Statement of Intent

 8th October 2020

LO: To produce a concise and well structured statement outlining your chosen brief.

• Produce the front cover and the contents page for the first two editions of a new current affairs magazine being launched by Dennis and the working website for the magazine.

• Cross media production TA a socially conscious 16 - 25 middle to upmarket audience.

Draft 1

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief. 

For my coursework, I have decided to use an artistic flair for the design of the magazine, I feel that doing this will appeal to a younger target audience. As this is for a current affairs magazine, it will need to follow certain codes and conventions, such as having a masthead and a slogan. It will also need a main cover line and a main image. To make this appeal to a 16 – 25-year-old audience I will need to modernise the cover, other magazines, for an older target audience, tend to have a very basic, maximalist layout, filling every inch of the cover. I feel like having a more minimalist approach to the cover and the contents page will satisfy the target audience, while in keeping with the codes and conventions of a current affairs magazine. I will also need to keep in mind the intertextuality between stories, so each magazine needs to have a clear outlook on a specific subject, I have decided to base my magazine off the biggest news stories which are currently in circulation, of course this would mean having one of the magazines about Covid-19, the other magazine will be about the grades which came out earlier this year for GCSE and A-levels, it will talk about next steps for these students as well. The magazine will talk about the problems with the education system currently, such as the problems which universities are facing. I feel this will link in with what the target audience will be mostly concerned about. I want to represent the stories in such a way that it has no political bias, it will allow the reader to make up their own mind about what is happening in the world currently, stating the facts and the facts only, the reason for this is that at a young age I feel the media shouldn’t influence the target audience, they should be able to make their own minds up about what they believe in, the magazine will also understand that the majority of the target audience will support the views of the left wing. Although the magazine understands this, it will in no way influence the stories of the magazine, there will be an equal distribution of left and right-wing views scattered around the stories of the magazine. 

How do you intend to link media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production. 

The magazine will have a coinciding website, the website will of course mirror the stories set out in the print copy, the website will be interactive, having a bulletin board at the bottom to allow readers to discuss their opinions, mainly about this week’s new ‘BIG Question’. The big question will engage the target audience and will also create a convergent link between the digital and the print copy of the magazine. The big question will have a link to the website on the page, which will encourage the reader to look online on the modern websites interface. The brand design will be consistent between the website and the print design, it will have a consistent baby blue accent colour running through the website and the print brand design. The website will have more up to date stories, will include links to a subscription service of the print edition, there will also display back digital copies of the magazine which can be opened and viewed at a lower price than if the reader would buy the copy when it is first released.

Draft 2

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? 

For my coursework, I have decided to use an artistic flair for the design of the magazine, I feel that doing this will appeal to a younger target audience. As this is for a current affairs magazine, it will need to follow certain codes and conventions, such as having a masthead and a slogan. It will also need a main cover line and a main image. To make this appeal to a 16 – 25-year-old audience I will need to modernise the cover, other magazines, for an older target audience, tend to have a very standardised, maximalist layout, filling every inch of the cover. I feel having a more minimalist approach to the cover and the contents page will satisfy the target audience, while in keeping with the codes and conventions of a current affairs magazine. Each magazine will have a clear focus on a specific subject; I have decided to base my magazine on the biggest news stories which are currently in circulation, of course this would mean having one of the magazines about Covid-19, the other magazine will be about the grades which came out earlier this year for GCSE and A-levels; it will talk about next steps for these students as well. The magazine will talk about the problems with the education system currently, such as the problems which universities are facing. I feel this will link in with what the target audience will be mostly concerned about. I want to represent the stories in such a way that it has no political bias, it will allow the reader to make up their own mind about what is happening in the world currently, stating the facts and the facts only. The reason for this is that, at a young age, I feel the media shouldn’t influence the target audience, they should be able to make their own minds up about what they believe in, the magazine will also understand that the majority of the target audience will support the views of the left wing. Although the magazine understands this, it will in no way influence the stories of the magazine; there will be an equal distribution of left and right-wing views throughout the stories of the magazine. 

How do you intend to link media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production? 

The magazine will have a website; the website will of course mirror the stories set out in the print copy. However there will also have slightly different content, such as extra stories and have exclusive news; while also having links to relevant documentaries concerning the particular subject, the website will display other links to charitable organisations so that readers can donate money to a chosen cause. The website will be interactive, having a bulletin board at the bottom to allow readers to discuss their opinions, mainly about this week’s new ‘BIG Question’. The big question will engage the target audience and will also create a convergent link between the digital and the print copy of the magazine. The big question will have a link to the website on the page, which will encourage the reader to look online on the modern websites interface. The brand design will be consistent between the website and the print design, it will have a consistent accent colour running through the website and the print brand design. The website will have more up to date stories, will include links to a subscription service of the print edition, there will also display back digital copies of the magazine which can be opened and viewed at a lower price than if the reader would buy the copy when it is first released.