Final Project Findings and Reflection

For my final project, I looked at the text on the covers of People Magazine, how this text relates to the main image and how the text and image combined may produce stereotypes. I conducted a content analysis and therefore conducted primarily quantitative research.

Overall, I found that the majority of People covers had yellow main text with white subtext. They had no punctuation in either the main text or subtext. The image typically contained one celebrity. The images of these celebrities usually only showed their head and shoulders, compared to full body, three-quarters of their body or just their face. The people featured in the images were typically dressed in a demure fashion which means they weren't sexually suggestive or clad in any form. Lastly, the celebrities featured on the cover were typically looking straight at the camera, or had eye contact with the reader compared to looking at someone else in the image or not looking in any particular direction (no eye contact).

Overall, what I can take away from this project, is that People tended to reflect stereotypes relating to marriage/relationships as well as children/family roles. In general, the couples featured on the cover were heterosexual and had a very traditional and stereotypical family structure. However, People did a good job when it came to not objectifying women sexually. 

Class Reflection

This class has been really beneficial to me this semester. I have been able to be exposed to a greater variety of media content and instead of merely viewing or reading the content, I have learned how to more critically analyze the content. This skill is something I can and will use in the future whenever I am exposed to media, no matter where I go. It also has shown me the importance of how we must show our kids what it is like to be critical to media. Since technology is increasing so rapidly, it is important that we as students teach our children one day to realize that media is not always the truth. The class has given me an idea of what it is like to be a media writer/editor and how I must really think about the implications of my content before releasing it publicly. It has also shown me what stereotypes to look for in media content, both my own and other media content, and how those stereotypes can be reduced. Lastly, this class has allowed me to develop a blog which is something I have never done before. It has been really fun to create this blog and reflect on the class. Overall, the lessons I have learned in this class will benefit me not only in my career but in my every day life and allow me to be more ethical and responsible when portraying others in the media.