Page 119 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

108 • Sport, Media and Society

the verticality of the grey, jagged cliff face and the long drop to the water below. The
shirtless white male climber looks strong, focused on his next move, with fi ngers and
toes clinging to small crevices in the cliff face.
The title of the October 2007 issue of the magazine Climber is written in large,
white letters across the top of the magazine, accompanied by a smaller strapline in
yellow print: ‘Britain’s leading climbing magazine’. The title and picture suggest the
seriousness of the magazine and its specialised target audience. The various cover
lines indicating the content of the magazine reinforce the impression that the maga-
zine aims to provide information of interest to those who climb. Three of the cover

lines focus on stories introducing specific climbing routes: ‘new series! Mid-Grade

Crag Tour no 1: Castell Helen’, ‘Black Rocks: Fearful, fierce & fabulous!’, and
‘Culm coast classics: the big adventure starts here’. The excitement of the routes is
highlighted by the use of exclamation points and adjectives relating to adventure or

challenge. The remaining two cover lines highlight a climber profile, ‘Nick Bullock:
he dares, he wins’, and a book review, ‘Harrer: Big New Autobiography’. Along the
bottom edge of the magazine cover is a list of other items in very small print: ‘Young
Guns: Katy Whittaker, Short Haul: Jersey, Stone Circles: Curbar, Gear: Fred Report,
Masterclass: stamina’. The serious, informative tone of the cover differs from the
ironic or humorous messages found in some men’s magazines. The simple white and
yellow font and titles are designed to entice climbers who wish to learn more about
where to climb and read about experienced climbers. In addition, information about
gear and technique are promised in the small print below. This package presents an

image of the ideal reader as someone who climbs with some proficiency and who
may travel to different places to attempt different climbs.
The editor is a climber who writes informally, sharing his experiences of climbing
with the community of climbers. He uses climbing jargon to describe his trip to the
Dolomites: ‘you think—that looks like a juggy wall, and there’s a fine crack line, but

the jugs are ledges and the cracks huge chimneys and the “crag” you’re eyeing-up
is twenty pitches high’ (Newman 2007: 3). The use of you emphasises this sense of
community and communicates that the editor and reader share a similar perspec-
tive. The editorial closes with a signature, followed once more by an exclamation
point reemphasising the excitement of climbing. Beneath the editorial is a picture
of the magazine’s Web page, where readers are urged to ‘get involved’ by sharing
their ‘photographs and climbing tales’. On the Web site, Climber advertises itself as
a magazine written by and for climbers, again emphasising the lack of journalistic
distance between consumers and producers.

Landscape and Nation in Reader Address

The magazine bills itself as Britain’s leading climbing magazine, and the articles in-

side focus primarily on British climbers and locations. This further defines the ideal