OSP: Final index

 1) OSP: Clay Shirky - End of Audience blog tasks 

2) OSP: Influencers and celebrity culture

3) OSP: Taylor Swift CSP - Language and Representations

4) OSP: Taylor Swift CSP - Audience and Industries 

5) Baseline Assessment learner response

6) OSP: Postcolonial theory - Gilroy and diasporic identity

7) OSP: The Voice - blog case study

The Voice CSP: case study blog tasks

 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?

Range of soft/hard news, advertising - their own book, subscribe, short info to make you want to click and read more 

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?

News,sport,lifestyle,entertainment,competitions,opinion and faith - they try to focus on positive things and celebrating success rather than focusing on hard news.

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. 

'Community mourns ‘trailblazer’ Baroness Ros Howells' - Mourning the death of/paying their respects to a national hero in the British black community. 

'Making Black history today: the leaders shaping innovation in public health' - celebrating the hard work and successes of healthcare professionals 

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.

The Voice uses enigma codes by using pictures with very short captions, such as: '2025 Ethnicity Awards are a big hit',which makes audiences want to know 'why were they a big hit?' and makes them click on the story to read more.

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?

Fashion and beauty,food,health and wellbeing, relationships,travel - the audience are likely people who care about their physical/mental wellbeing and want to improve their lifestyle.   

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

Urban Synergy continues to open doors - charity 

In review: Black Tech Fest 2025

Black joy takes centre stage at ‘The Sitdown UK’

Stars unite at Black Women Rising’s first Awareness Luncheon

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

I believe the sections and stories in the lifestyle section subvert/challenge stereotypes, this is because it focuses on wellbeing, joy and success whereas stereotypically the media will discuss negative events.

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

Urban Synergy continues to open doors - this story reflects the values and ideologies of the voice because it promotes success and empowerment within the community. It also supports a charity which is opening doors for young people and helping them with their future careers.

Black joy takes centre stage at ‘The Sitdown UK’ - this story also reflects the values and ideologies of the voice because it focuses on success rather than struggle which is usually focused on by mainstream media, this helps inspire its readers and brighten their days with soft news. 

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 voice’s mission to represent, empower and inspire the black British community by challenging the system and calling on workplaces to do better.  

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

This piece reflects the voice’s mission to represent, empower and inspire the black British community by promoting black businesses and raising awareness about the challenges black business owners face.

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 piece reflects The Voice’s mission to represent and empower the Black British community by giving a platform to Doreen Lawrence’s views on racism and social injustice. The comments show a strong divide in opinions as one side strongly disagree with her and criticise her claims whereas some support her. This links to Gilroy’s Black Atlantic as it shows the ongoing struggle of the Black community trying to challenge racism and seek justice.

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 on the first saturday of each month where people are encouraged to spend locally or online with Black owned businesses.

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

High profile celebrities promoted the first event and online support led to it becoming a top trending topic on twitter during its launch in 2020.

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 like Black Pound Day and the Powerlist Black Excellence Awards link to wider social, cultural and economic contexts by promoting Black empowerment, representation and equality in Britain.

Audience

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

The target audience for the voice website is likely to be young black British people as they’re more likely to be using the internet to access the news whereas the older black British community will probably still get their news from print. 

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

Diversion, personal identity and surveillance.

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

There’s a section in the menu labeled ‘Black British Voices’ which shows a focus on Black identity and representation. 

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?

The Black British community has historically faced discrimination, under representation and racial injustice in Britain and British media. 

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’?

They have a section for competition and section for comments where readers can share their opinions, this shows that the audience aren’t passive and are actively interacting with the media they consume. 

Representations

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

The audience is positioned to feel proud, empowered and represented as the voice speaks to and for the black community.

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

I’d argue that yes, it shows it not applying as the Voice showing positive and authentic representations of black people shows Black British people themselves directly rather than through the lens of white mainstream media.

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?

Promotes a confident, diverse, and hybrid Black British identity while mixing British, African and Caribbean influences to show the liquidity of culture. 

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

Preferred reading - Black British audience feels pride and empowerment.
Negotiated - supportive but aware that not all experiences are represented.
Oppositional - some may see it as overly focused on race or exclusive.

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.)

Gender - They highlight and empower successful Black Women. age - young and older generations both represented   

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 article shows that the original values and ideologies behind The Voice were about representation, empowerment and activism for the Black British community.

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 issues mentioned which are still relevant today are the decline of print, the need for representation of the Black British community, staying relevant to a younger audience and accessing a more diverse audience. 

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.

They also own The Gleaner which is Jamaicas daily national newspaper and The weekly Gleaner which is an edition for Caribbean communities abroad. This suggests that the reason they might’ve wanted to own the voice for is because they wanted to invest in a cause with meaning to them or they wanted to invest in a niche market where there was nobody else doing the same type of content consistently.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

Advertising, events and using it to promote their newspaper which increases readership (more people buy it and revenue from sales increases).

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?

There was an ad for a show about music, art and activism at a performing arts theatre which matches the goals of The Voice. 

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?

The voice does seem to have an element of public service as it helps represent and empower the Black British community but to do this it does need to make a profit.

7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website 

– e.g. video or audio content?

They have a section where you can access videos from their youtube and podcasts. 

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

It allows them to access a wider/global market. 

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

Their Twitter feed focuses on celebrating the achievements of the Black Community but they post very rarely in comparison to other pages we’ve looked at. They also have much less followers which could show they have an older audience which are less tech-savvy. 

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

Their videos have low video and audio quality and overall seem to be very low budget.