The Voice

The Voice has a significant place in the social and historical context of race relations and representation in Britain, launching in 1982 in the wake of the Brixton race riots. It is also the perfect case study to further develop our understanding of Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory we studied last lesson.

The Voice - background and notes

The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in London and is published every Thursday. 

The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.

You can read more background from The Voice website here.

The Voice: social and historical context

In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain. 

The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons and also due to a business loan from Barclays Bank. The bank was keen at the time to improve their reputation with the black community due to investments in Apartheid South Africa.

Social context - The Battle for Brixton documentary

The Voice analysis: production values

The Voice offers a strong contrast to Teen Vogue with significantly lower production values across its digital operations – website design, video content and social media. However, the growth of digital technology means that the Voice can effectively compete on the same playing field as Teen Vogue, albeit targeting a niche audience.

Watch this video on influential black women in business and compare it to Teen Vogue’s video content – similar in ideology but very different in production values (note the view count too):

The Voice: representation

The Voice was launched to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see the world through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-racist mainstream British media.

The Voice: industries

The Voice is owned by Jamaican media organising the Gleaner company and published in Britain by GV Media Group. It is a significant contrast to Teen Vogue and the international giant Conde Nast.


Recently, in a similar move to The Guardian's request for donations, The Voice asks its readers to support the publication by paying donations via PayPal. This raises interesting questions regarding the financial viability of online news media and particularly niche publications such as The Voice (or indeed Oh Comely).


The Voice: case study blog tasks

Language and textual analysis

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

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

The main key convention on the voice is the top bar menu consisting of; news, sport, lifestyle, entertainment, faith. People can click on the different categories and consume them. Also there are polls such as, racism in the England game which was posted two weeks ago. This shows that the voice does not regularly update their website. 

2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?
The voice has a very low budget compared to Teen Vogue's due to them having a higher readership and circulation. The Voice also targets a very niche population

3) 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?
The items that are listed at the top menu bar are: News, Sports, Lifestyle and Entertainment. News being the first option at the top menu bar indicates its importance to The Voice due to it being the main source of its readership.

4) Look at the news stories on The Voice homepage. Choose three stories and discuss how they have presented the news from an angle or perspective that reflects The Voice's role as a voice for black Britons.

Football tournament held to remember murdered teen

This shows how black representation has changed over the years as you can see the football team showing sympathy for the young black teen by honouring him. Several years ago, black people weren't even recognised on the news and were rather ignored by the white people living in Briton. 

Collective helping black women tech founders secure funding expands to London
This subverts black female stereotypes as they are normally seen as fragile and quiet. However in this news story, you see three empowering black females expanding their organisation around the world starting with the UK. These female Tech founders have shown how intelligent females can be and raised many female voices to also make a change to their media representation. 

Second World War veteran inspires younger generation to reach their full potential
Neil Flanigan who served the royal air force during the Second World War has become an inspiration for  young adults as he talks about young teens having the capability of reaching their full potential. Black people had trouble reaching out to a global audience to encourage people do better as they were normally silenced by the majority. 

5) 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.
The Voice uses Todorov's equilibrium in every news they publish stating the equilibrium or the disequilibrium. they also create enigma codes to keep their audience engaged with their future news or to get a greater insight in the current ones. 

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 Voice deliberately chose those sub headings as it interests the audience the most due it being a very common 'click' when reviewing someones lifestyle. This suggests The voice's audience aren't that different than the majority as they have similar interest. 

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

"Honourees aplenty at 2019 Black Magic Awards"
"Black male grooming brand secures investment to support its growth"
"How to podcast and influence people"

3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?

The lifestyle section of The Voice differs from the Teen vogue due to Teen vogue targeting young females therefore, The Voice can have variety of lifestyle subheading as it targets a wider population.  

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

Black stereotypes are reinforced since the Voice lifestyle still reflects the same media representation that the Black people believe is not true. For example, the sub menu of the lifestyle section does not mention anything about their culture instead reinforce typical stereotypes of what people enjoy and are concern about. 

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

Trailer for Pixar's First film with Black lead is here

The Voice here is supporting the success of a Movie with the first black lead. The ideologies created are that Black people are becoming more and more successful in the film industry. Also Pixar are now being more diverse which is reinforced in the The voice lifestyle section. 

Honourees aplenty at 2019 Black Magic Awards

This is reflecting the values The Voice have over the black community, and how they want them to be heavily represented in their magazine, this feature is showing how they want to celebrate black people for their heavy success in 2019.

Black male grooming brand secures investment to support its growth

Story of his launch went viral gaining international media exposure and a loyal following of customers who felt inspired by his story. This again emphasises the success of Black people in the media and how they are changing other people views about their appearance in the business market.  

Feature focus

1) 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 reflects the Voice's values and ideologies as Black people are regarded as less important than white people.  Doreen Lawrence suggests that if there was white people instead of black in the Grenfell Tower, there would of been more of an effort put in  control the situation and the fire brigades union would of been more aware of the scenario.  Applying Gilroy's Theory on diaspora, he suggests that black people were never welcomed in the society and were always told 'to go home'. This reflects Doreen Lawrence's point on Black people not having the same privilege at white which corresponds to Gilroy's theory of not belonging here. 

2) Read/watch this Lifestyle feature about the Black Magic Awards. How do the article and video content reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice? What do you notice about the production values of the video interviews?
Firstly, the production value of the video is poorly recorded as the audience can see alot of blank space behind the person. This suggests that the Voice have a very low budget. The Article reflects the values and ideologies of the voice as it raises awareness for the success of Black people which is rewarded by them doing awards. 

3) Read this feature about the Young, Gifted and Black Awards. What does this story suggest regarding how The Voice is trying to change the representation of black people in British media? 

The voice is trying to change the view of 'double conscious' by representing black people in  a positive light. It recognises and celebrates students who have passed top grades in their GCSE and SATS as role models, to inspire them to aim higher and show education is the route to achieve their goals and career success.

Audience

1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.
I believe the target audience for The Voice is people around their 40s due to them appealing to black people who came from their home town to America. There are also debates that The voice are yet to figure out who their target audience is since they haven't been doing a great job on their website and their production work.

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).
Personal identity can be applied since some of the news published on The Voice are relatable for example, Sterling's commentary on the racist act he endured in football. Another audience is Blumbers and Katz user and gratification theory. Most likely surveillance would be applied to The Voice as they give an insight of what black people are accomplishing in the world since it does not get recognised that much. 

3) Give examples of content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.
It is clearly aimed at a black audience from all the featured articles, it is mainly focusing on stories that would relate to a black audience. Also, it shows how they aim to target a niche audience with stories such as, "Ocean race to promote St Lucia as yachting destination", this shows how they aiming for people interested in travel, but again reinforces how they targeting black people with the carribean country St Lucia.

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?
Themes such as politics, history and racism resonate with the Voice's British target audience because i believe black people are most affected by these topics and they have now created strong opinions about these themes which need to be heard across the world.

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’?

I think the lack of Production value of The Voice reflects the era of 'mass amateurisation' because the increase availability of editing software and the digital media exhibits that there is no need for professionalism needed to make a decent content for the viewers, For example the 'Black Music Awards'.

Representations

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

The audience are positioned to respond positively as it presents its audience the opportunity to see the world through their own perceptive, rather than living behind the eyes of dominated white British people.

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying? Why?
The representation in the Voice is not an example of Gilroy's concept of 'double consciousness' as it doesn't follow the mainstream therefore, the media supports Black peoples views and values rather than changing it to seem unrealistic.

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?
The kind of black British Identity that is promoted on the Voice website is that it gives a voice for the black British community. So it promotes Black British people. An example of "liquidity of culture" is that there was a news story which was about a person in Jamaica. 

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

The preferred reading is it represents black people in a positive ways as it highlights the struggles they have faced and the accomplishments they have made. It brings unity towards the Black British community. However, the oppositional reading may be that due to the poor production values and the many clickbaits, are the Voice really making a change.

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.)

A interesting representation in the Voice website is it doesn't inform any news that includes a white person. The Voice is only focused on bring a voice to the black community and neglects all other races.

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? 

It exhibits the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand of giving a voice to the black Britons who were born and raised here however, they never truly felt they belonged here due to having to access to human rights. It also shows they need to learn how to adapt to the society with the changing use of technology and creating a website to unite everyone.

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? 

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. Sales eventually rose, and by the start of the 1990s the Voice had its circulation officially audited at 45,000 - a figure which was proudly printed on the front page each week above the masthead. 

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.

The Gleaner company also owns 'The Weekly Gleaner' carrying news of interest to the West Indians in the United Kingdom, the paper offers coverage of important issues and events in both the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.  They also own : The Weekend Star, first published in 1951, reviews of Jamaican music, dance, theatre, and culture, Hospitality Jamaica is about tourist industry news. The Star is an afternoon tabloid. "The people paper", it provides investigative reports, news, special columns, and stories.

4) How does the Voice website make money? What is your opinion of the 'asking for donations' approach that The Voice is now using?

Through advertisement and sponsoring other brands which is supported through the website's feed.

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?

The low production value reflects the lack of budget The voice has therefore, promotion and adverts are very fixed compared to Teen Vogue which had cookies allowing you to see their recent averts repeatedly.

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?

In my opinion, The voice is surviving on public service through the donations and the sponsoring so it not really a vehicle to make just profit because if it was, they would of become obsolete by now.

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

There is a news article featuring a video interviews and The Voice also do have a YouTube channel.

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

The growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice as it increased its population and due to this , The voice have a better understanding of their niche audience they are trying to appeal to.

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

In Contrast with Teen Vogue, The Voice offers more clickbait on their twitter feeds and its mostly based on images and videos.

10) Study a selection of videos from the Voice’s YouTube channel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?

Due to The Voice's low budget, they are not able to produce content at a better standard than Teen vogue as it lacks production Values. For example the 'six influential Black people' video had many irrelevant objects and disturbing written work on the Whiteboard which didn't correspond to the video at all.