Year 12 - Media Studies

This media piece is the front page of a popular tabloid Newspaper called ‘The Sun;’ the second-highest selling newspaper in the country with almost 3 million copies being sold daily. It seems to be aimed at the working class, and furthermore predominantly male readers.

Taking this audience into consideration, the media focuses on capturing the attention of males who do not necessarily want to read excessive amounts of text. This is a rather stereotypical approach on these types of men, and is amplified by the use of a blond. Due to the popular myth that blondes are stupid, but typically big-breasted and easy, male viewers are expected to become sexually excited.

The composition of the cover is vital in grabbing the attention of potential readers, and it is done by having the near-nude woman in the centre of the page, which attracts the focus towards her and consequently the headline. However, having the headline being held up by a half-naked woman connotes that the image has nothing to do with the contents of the article, and is merely there to be gawped at. However, to stop the page focusing entirely on the woman, the font of the headline is large and bold, in an attempt to steal attempt away from the female body. This, one again, seems to compensate for the audience, who appear to have very little interest in the written word.

To make the image even more tantalising is the way in which the image is shot; it is a medium shot, with a rather seductive pose, as the model seems ‘open’ and ready. This is helped by the high-key lighting, which allows readers to see almost every part of her body, leaving very little to the imagination.

The use of colour is an interesting one in this piece; because the background is plain back, attention is focused even further on the girl in the centre. A point to note however is that the name of the newspaper is the only thing in colour, allowing a reader to easily recall the name at a later point.

The dominant reading of this piece is the image of the woman and the word “GOAL,” which signifies the desire to ‘score’ with her, so to speak. Taken even more literally, the girl could denote a physical target to enter and invade. Some viewers may see this as a degrading use of the female form, and would hence be part of an opposition reading. Furthermore, a selection of readers would partake in the negotiated reading, in which they would acknowledge and enjoy the image briefly, but not dwell on it and instead move on to the article.

And anchorage encourages the dominant reading however, due to the phrase ‘to cheer lads,’ which promotes the stereotype that women serve only as ‘cheerleaders’ in sporting events. But this could have a polysemic reading, in that women serve to ‘cheer’ men up or gratify them sexually.