TERMINOLOGY
All of the following terminology is relevant to your music magazine work. Use it and get lots of glorious geek marks from the examiner!
Anchorage: a fixing device – the text directs the reader through the signifiers of the image towards a meaning chosen in advance by the producer of the text.
Banner headline: page wide headline.
Brand image: how an institution, a media product or even a person is promoted to create a particular perception or belief amongst the public
Byline: name of the writer.
Caption: headline under a photo.
Codes and conventions: A code is a network of signs, written, visual, artistic or behavioural, which signify meanings that are culturally accepted and shared. A convention is a conduct or practice or method that is commonly accepted and has a tradition. Media texts are constructed using a number of codes and conventions which have agreed meanings.
Connotation: meanings arrived at through the cultural experiences a reader brings to the text.
Deck: the number of lines in a headline.
Denotation: refers to the simplest and most obvious level of meaning of a sign – be it a word, image, object or sound.
Exclusive: a story published by only one newspaper, a scoop.
Headline: words in large type found at the top of the story summarising it, the head.
Ident: an identifying image or sound e.g. a brand logo.
Ideology: the opinions, beliefs and ways of thinking characteristic of a particular person, group, or nation.
Institutions: the organisations or companies that produce and / or distribute media.
Intertextuality: within a text, visual or audio references are made to other texts. It is expected that audiences will recognise such references
e.g. an article in a music magazine entitled 'Hey Jude' about the lead singer of a band who happens to be called Jude, could be said to be an intertextual reference to the Beatles song 'Hey Jude' - an appropriate reference for a music magazine to make.
Kicker: a piece of additional information printed as an accompaniment to a news headline. It is a subordinate clause and comes in present tense. The point size is usually smaller and is placed on top of the headline. When it is placed under the headline it is called a rider.
Layout: arrangement of content, pictures and words, on a print or webpage.
Lead: the first paragraph or two of a news story – sometimes in bold or a larger typeface.
Logo: the identifying design used by a brand to provide recognition.
Masthead: the top of the front page which gives the title and publication date of the newspaper printed in every issue.
Mediation: the process by which an institution or individual or a technology comes between events that happen in the world and the audience who receive the re-presentation.
Niche audiences: the separation of the media audience into segments, each of which have different tastes and concerns.
Puff: a promotion of a product or service.
Representation: media texts are artificial versions of reality, and thus provide certain 'versions' of "the truth" e.g. positive / negative / accurate / inaccurate / stereotypical / unconventional versions.
Socio-economic groups (SEG): AB = Professional, business and white collar; C1 = higher skilled manual; C2 = Lower skilled manual; DE = Semi and unskilled manual.
Stereotype: a standardised, usually oversimplified, mental picture or attitude towards a person or group, place or event.
Strapline: a short statement that sums up a story in a newspaper or magazine in a few words and may appear with the main headline for that story.
Synergy: the process through which is a series of media products derived from the same text is promoted in and through each other.
Target audience: the specific group of people towards whom a media text is directed.
Value Life Styles (VALS): a way of classifying audiences in terms of psychographics in which four main categories have been identified (and then sub-divided into nine lifestyles): 1. groups driven by needs – survivors and sustainers; 2. groups who are outer-directed – belongers, emulators, achievers; 3. groups who are inner-directed – I-am-me, experientals, societally conscious; 4. groups who are both outer and inner directed – integrated.