Audience Focus Group for School Magazine

I interviewed four people within the audience range of my school magazine about school life, magazine consumption and other media consumption and noted the results:

Alex Bright
Age:16
Studying: Media Studies, Business Studies, Government and Politics, English Lang
Favourite Lesson: Government and Politics
Best thing about School: Learn new things everyday, school events
Media Consumption: Uses Spotify and iTunes to listen to around 3 hours of music each day. Watches television for around 1 hour each evening. Plays the PlayStation 3 for around 1 hour each evening. Often reads the newspaper for around 30 minutes per day. Goes to the cinema around once a month and rarely watches films at home (only around once a month).
Favourite Film: Titanic
Hobbies: Charity work, playing games

Interests: Technology, Current affairs in the media
Dislikes about magazines: Too many adverts and too little content.
Magazines Read: Rarely reads magazines, reads the Daily Mail newspaper. Reads TV guides.

Hollie Chawner
Age:16
Studying: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Psychology
Favourite Lesson: Maths
Best Thing about School: Learning something new everyday
Media Consumption: Watches 2 hours of television each day. Listens to iPod while walking to school. Using the computer for the internet for around 2 hours (For homework and facebook). Watches 1 film per week.
Favourite Film: Twilight - Romance

Hobbies: Going to the cinema, socialising, running
Dislikes about magazines: Misleading front cover information
Magazines Read: Reads ‘Heat’ every week and ‘Closer’ every other week

Robert Humm
Age:16
Studying: Art Design
Favourite Lesson: Art Design
Best Thing about College: Many fun extra-curricular activities you can take part in, always meeting new people.
Media Consumption: 7 hours of computer use each day (for internet, Facebook, MSN messenger, Wikipedia). Uses iPod and iTunes whenever accessible. 1 hour of television each day. Watches 1 film per week.
Favourite Film: ‘Black Hawk Down’ – Modern War Film
Hobbies: Playing airsoft sport, computer games
Dislikes about magazines: Repetitive adverts
Magazines Read: Around 3 magazines regularly each month: Nuts, Airsoft International, ‘Soldier’

Chris Holroyd-Jones
Age:16
Studying: Business Studies, English Lang, Media Studies, Psychology
Favourite Lesson: Media Studies
Best Thing about School: Meeting friends at school
Media Consumption: 5 Hours each day using the computer for internet (for Facebook, Myspace, homework and MSN), 2 hours of watching television each day, around 4 hours of listening to music each day, using iPhone for music each evening. Around 2 hours of reading magazines each evening. Rarely goes to the cinema, and watches around 1 movie each week if there is nothing else to do.
Favourite Film: The Dark Knight

Hobbies: Socialising

Interests: Cars
Dislikes about magazines: Boring articles which he isn’t interested in
Magazines Read: Autocar, Classic and Sports Cars, Car, Auto-express

School Magazine Questionnaire

Download link: Click download at bottom of page:

http://www.2shared.com/file/8099224/5ec02e4e/Audience_Focus_Group_Questionnaire.html

I gave out a number of my questionnaires to friends of my own age, and asked some students at my school to also fill out some results. I ensured that all people taking the questionnaire were of school age (15 to 18) and made note of the results.

Questions:

1. How many magazines do you read each month?
(a) Very Rarely (b) Once a month
(c) Twice a month (d) Three times per month +

2. If you read entertainment magazines, which type do you read most?
(a) Fashion/Celebrity (b) Music
(c) Sports (d) Other:

3. Do you regularly read a student/school magazine?
(a) Yes (b) No

4. If you are a student, which type of organisation do you attend?
(a) Non-student (b) School Sixth Form
(c) College (d) Other:

5. What information would you ideally like to see in a school magazine?
(a) Clubs (b) Educational
(c) Events/Achievements (d) School Trips/Holidays

6. What are your main interests?
(a) Studying (b) Sport
(c) TV/Film/Gaming/Music (d) Fashion

7. What is your favourite subject at College/Sixth Form?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

8. What is the most important aspect of life at sixth form/college?
(a) Education (b) Social Aspects
(c) Teacher/Pupil Relationship (d) University/ Careers Advice

9. Which do you prefer? Please state in order of preference.
(a) Lengthy articles (b) Short articles
(c) Diagrams (e.g. graphs and tables) (d) Pictures

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

10. Please state anything you dislike about schools magazines you have previously read:

……………………………………………………………………………………….…

………………………………………………………………………………………….

I also designed my own interactive Questionnaire Online

I designed this questionnaire online:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEVhUG1OVlNpckczeTFpSnAxWGxTY0E6MA

I have posted the link on facebook and displayed the link in my MSN messenger profile, in order to advertise the questionnaire where the majority of my target audience spend a lot of their free time. The questionnaire automatically sends me an e-mail, in the form of a spreadsheet, detailing which answers were chosen by each user.

School Magazine Questionnaire Results

I have presented the results of my questionnaires:

Results: (some circled more than one option)

How many magazines do you read each month?

Very Rarely-2 Once a month-7 Twice a month-1 Three times a month-5

If you read entertainment magazines, which type do you read most?

Fashion/Celebrity-5 Music-4 Sports-4 Gaming-1 Army-1

Do you regularly read a school magazine?

Yes-1 No- 14

If you are a student, which type of organisation do you attend?

Non Student-0 School Sixth Form-11 College- 4 University-0

What information would you ideally like to see in a school magazine?

Clubs- 4 Educational-0 Events/Achievements- 10 School Trips/Holidays-3

What are your main interests?

Studying-4 Sport-2 TV/Film/Gaming/Music-5 Fashion-3 Army-1 Socialising-1

What is your favourite subject?

RS-1 Art Design-2 Psychology-1 History-1 Media-1 Music-2 Biology-2 Government and Politics-2 PE-1 Business Studies-1 Maths-1 Geography-1

What is the most important aspect of life at College/Sixth Form?

Education-8 Social Aspects-6 Teacher/Pupil Relationships-3

University/Careers Advice-0

Which do you prefer?

Lengthy Articles-2 Short Articles-4 Diagrams-3 Pictures-6

Things people do not like about school magazines:

• Adverts


• Boring articles


• Too Short


• Too much information about teachers


• Boring


• Colourless, boring, unprofessional, too repetitive


• Unprofessional


• Bad presentation/Outdated/Not Modern


• Dull/Boring


• Too educational


• Needs more information revolving students


• Uninteresting/Little relevant information


• Boring Repetitive-only talk about the school itself

School Magazine Front Cover Analysis 3

This magazine uses the same recognisable style as other issues, so that the read know what magazine they are picking up easily. The slanted picture shows that the magazine is informal and makes it a little more exciting for this audience. The character himself is represented as a professional football playing instantly recognisable by his modern clothing, hairstyle and the football he is holding, which are all stereotypical images of a football player (e.g: the Nike jumper). He looks happy, which is welcoming to new students looking to join the school and also makes the school seem like it has a happy atmosphere. He looks content with his football skills. He is outside which reflects the fact that the character is a sportsman and he is in 'his environment'. The phrase "Shooting stars" is an alliteration, making the phrase easier to read, a well know phrase for comets entering the atmosphere and also a metaphor, referring to the character being a professional and being able to "shoot" goals. The white text is simple and easy to read, making it appealing and also reflects the colour of a football.
The audience would mainly be students of the school or future students, where the language and structure reflect this. They may be particularly boys as football is seen as a boy's sport whereas in my second magazine frontcover analysis, the emphasis may have been on girls, as art is often seen as a more feminine activity.

School Magazine Front Cover Analysis 2

Bright colours are used, representing a bright, lively atmosphere. The character is smiling, showing that she is happy in this environment, and people looking to join the school will be influenced by this aspect of the front cover. The headline "Artistic Talent" anchors with the background artwork to present the amount of talent at the school.

The institution that developed this magazine is most likely the school itself, or a group of students that have decided to make their own magazine about the school, providing vital information to students. There is no price tag or sponser logo which suggests that the school has paid for the printing costs or it is only available online.

The audience of the magazine would mainly be students at the school, or looking to join the school in the future, so language and presentation of the front cover reflects this audience age and type, with bright, exciting colours, which are almost flame like, injecting a lot of energy into the cover, to make it more appealing to the reader.

The character on the front cover is represented as happy and talented, happy with her artwork displayed in the background and she is also seen as a modern 16 year old, with modern fashion. The rule of thirds has been used with a medium shot, so we can see her emotions well, but her artwork in the background.

Microsoft Word File (Download Link at bottom of page): http://www.2shared.com/file/7889219/2c27da04/High_Profile_Magazine_Textual_Analysis.html

‘High Profile’ – Textual Analysis of a School Magazine

Language

Cool, relaxed colours create a mature nature to the magazine. The title ‘High Profile’ also has mature connotations (but also sounds fun and extreme, from the usage of the word ‘High’), using capital letters, making it more formal, but the plain white colour against the blue sky produces relaxing connotations – like clouds. Usage of bold and varying text sizes reinforce this effect. Furthermore, some font has been highlighted by making it pink-which has very female connotations (but this effect is not overused, otherwise the magazine would look like it had been intended for a younger audience). Very short, punchy sentences on the front cover are used (e.g: “excellence at KEHS”) to keep the audience interested, as young people are often busy and may lose interest – it makes the magazine sound fast paced, introducing a fun element – these elements may have been implemented due to the audience of the girls only school or their age, where they are going into adulthood and may want to be given more respect. Bold effects and the convention of having large font on a magazine front cover have been implemented in order to attract the audience. Also, exclamation marks have been used repeatedly, which have fun and exciting connotations, and make it seem less formal. Finally, a pun and been used: “Czech this out”. This hints on something to do with Czechoslovakia and also makes it sound like an interesting article, as little is actually revealed in this statement and the audience will want to read on – it also adds a humourous element, which again makes it sound more fun and less formal.

Institution

The institution that developed this magazine is most likely the school itself, or a group of students that have decided to make their own magazine about trips that the school has been on, in a club, which also provides vital information to students about what is going on around the school etc. There is no price indicated on the front cover, nor any sponsorships logos, which suggests that the school pays for the printing of the magazines. Alternately, the magazines may only be supplied on the school’s website, so that no printing is required, so there are very few costs.

Audience

The audience of this magazine would be current students of the school, or future students, so that they can consider going to the school. This is noticeable due to the ‘New Teachers’ part in the magazine, which would only be aimed towards students, not other staff or parents. All of these students are females, probably 16-18, judging from the age of the students on the picture on the front cover.

Representation

The characters on the front cover are represented as active and having fun – which reflects the overall appearance of the school itself – making it seem inviting to others, and improving the atmosphere for students. The characters are all laughing and clapping at the girl that has fallen over, which represents her as ‘clumsy’ and idiotic to this audience and gives all of the characters an appealing appearance, making them seem friendly and happy (even the girl on the floor is laughing). The audience may also want to read on to discover what actually happened in this incident.