The Voice CSP: case study blog tasks

 Language and contexts

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice homepage?

*Top menu bar - range of content such as 'hard' and 'soft' news to appeal to the target audience. 

* Variety of thumbnails - offers content linked to the top menu bar.

* Advertisement - advertisement of book on The Voice History. 

*Search icon - ease of finding particular content. 

2) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?

Some of the items on the top menu bar are sports, news, lifestyle, entertainment, competition, opinion and faith. This tells us about some of the dominant ideologies of The Voice is that they try to cover all topics of social life there is and that they allow people to voice their opinions as they have a section called 'opinion' on their menu bar which gives people that freedom to share their ideas and thoughts.  

3) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience. 

‘It’s time for the Met Police to be broken up’ - National Black Police Association chief believes lack of public trust in the organisation means it’s time for a change

Powerlist 2025 names Dean Forbes as UK’s most influential Black person

I feel like these two will appeal most towards The Voice's target audience as for many this truly reflects the lives of how black British people live in the UK with the first headline saying being about the Met Police and how they treat black people unfairly and how the National Black Police Association chief believe that there is a lack of public trust meaning that there must be a change. However, in a more positive light the second headline awards a Black person as the UK's most influential person making it appeal to The Voice's target audience as it shows a person of their race in a positive light as stereo typically black people are shown within the media as bad or dangerous people. So showing this headline of 'Dean Forbes' being the UK's most influential 2025 Black person can help build hope and joy towards their target audience and appeal to them in a positive way. 

4) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Todorov equilibrium or Barthes’ enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.

Narrative is used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice through Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory.

Diversion - Target audience are able to engage with content away from news such as their drop down from top-menu bar which has fashion and beauty, food, healthy and well being, relationships and travel. This collection of interesting areas shows that it is celebrating and highlighting black culture and identity. 'Travel' - From Grief to Grace: Finding healing, joy, and new beginnings in Barbados. Shows that Voice is trying to get their audience to get away and go bask in the sun in Barbados. 

Personal relationships/ identity - Voice's Twitter page '33 years missing - cops "give up" search for baby'. Some people might sadly relate to this such as calling the police for help and police not doing their job sufficiently or to the best standard possible. Shows the inequality in race and how the police treat black people. Links back to the UK news from the Voice 'National Black Police Association chief believes lack of public trust in the organisation means it’s time for a change'. 

Surveillance - Going onto the Voice website. Learning about what is going on around the world for black people helps shed a light on how others are living across the world and if they are facing similar problems like the ones in the UK. 

Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

1) What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the Voice audience?

The items in the sub-menu bar for the lifestyle section are fashion and beauty, food, healthy and well being, relationships and travel. This can suggest about the Voice audience that they don't just focus on the news heavily and what is going on with black people but they also offer advice and tips for their audience showing that they care and value them. In addition, this can suggest about their audience that they like to focus on the latest trends going on which is why they have the 'fashion and beauty' section there so their audience can keep up to date with what the latest fashion trends are. 

2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?

*African history is world history - The focus should be on reducing racial trauma and healing through an Inclusive approach in education writes Michael Clarke, founder of Awaken Genius.

*If you don’t go to the gym because of your hair, this ones for you - Forty-five per cent of Black women avoid the gym due to concerns about hair maintenance.

*African entrepreneurs drive branding, resilience and economic transformation - Honouring the past, shaping the future but don't forget about business this Black History Month.

*Louis York & Gramps Morgan encourage the world to ‘Have a Little Light’ on new chart-topping song - The song is currently the only Reggae-themed song in Jamaica's top ten most streamed songs on YouTube. 

3) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?

The sections in the Voice Lifestyle section 100% challenges the black stereotypes in the British media as in the Voice it shows all the positive and brilliant and remarkable side of black peoples lives and how successful some of them have become whereas in the British media black people are most the time highlighted as dangerous and violent people which the Voice heavily goes against and shows some inspirational and amazing stories of how black people are doing and striving in their roles. 

4) Choose two stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?

* African entrepreneurs drive branding, resilience and economic transformation.

* Louis York & Gramps Morgan encourage the world to ‘Have a Little Light’ on new chart-topping song.

These two stories from the Lifestyle section I feel like reflects the values and dominant ideologies of the Voice. This shows how black people can do a lot of amazing things such as lead a business as we can see with the African entrepreneur and how song writers Louis York and Gramps Morgan are able to top the top 10 most streamed songs on YouTube. I feel like these two stories help reflect what the main objective of the Voice is and help project a positive and successful light on black people and how they can get amazing achievements.  

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice opinion piece on black representation in the tech industry. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?

This piece reflects the values and ideologies of The Voice as it shows the lack of black people within the workplace. This reflects the values of The Voice as it gives black people a place to be and helps celebrates them as individuals. 

2) Read this feature on The Black Pound campaign. How does this piece reflect the values and ideologies of The Voice?

The voice reflects the values of The Voice as it shines a light onto black people and the struggles they face. Both the voice and The Black Pound Campaign talk about the challenges black people face and how they have dealt with it. The launch of the ‘Black Pound’ initiative marks an important milestone in recognising the unique challenges faced by Black business owners and entrepreneurs in the UK. 

3) Read this Voice news story on Grenfell tower and Doreen Lawrence. How might this story reflect the Voice’s values and ideologies? What do the comments below suggest about how readers responded to the article? Can you link this to Gilroy’s work on the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?

This story about the Grenfell tower and what Doreen Lawrence had to say about it stands out and reflects the Voice's values and ideologies as on their website the headlines sometimes are about how the metropolitan police do not treat black people fairy can firefighters now be doing the same? This also links back to the Voice through the death of Chris Kaba. This is because of the British media undermining him and making him look like a threat to the public whereas on the Voice it shows what kind of a nice, caring man Kaba was. This links to the Grenfell tower as Doreen Lawrence states “Had that been a block full of white people in there, they would have done everything to get them out as fast as possible and make sure that they do what they needed to do.” This shows the inequality and how black people are being treated that potentially what the Voice talks about on their website and newspapers and how racism does play a big part into this. This links to Paul Gilroys work on the 'Black Atlantic' and how non white people are referred to as the 'other' and how they are out of place in this country. This story about Grenfell tower supports his theory as it could have potentially been about 'race' and that since it was a block filled with black people the firemen did not do everything in their power to make sure they can save the lives of black people due to racism and how the media interprets them. 

Social and cultural contexts - 40 Year of Black British Lives

Read this extract from The Voice: 40 Years of Black British Lives on rapper Swiss creating Black Pound Day (you'll need your Greenford Google login to access the document). Answer the following questions:

1) What is Black Pound Day?

Black Pound Day is an event aimed at celebrating Black-owned businesses and giving the Black community a financial and emotional boost.

2) How did Black Pound Day utilise social media to generate coverage and support? 

Black Pound Day utilised social media to generate coverage and support by attracting support from high profile celebrities and quickly became the top-trending topic on Twitter in the UK. 

3) How do events such as Black Pound Day and the Powerlist Black Excellence Awards link to wider social, cultural and economic contexts regarding power in British society?  

Events such as The Black Pound Day and the Powerlist Black Excellence Awards link to wider social, cultural, and economic contexts regarding power in British society as it shows that black people who own businesses need help for their business as in this industry businesses such like there do not get recognised and they fall behind. This is why Black Pound Day is a historical event as people can come and support their businesses and help them grow. The Powerlist Black Excellence Award links to power in British Society as the people in power in this country are mainly white people and that there is no diversity. The Black Excellence Awards help show the amount of successful and influential men and women of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage. This shows that it is not only white people who hold the power in this country but black people do too.  The Powerlist was launched at 10 Downing Street as well which can show that the government are in agreement of change as well and that there should be more equality and more positivity shown within the black community.  

Audience

1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics (CAGE) and psychographics.

I feel like the Voice website is exclusive and for all gender, ethnicity and races. This is because the main purpose of the Voice is to cause awareness of what is going on within the black community and show the inequality and unfairness that black people receive. In addition, I feel like the class of people who would appeal to the Voice is middle class people as you can pay towards a monthly subscription (£38.88) of getting additional add ons that others might not get if they don't subscribe giving you access too new exclusive content.  I feel like the psychographics of the Voice would be for people who are interest in people from other different backgrounds and how they are treated which the Voice brilliantly reflects and shows for black people. 

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).

The Voice website uses Blumler and Katz Audience and Gratifications theory as it provides diversion. This is because it offers people a distraction away from their own life and can read about the lives of people in the black community. It also offers surveillance for people as it helps show what challenges the black people are facing and the struggles they face helping to provide new knowledge to some people who might not have known before. Furthermore, it offers personal relationships for its audience as some people could relate to some of the stories that the Voice talks about showing that understanding. 

3) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

*Britain's only Black national newspaper - Connotes that this is aimed at only black people one race and no one else. 

*Caribbean news: Hurricane-Battered Schools in Manchester, Jamaica Need Support to Keep Learning Uninterrupted - Shows that it is targeted at Caribbean people, showing what is going on.

4) Studying the themes of politics, history and racism that feature in some of the Voice’s content, why might this resonate with the Voice’s British target audience?

This can resonate with the Voice's British target audience as all the topics that the Voice covers such as the politics, history and racism the British target audience can relate to as they can feel the same certain way.

5) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?

'Chris Kaba’s life mattered, even if the system says otherwise.'

This news story of Chris Kaba I feel like is driven by the audience as they started protests and went onto the streets and started a march trying to bring the justice for Kaba to try and show that he was a good man. This links to Clay Shirky's work on the 'end of audience' theory as it shows communication of 'many to many' as people form together to get a message across to the media and people that Kaba was not a bad person he was a good man so other people can know the truth and not believe in what the media tells them about this person. 

Representations

1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website?

They are positioned to acknowledge and sympathise for black people who for many years have been misrepresented by the media and shown as bad people when in fact all these success stories and amazing achievements that the Voice shows on their website that black people have done shows to their audience that black people are not all just the same and "bad" which the audience are positioned to understand. 

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double  consciousness” NOT applying?

I don't think so. This is because I feel like the Voice does heavily focus on how black people are being treated in this country and how it is almost like they are being forced to go back to their home countries where they belong due to the amount of racism and inequality that black people do face on a day to day basis. 

3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly multiculturalism” here?

Some black British identity that is promoted on the Voice website is Africans, Caribbeans, Jamaicans and Nigerians. This shows that the Voice tries to focus on all different aspects of black people and does not want any black ethnicity to not share the spotlight with the rest. 

4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?

Different audiences might interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice as being wonderful and amazing human beings due to the amount of outstanding achievements they have accomplished whereas some might view this as just only a small minority of black people being good opposing to the rest just being bad showing that they still believe that black people are just all mainly dangerous and should not be trusted. 

5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)

I have noticed that the representation of people they mainly show are black men and women aged around in their 40-50's which shows that they have been dealing with this for a very long time especially when they were younger which can reflect on the age of the target audience that the Voice is trying to target this at. In addition. the Voice talks about other countries too such as travelling and exploring the Caribbean islands which can show that the Voice are trying to celebrate black culture and beauty and show to people what they have to offer. 

Industries

1) Read this Guardian report on the death of the original founder of the Voice. What does this tell you about the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand? 

This Guardian report shows about the death of the original found of the Voice and the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand was that McCalla deliberately decided to have a newspaper that targeted black people who were born here and had spent most of their lives here. He also says ""In doing so I had obviously captured a niche market, a market of people who had never had a voice before" which shows that McCalla main purpose was to make sure the black community had a voice and was heard which to this day the Voice is still successfully doing. 

2) Read this history of the Voice’s rivals and the struggles the Voice faced back in 2001. What issues raised in the article are still relevant today? 

Some issues that the Voice faced back in 2001 which are still relevant today is how they will be able to increase their sales and stay on top claiming to be "Britain's Best Black newspaper". Even back in 2001, The Voice's early sales were poor, but it was buoyed by job adverts from the newly aware London boroughs, which were willing to pour in money to satisfy their consciences, regardless of the response. Even to this day the Voice are still facing issues to raise money but have set up many different ways to try to overcome this such as setting up a 'Pay-Pal' for anyone who is willing to donate any money to them so they can carry on going. 

3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.

The Cleaner company own RJRGLEANER Communications Group - home of Jamaica's biggest, most exciting and most influential electronic, print and digital media platforms, including: Television Jamaica Limited (TVJ). This might be interesting in owning the Voice as the Voice does talk about Jamaicans as well which brings that nice intertextual reference with the Gleaner company and how both the Gleaner company and the Voice want to make a change for the black community. 

4) How does the Voice website make money?

The Voice website makes money through their donations that they get from people which does help massively to keep their website going. The Voice also makes money from their subscription service they run as well to people who will pay extra so they can access special content of the Voice making them feel valued and wanted. 

5) What adverts or promotions can you find on the Voice website? Are the adverts based on the user’s ‘cookies’ or fixed adverts? What do these adverts tell you about the level of technology and sophistication of the Voice’s website?

These two are the main adverts there are on the Voice which are fixed adverts. What these adverts tell me about the level of technology and sophistication of the Voice's website is they try to keep things very simple and not complex such as their advertisement of their book which they are trying to create awareness. Furthermore, the use of the Voice actually trying to recruit people to join them shows that the Voice needs as much help as they can maybe to even make their adverts more better and appealing?  

6) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?

I feel like there is an element of public service to the Voice's role in British media and it is not something entirely to make profit out of. This is because the Voice reflects heavily on the current situation and causes what is going on in the UK showing that they care and want to create awareness for the black community. 

7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?

"DON'T MISS the latest issue of The Voice - on the streets today!" - continuity of content self promotion of their newspaper. Shows the convergence of moving on with the new digital era but still not forgetting their traditional way of how they began. 

8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?

It has made the Voice fall behind and people are starting to forget about them. This is because even looking at the Voices tweets they have posted on Twitter even though they are trying their best and have moved digitally their engagement rates are strikingly low. For example, 6 Retweets, 2 Quotes, 3 Likes - this just shows how low their numbers are and how low people pay attention towards them. It has challenged the Voice and made it almost like an obstacle to keep up with the growth of digital distribution.  

9) Analyse The Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as Zendaya's)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

This Twitter feed of The Voice shows that it is celebrating Black History Month and that it wants people to be aware of what time of month it is. I feel like The Voice does not have any clickbait and that it goes straight down to the topic with no messing around. 

E.G: "NEW:  Colonial ‘gratitude’? Reparations campaigner slams Tory MP Robert Jenrick’s comments as ‘hate speech’ " - gets straight to the point, wants it audience to know what has happened. Doesn't give any mixed signals of what happened the Voice tells it how it happened. 

10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTube channel. What are the production values of their video content?

The production values of their video content are quite low budgeted as we can tell from the setting, where they are. Also the use of there being no different camera shots or edits in their videos show that they want their audience to just put all their attention into what they are saying right from the beginning with no special different camera shots or cuts. The Voice's videos offer low production values across its digital operations - website design, video content and social media. But focusing on their video content maybe the Voice deliberately uses low budget to film their videos to show that the content is more important that the quality of their video and production so their viewers know