Page 126 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

Sport and Magazines • 115

golf’, a form of urban golf for people ‘with a couple of clubs and no cash’), these are
treated as entertaining curiosities, rather than the norm.
Crush was ostensibly targeted at strong, active sportswomen as the offi cial maga-
zine of an organisation that claims to be the longest-running women’s sport associa-
tion in the world. Nevertheless, Crush reinforced the differences between men and
women by distancing the male producers from the female readership, who were then
hailed as conventional feminine subjects. This was achieved through heavily gen-
dered codes of pinks and decorative lettering in the colour scheme and design, fl ip-
pant lifestyle articles and the focus on consumer goods. The address to a politically

conservative, affluent reader accorded with the LPGA’s stated intention to distribute
the magazine ‘complimentarily in VIP airport lounges, including Ameri can Airlines’
Admirals Clubs, and on private jets, at LPGA International, select LPGA tournaments
and through the LPGA Fan Van’ (http://www.lpga.com). The magazine appeared to
be more about lifestyle and conspicuous consumption than women’s sport.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
• Magazines are a distinctive media form in their close connection to the
social lives of consumers
• The lack of journalistic distance between the producers and consumers of
specialist sport magazines creates a sense of community for their readers
• A combination of signifiers construct sport and fitness magazines’ direct

and indirect address to their ideal reader, often playing on the reader’s as-
sumed anxieties and sense of lack
• The magazine cover’s central image, cover lines, typography and layout
work together to construct an idealised image to which the reader aspires
• Subtle differences in the mode of address in sport and fi tness magazines
position the reading subject in ways that relate to variants of social identity,
attitudes to sport, consumption and lifestyle

Suggestions for Analysis

Specialist sport magazines are targeted at specific audiences, and often there can be

very little journalistic distance between the producers and consumers of the maga-
zines. However, a number of more generalist sport magazines exist, for example,
Sports Illustrated or The Observer’s Sport Monthly supplement. Explore the ways
that the identity of an ideal reader may be inscribed in the magazine’s use of vi-
sual and linguistic signs. Consider the content of the magazine: which sports are
included? Which issues? Consider also the way the content is being represented:
how is the reader’s gaze directed? What markers of gender, race or class can be iden-
tified in the address of the magazine?