Mrs W- Media .

Analyzing Magazines- “New”

The name of the magazines is “New”. The name is important to the reader in many different ways because it shows significance and its connotation behind the name. The reason behind the name of magazine is to show the readers that that magazine they have chosen is the one with upcoming news. It can betray the upcoming news on celebrities no matter if it is in this country or another. The significance of the name is important to the reader because it is the first thing they see, along with the images, when they take a first glance in the shop or newsagent. This is because it will either invite them into the magazine or appeal to existing customers. The connotation of the name is that they are first before any other magazine because any information they offer is the “New “information.

“New” is published by Northern and Shell Media. The Northern and Shell Media publication is a respectable publishing company which has published many other respectable magazines. For example Northern and Shell Media also published Ok magazine, Star magazine, Take 5 magazine, daily Express and Sunday express and many more. As you can see the publisher also publishes newspapers, magazines and TV. The publishers express that New was released in February 2003 and has brought life and freshness to the celebrity niche market. Because of its price it gives a great advantage of great news for a cheaper price. The price of the magazine is 60p. However another magazine, OK, which is published by the same publisher is priced at a different price of £2.25. The difference in price is huge. From magazine website, www.new-magazine.co.uk I can see that the circulation figure of the past year has been 450,000. it also suggest that this has increased from last year by 25 %. Okay is a close magazine to New because it is published by the same publisher however they are still in competition with each other. Okay’s circulation net figure is 649,777 which is up by 14.7 %.

From the type of magazine I can establish a target market for the New magazine. This type of magazine shows clear gender demarcations, females aged between middle aged and teenagers. We can tell this by the type of articles and headlines used on the front cover. The front cover consists of colourful headlines in different types of font. The colours attract people because there are many different font colours used. Also the stories used are family life celebrity based. For example on the front of this magazine is a posed portrait of the Jordan and Peter with their two children. The denotation of this image is a Jordan and Peter sitting with their children. However the connotation of this image is that they are trying to show the ideal family, when they are not all perfect. The colours, fonts, images and name interact with the reader.

On the front cover of the magazine there is pictures of the latest and interesting articles. The articles also come with pictures, however some images are larger than other. The structure of the front cover is 4 average sized pictures and one larger picture. The large image of Katie’s Price family seems posed from the way she is sitting and staring at the camera. Also from the way Peter is smiling it looks very fake and only there for the camera. The smaller pictures surrounding this are also very similar to this because of Pete and Nikki image because they are supposed to be the “perfect couple”. You can tell this by the way the couple is sitting close and both looking in the same direction, suggesting they are physically that close as a couple. The image of Posh and Becks is also very different because they are not looking towards the camera so this could be seen as they did not know this picture was being taken, or did not want to be taken. Also the font changes on one particular word ”is” this emphasises the statement and becomes forceful. The colours used on the front cover are pink, red, yellow and blue. These are all used in different ways but they also reinforce the target market of women. A feature in the magazine, which is displayed on the front cover, is the fact that there is a true story within the magazine. This is a type of story which would relate to a reader. The front cover looks similar to Ok with the layout of the images. Also the layout is similar to the closer layout by the position of the title and layout of images.

The front cover is presentable in that looks appealing to the target audience and that people would buy the magazine. The magazine does look cheap and you can tell this by the type of paper that is used to print the magazine. But the magazine stories seem cheap for the type of magazine they are getting. However other magazines like New are also similarly priced. The price and stories are similar to magazines like “closer”. But the type of stories ad celebrities mentions are of a magazine like Okay, this could be because they are published by the same publisher. The print style used conveys the view of the type of celebrity presented. The colours and pictures used show that the target audience used is for female but also that the stories are female based because of the pictures.

The mode of address suggested on the front cover is very informal and relaxed view. New address their audience by the informal view, the bright coloured fonts and the forms of articles are true stories. New places the interesting articles and pictures in the audiences’ eye line because it will be the first thing the reader sees whilst being surrounded by all similar magazines. This is good way of presenting the magazine to the reader.

The representation of the New magazine is very celebrity based with one side heading of a true story. It does not really show individual males or females it shows families, like Katie Prices’, or couples with their problem or in love, like Nikki and Pete. The magazine is trying to show them as normal or role models but I do not feel they have come off this way as a reader. I feel that the headlines and the images are view posed and fake. This to me gives a story that is presented to the reader which might not be necessarily true. I feel that it conflicts the actual story to the one that the magazine wants to give. I feel that the representation of the magazine is important between reader and editor. There no particular “normal” groups within the magazine, maybe a few true stories, but it mainly celebrity based.

In conclusion the new magazine overall is a very well presented magazine, which is mainly based around celebrities. The argument for whether the images and stories are posed is a matter of opinion. It is a magazine which has a clear target audience of women or girls. It is a respectable magazine which is cheaply price compared to it competitor such as Closer or Okay.