presented as their minority rather than their ethnicity, reduces colonial power through the construction of a different 'other'

Industry-

• Does not produce mainstream content
• Owned by Stream Publishing Limited
• Sold worldwide as a physical magazine- the bullet pointed articles and teasers acts as snippets for the magazine, using the website as a marketing strategy for the product
• Stars that have been included- Boy George, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Tom Daley, Prince William 
• Former conservative party leader David Cameron has also appeared on the cover
• Magazine is often themed incorporating reader's other interests 

Audience- 

• Target audience-
• male- factual writing style, high image to text ratio
• 26-55- celebrity culture for this generation
• ABC1- sponsorships, language is formal
• reformer/aspirer- comments on social issues, aspirational feel
• Interaction can occur through Facebook and Twitter, little interaction compared to Zoella, reflects how this is a company and not an individual 
• Gerbner's cultivation theory- repeated exposure of views normalises the LGBTQ+ community in the media, the use of celebrities reinforces this, pushing this community into the mainstream spotlight 

Roland Barthes- Semiotics

Attitude: The use of the rainbow colours on the homepage reinforces the LGBTQ+ content of the magazine as it has become a symbol for the community. The use of colour has connotations of inclusivity and  welcoming for those in the community.

Levi-Strauss- Structuralism

Attitude: The focus on the LGBTQ+ community presents the idea of conflict, the community being good and all those against it bad, forming the opposition of good  vs bad. The fight

‘Attitude’ is presenting forms a conflict and opposition

David Gauntlett- Theory of Identity

Attitude: ‘Attitude’ does not present straight forward ideas about identity and breaks gender norms through the presentation of men in makeup and other feminised pieces. This agrees with the theory that the media today offers a more diverse range of stars

Judith Butler-Theory of Gender Performativity

Attitude (online media): Gender norms are broken through ‘Attitude’which often presents men as feminised or with makeup, in heels, etc. This reiterates the idea that gender is constructed by society and can be broken.‘Attitude’ is breaking the repetition of gender norms

Paul Gilroy- Theory around Ethnicity and Post Colonialism

Attitude: ‘Attitude’ is seen presenting people of colour and their struggles or victories with their sexuality. This is reducing colonial power as it is presenting a different minority. The idea of ethnicity seems less relevant as something else has been placed as the ‘other’

Gerbner- Cultivation Theory

Attitude :The repeated exposure of the views shown in ‘Attitude’ normalises the LGBTQ+ community in mainstream media. The inclusion of mainstream celebrities helps this and begins the integration of the community within traditional media

​Banner - This Attitude cover has a banner at the top of the page promoting their 'best-ever print subscription', this coupled with the words 'take advantage' conveying to the reader that it would be in their best interests and beneficial to them to subscribe whilst these 'best-ever' offers are available.  

Body Copy - The main body of text within this page is about a new film called 'Girl' which is directed by Lukas Dhont and is about a transgender ballerina, which is something that has not been covered before in film as a narrative. By presenting 'Girl' with its 'never done before' narrative, this could show 'Attitude's' identity and brand ideas. That they support and like to cover ground-breaking actions, but also stories that will grasp the attention of a modern audience. 

Demographics - Attitude covers many different subjects, many of which are becoming spoken about more and more within society, such as sexuality, gender, race and human rights in general. Examples of this would be the secondary stories down the left side, which contain headings such as 'Man left with broken nose after homophobic attack by a mob of 10 people' and 'Andrew Rannells reveals Catholic priest forced open his mouth to French kiss him as a teenager'. As well as other articles such as 'Gays on TV: Your guide to the week's best LGBT TV and film' and 'BBC LGBT correspondent Ben Hunte to join Attitude and student pride panel on racism in the gay community'. By looking at all of the stories covered, Attitudes demographic can become very clear. That it is one focusing on open-minded people, who appreciate, understand and champion the changing idealisations surrounding the subjects covered, in modern society. Considering this, a younger audience is who they try to reach as the youth of today are the one's creating this change and supporting and pushing the development of traditionalist ideals. 

Flash Animation - This 'Attitude' magazine spread does not use flash animation. This is because the use of flash animation could be seen as 'gimicky' and could 'play-down' the subjects being covered as a flash animation is quite a playful thing. If it was used the important subjects such as race and gender being covered may seem to not be fully respected by the creators. 

​Genre/Web pages, as well as Skyscraper -  The genre of the content and Attitude itself is rather unclear, as it covers many different points and stories, it could be said that it is a socialist magazine with knowledge and acceptance as its currency. The layout of Attitude however relates to that of a tabloid/newspaper, seen with the large bodies of text and use of the skyscraper along the left side of the page. This opposes websites such as Zoella where the layout does not echo this idea. This could be due to the fact that the ideas and connotations of this website are involving the 'real', literal world, where as Zoella's website can be seen to represent a constructed and possibly fabricated identity and personality. 

A hypersexualised representation of men - Most images of men are topless, and often in provocative poses

Article critical of lack of representation of different body types

On Attitude, a singular, muscular build seems to be favoured

Articles are generally focused on grooming, holidays, fashion and celebrities: a heavy emphasis on appearance and extrinsics - reinforces a gay stereotype

Normalisation - majority of articles feature gay and LGBT related issues

Articles featuring prejudice and attacks on gay men reinforce the ideology that to be gay still means being in a marginalised and threatened group - close up of mans injured head

Even straight actors are represented and codified in a way that specifically appeals to a gay male audience. For example, the voyeuristic shots of Cristiano Ronaldo in tight fitting underwear presents an appealing fantasy to the gay target audience.

An escapist fantasy for a gay audience. Stereotypically attractive gay men, hypermasculine and strong. Even if an audience lacks this body type, they are able escape in to a homoerotic fantasy.

Offers the audience an escapist fantasy where everybody is gay, a hyperreal fantasy, a utopia!

Advertising - targeted to gay male audience. Advertorial "your dream home awaits" helps to normalise homosexuality. "your dream home awaits" is perhaps stereotypically feminine, reinforcing  a gay stereotype of enjoying interior design (reinforced by shows like Project Runway and Queer Eye For The Straight Guy)

Extremely stereotypical throughout! Pop music, west end theatre, home improvement, and buff guys. Many commonly held, stereotype of gay men are presented here... but why?

Conformity to stereotype of vain men: article specifically on weight loss and improving muscle definition. A focus on aesthetics.

Represented as vulnerability. References to the 'coming out' narrative. 

Hypersexualised! beyond sexualisation, big focus on openess and 'out-there' sexualisation...

...however, the magazine and website have a definite target audience, and may go 'hidden' in the general populace.

Article on gay rugby team focusses on the team's body image as opposed to their sporting prowess, again reinforcing an emphasis on aesthetics.

Extravagant and with exotic lifestyles

Proud and self-confident. Gives audience the confidence to come out and to live with pride

Singular and stereotypical representation of men

Lots of conformity to stereotypes for men being quite vain specifically on weight loss and improving muscle definition. A focus on aesthetics.

Example Article - Want to improve your weight loss, muscle definition, and conditioning? Crossrope has the answer.

Hyper sexualised - The models are posed in such a way that you couldn't think its not about sex, it tells us that the representation of gay men is that they are open and in your face.

Example Article - Meet the ridiculously beautiful boys of e4's 'shipwrecked' reboot.

...however, the magazine and website has a definitive target audience, and may go 'hidden' in the general populace so it isn't in your face its only if you look for it you will find it.

Articles focusses on the team's body image as opposed to their sporting prowess, again reinforcing an emphasis on aesthetics.

Example Article - Gay rugby players of the King's Cross Steelers strip off to talk body image.

Extravagant and with exotic lifestyles - maybe regarded as camp

Example Article - Thailands best spots for a romantic escape.

Proud and self-confident. Gives audience the confidence to come out and to live with pride

Example Article - AJ Pritchard wants to be the first professional dancer on 'Strictly' in a same-sex couple.

Gay men are sexualised most of the models have ab's and muscles so they are stereotypically attractive. They are encoding straight men such as Cristiano Ronaldo to look homosexual, it is a singular and stereotypical representation. Rather than just making them out to be a celeb for what they're famous at they're showing that they are attractive aswell.

Example Article - Here are Cristiano Ronaldo's hottest ever moments to celebrate his birthday.

In this website we see a singular, stereotypical representation also like Woman magazine. However, the difference is that Woman magazine is not made to want people to sleep with them and more to appeal to woman for inspirational purposes rather than sexual purposes.

Heteronormativity - We assume that people are straight - however we have the opposite here and see a specific representation of masculinity.

There is a great extent of singular stereotypical representation of masculinity as it is all over the website of these big muscly stereotypically attractive guys this could make males feel inferior and intimidated as this is adopting feminist standards. Hyper-masculinity goes beyond the stereotypical male.

Stereotypical gay people are usually deemed as feminine skinny and not very manly. However, these guys on Attitude magazine are the complete opposite which leaves the primary audience confused due to these stereotypes being completely broken.

If this is all we see on Attitude being the gay primary audience seeing the same body type over and over again, not being able to see anyone without that body type. It creates a cultivation of what males need to look like, this could send the primary gay audience into a bit of a panic and they may become intimidated.

The actual purpose of Attitude Online is to promote the magazine and selling it. This is an example of Digital Convergence. This is an example of the push pull effect, people are being pushed away by the technology and internet however the producers are pulling them back in by advertising the magazine all over the homepage.

By the magazine being online it lets gay men who are closeted to look at the content without needing to admit what they are however a gay man who is closeted wouldn't want to go out and buy the magazine as they will be afraid that their sexuality will come out.

Attitude is not offering a diverse representation of men.