The Voice, All frameworks Flashcards
(9 cards)
Context
-Was London’s first Black newspaper and was created in 1982 August, and was the first voice to Black transatlantic identities in Britain
-Weekly newspaper.
-Quickly became a financial success largely due to job adverts by London broughs which wanted to increase their diversity.
-Accused by sparking a race riot in Brixton, reflects their large effect and presence.
-‘Sus’ law, where anybody can be stopped and searched if officers merely suspected they might be planning to carry out a crime. 1000 people arrested in six days.
-Wind-rush scandal in 2018 where British Caribbeans were deported, reflecting high racial tensions in the UK in contemporary Britain. Political agendas are intrinsically linked to Brexit and anti-immigration right wing agendas.
TV Headlines
Political discussions:
highlighting immigrants life:
‘Stop Nigeria Genocide: campaign demands UK action to curb rising violence.’
Sponsored/commercial:
‘Fashion soak promise on exciting weekend of fashion and beauty in London’
Composition and institution value:
‘The UK charity inspiring future Caribbean heritage doctors and dentists’
Continuity:
‘Unity Cup champions Nigeria beats Ghana’
Unexpectedness:
‘It’s time for the Met Police to be broken up’
TV Website appearance
- Card based layout , tabloid-esque colors and sometimes sensational and hyperbolic articles.
-UGC : comments and polls to encourage interaction and use of images.
The Voice Website
> Navigation bar gives access to a section of the website called ‘Windrush 70’
> The key signifier of most of the images is a black person
> The tagline ‘Britain’s Favourite Black Newspaper’ i.e. provides a specific country and race
social media hyperlinks; links to The Voice’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages = example of convergence, builds a community around the Voice.
- ability to post comments at the end of the articles
- ability to vote in polls on the homepage (above the fold; suggestion that audience participation is important and anchors title of newspaper)
-Website Hyperlinks are specific to target segments of the audiences and niche cultural background: ‘Caribbean news’ and ‘faith’. cultural topics in black communities. NEWS VALUE: cultural proximity.
-Call to action seen through the subscribe button: $4.38. Is self promotional to their recruitment website that especially caters to diversify the job market.
-Advertisement seen in their website, and also promoting their book about the history of the voice.
TV Shirky
The Voice website reflects ideas about the importance of specialized media and the ‘end of audience’ concept by offering a platform for Black Britons to voice their perspectives and engage with content specific to their cultural and social experiences.
The Voice enables its audiences to not only consume but also shape media narratives relevant to them, reflecting Shirky’s view of audiences.
-The relationship between producers and audiences has also shifted. The publishers promote their content on various social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Most posts will direct you to the main website, but The Voice will also retweet and share posts from other institutions to increase the level of engagement with their primary audience. Although this connection and level of interactivity is expected by digital natives, an older audience might still prefer the feel of print between their fingers.
bell hooks Intersectionality
Gender: ‘Afro hair products’ : Black women are included withing the beauty standards and sphere.
Race:’UK black business show to round off successful black business week’ : The Voice recognizes that black owned business faces its own difficulties in dominantly white market of Britain. Also others and categorizes black businesses as well.
Disability: ‘Black women face higher chances of misdiagnosis for Bipolar disease.’ highlights systemic injustices.
Social background:
‘Government urged to tackle toxic air crisis disproportionately harming Black communities :Enact Equality says toxic air is not just an environmental issue but a racial justice issue and a social justice issue’
Conform to negative stereotypes:
See themselves through a double consciousness lens and identifying themselves with stereotypical harmful black representation:
Victim:
‘We were the victim’
‘If you are Back and you are doing. anti-racism work there is a psychological and emotional burden’
Contemporary issues with The Voice
- Print industry is dying the voice is a part of that
- Attempted to converge into social media like Instagram not very successful low follower to comment ratio low engagement
- Aim of social media not to attract new audiences but to inform existing audiences and direct them to the websites
-has always attracted controversy, rioting broke out day after they highlighted death in custody of a black man called Wayne Douglas, the paper got the blame for this. critics point to a tendency towards sensationalism that has won it the tag ‘the black sun’
Elaine Sihera, who edits The New Impact Journal, aimed at professionals interested in diversity, said she did not believe The Voice had as much of a say in the community as it would like people to believe. “It has one good thing: it reflects the Afro-Caribbean community. People do buy it because it’s better than not seeing yourself at all. But it caters mainly for CDEs and it’s certainly not representative.
The digital age has made it easier for misinformation, including racially biased narratives, to spread widely, often perpetuating stereotypes about marginalized communities.
However, it faces challenges competing with large media outlets for visibility in an oversaturated digital landscape.
Associated with churnalism jorunalism.
POSITIVE EFFECT
While it may not hold the same sway it once did among Britain’s increasingly diverse Black community, its contribution to UK media is incontrovertible and its mission just as important today as it was 40 years ago.
A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in 2016 found that just 6% of journalists in UK newsrooms are non-White, compared with about 13% of the general population. Earlier this year, the Institute published research showing that none of Britain’s top 10 print, digital or broadcast outlets have a Black editor in chief.
As a Black newspaper, The Voice uses digital platforms to continue its mission of amplifying Black perspectives. Leveraging social media and online campaigns to highlight racial injustices, celebrate Black culture, and ensure diverse narratives are heard in a space dominated by white-majority media.
TV industry
-In 2004, TV was bought by a Jamaican company, the Gleaner company, who own and publish newspapers in Jamaica, North America, Canada and the UK targeting readers with an African-Carribean heritage.
-The voice is a commercial media product but could also be seen as fulfilling a public service through its targeting of an ethnic minority audience. The website also
demonstrates the way that news institutions have had to respond to new technology through its use of convergence
-Founded in 1982 as a print newspaper by Val McCalla for the British African Caribbean community who were dissatisfied with the medias lack of reporting on
their lives and communities
-The HQ is in London and aims to employ most of its staff from person of colour community
-It is produced in a tabloid format and is a weekly newspaper priced at £1. It is available nationwide and has a wide reach online including UK, US and Africa
-The shift in the publishing from print media to digital formats has been dramatic. Production costs are generally cheaper for online newspapers compared to the
traditional tabloid. After some upfront expenditure to design and build a functioning website, the main running costs are for hosting, maintenance and security.
-Consumers often prefer the digital format because they can access the site at a time that suits their lifestyle and routine. There is no need to wait until next month’s edition to get the story behind the headlines.
TV audience
There is s a lack of moderation/regulation so anyone can interact with the voice by saying anything. E.g a comment on of their posts stated “dear Africans you will not get justice anywhere on your planet these Europeans want you banished” audiences may have oppositional reading as the voices target audience/ most of their audiences contain most people from the BAME community so they may see this as significantly offensive However due to weak regulations the comment may not get taken down.
The primary target audience of the paper were the children of those who are known as the Windrush generation. From the late 1940s, people from the Caribbean were encouraged to come to the UK to work and resettle. One of the ships that bought the migrants to the UK was called The Windrush. Britain had colonized areas of the Caribbean and so residents were members of the Commonwealth and were told they had full British citizenship.
The British government promised a better quality of life in the
UK with more opportunities for those who came over and their families and full access to the rights offered to British citizens.
