The Magazine Industry

To what extent are woman and Adbusters examples are specialised and institutionalised media productions?
Make reference to their distribution and circulation

IPC (producer of women magazine) bought it's rivals Woman's Own Newnes and Woman's Weekly Amalgamated in order to eliminate competition, this is an example of horizontal integration and conglomeration.
The IPC is now a subsidiary of Time Inc UK

Time Inc/ IPC is dominantly aimed towards middle age white people
"Woman serves the fastest-growing and most influential audience in the uk" - Women aged 40+ for woman magazine

The audience is 40+ and is for mass market (they are basic)

The magazine is explicitly telling it's audience to follow the rules of society (Hegemony)

IPC owns other identical woman magazines because it integrates all women magazines monopolising that side of the market.

IPSO is extremely similar to the PCC

George Gerbner: Cultivation Theory

• The idea that prolonged and heavy exposure to TV cultivates. The long exposure of the idea reinforces the ideology/stereotype of that group.

Curran and Seaton: Power and Media Industries

• The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the profit and power
• Media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality
• More socially diverse patterns of ownership can create more varied and adventurous media productions
• With this power, media producers cultivates ideologies

1985 Woman Advert

• Aimed towards younger audiences
• There is a prize for a car in it
• It captures the neon colours and feel of the 80s
• Still has a section about women
• Aimed towards working class women still
• IPC is now known as Time Inc, this is an example of horizontal integration, we are then left with a product which is bland and has no challengers
• IPC is a major company: opposite of Indi or Independent 
• They are a conglomerate
• Sparked a monopolisation

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1. the words "A-level" are repeated a lot, suggesting that the target audience isn't a-level and that the magazine is aspirational 
2. Images of simple face make-ups are generic and could be anybodies face
3. Every face is white, that the assumption here is that the target audience is white
4. Assumes that the target audience women like make-up
5. The term "tactics" is symbolic for war, and that war is too looking good for attracting men, reinforcing hegemonic norms
6. This article is forcing the audience to question itself
7. The article heavily implies that all women have limited aspirations 
8. Blatantly telling the audience that they are ugly by including the 'exam'
9. If one company is creating media, there we see only one ideology

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