Magazines: Tatler CSP

 General

• Tatler is Britain’s oldest magazine (founded in 1901).
• Targeted at upper classes and upper-middle classes.
• Lifestyle magazine with focus on fashion; high society events such as balls and celebrities such as the Royal family and members of the aristocracy (people with inherited wealth, titles and land.)
• There are versions in Russia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
• Over the years, Tatler has remained interested in the lives of the Royal family, but has tried to re-invent itself as more ‘edgy’ and modern in recent years, to try and target a younger audience. 

Watch this trailer for BBC's Posh People - a documentary about Tatler, the oldest magazine in Britain.

 

And here's the first episode of the documentary - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous:

Media language

• This refers to how the producers communicate their message to the audience through the media text. 
• Mise-en-scene: what you see - remember CLAMPS (Costume / Lighting / Actors / Make-up / Props / Setting)
• Typography / Fonts: serif title and sans serif cover lines. 
• Words used and their connotations. 
• Colour schemes: usually two or three in a magazine. Sometimes title matches or is juxtaposed with colours elsewhere on the cover.

Representations

• Tend to reflect dominant representations/stereotypes of wealthy upper-class British people on the cover through images and cover lines.
• The cover star is Emma Weymouth (aka Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath) and is a rare black cover star for Tatler. Emma Thynn's father is a Nigerian oil billionaire and her mother is an English socialite (socialite: a person who is well known in fashionable society). This cover star shows Tatler is trying to update its representation of race in the magazine in response to recent cultural changes such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
• Average age of Tatler reader is 41 but the cover tends to focus on celebrities or models who are younger than this (due to dominant ideals of beauty in the Media).
• Cover lines (stories inside) tend to focus on preoccupations of upper classes e.g ‘Inside the new British establishment'; Blond ambition (about Boris Johnson's brother); Off-duty Royal dressing. 

Social and cultural contexts

• The issues that Tatler is concerned with tend to be political but not in a particularly gritty way because the magazine is more interested in fashion, merchandise, beauty and ‘lifestyle’ rather than dealing with news in any depth. Hence references to Boris Johnson's brother and 'the workings of the Westminster web'.
• The preoccupation with parties, private schools, luxury holidays and exclusivity (the ‘Tatler Privilege Club’) assumes a high level of income and an elitist attitude which may alienate or offend people from a different social class. 81% of the readership has an above average income. 44% buy shoes or clothes more than once a month so the cultural context of the magazine could be judged as ‘niche’ (for the few) rather than ‘mainstream’ (for everyone).
• Some of the stories featured in Tatler can be seen as outdated as they are concerned with riding, hunting and shooting which are pursuits generally only enjoyed by upper classes. 

Here's an annotated copy of the cover of Tatler to help you (you'll need your Greenford Google login to access this).

Tatler: case study blog tasks

Work through the following tasks and questions to build a detailed case study for Tatler issue January 2021 (below). This will give you plenty of background information to use in an exam question on print magazines. First, create a new blogpost called Tatler CSP case study.

Introduction - Tatler Media pack

1) Look at the Tatler Media Pack. Go to page 2: how does the editor introduce the magazine? 

The editor introduces the magazine as something targeted at the richest demographic in Britain, already establishing their target audience as quite posh which might drive others to read the magazine as they aspire to have large amounts of money.

2) Now go to page 4 of the Media Pack. Focus on the print magazine (NOT tatler.com - the website). List the key demographic details: age, gender %, ABC1 % (social class), HHI (Household Income), % of those living in London and the South East. What do these demographic details suggest about the average Tatler reader? 

Average age: 41, 1.2 million adults per month, average HHI: £261,572, Female 73%, ABC1 83%, London/ SE 70%. The average Tatler reader is a 41 year old upper class woman who lives in London or the South East.

3) Look at page 6. What do Tatler readers think about fashion? How much do they spend? 

Tatler readers spend about £843 million in the past year and 92% buy after finding items in magazines, meaning they spend a lot of money on the products advertised there and they find fashion to be the most interesting subject.

4) Go to page 10. What are the special editions of Tatler that run throughout the year? What does this suggest about the Tatler audience? What about the pyschographic audience group that best fits Tatler? 

Travel guide, Weddings guide, Beauty& Cosmetic surgery guide, Spa guide, watches and jewellery guide and Schools guide. This suggests most of tatlers readers are aging mothers or engaged women.


Media language

1) What different examples of typography can you find on the cover of Tatler? What are the connotations of the serif and sans serif fonts? 

Serif title and sans serif , the serif gives off the idea that the tatler magazine is quite posh and is linked to royalty. The sans serif is linked to modernity which connotates a new edgy feel.

2) How do the cover lines appeal to the Tatler target audience?

They're linked to politics and the royal family which is what the target demographic audience will be interested given they are middle-aged upper-class women.

3) What are the connotations of the Tatler colour scheme on this particular front cover? 

The green connotates nature and money, the pastel red, white and blue connotate the Union Jack which is worn by Emma Weymouth who is part of the British Royal family.

4) How is the central image designed to create interest in the magazine? Find three reasons for your answer. (E.g. the model, the mise-en-scene such as props, costume and make-up, body position, facial expression etc.) 

The clothing is a large extravagant dress which contrasts the text and background, drawing in the viewers attention and linking it to British royalty with the colours of the union jack.

Representations

1) What celebrities or famous people are mentioned on the cover? Why do you think Tatler put them on the cover?

Emma Weymouth, Boris Johnson and the royal family, these are all posh people who are heavily in-line with British politics, they might be what their target audience aspires to be.

2) What do the cover lines suggest about the lifestyle of rich people in the UK?

The cover line 'Off-duty royal dressing' suggests that the lifestyle of rich people in the UK is quite lavish as they have the ability to spend quite a lot of money and time on designer fashion which is not something that middle-class people typically do as it requires quite a lot of spending money.

3) Looking at the image and cover lines together, what different groups of people are represented on the cover and how are they represented? (E.g. men/women/rich people/race & ethnicity etc.)

The groups presented are the British Upper-Class, generally the Royal Family like Emma Weymouth or high society political figures such as Boris Johnson. Emma Weymouth is of different heritage which represents Tatler as a more diverse magazine, she's also quite young and wears a large luxurious dress which acts as the main colour contrast in the magazine. Making her the focus which subverts gender expectations as it gives her power over the viewer when women are stereotyped as meek and subservient.

4) Are there any stereotypes being reinforced or subverted? How? Why?

The stereotype that women must dress femininely is reinforced however they are not in a subservient role and are advertised as powerful as they are the main focus of the magazine and their accomplishments and titles.

Social and cultural contexts

1) What types of people are NOT featured in Tatler? (Watch the clip above again if you need help with this - the clue is in the title 'Posh People')

Middle-working class or the poor are excluded as the main focus is people who live much more lavish lifestyles hence the title "Posh People".

2) Tatler runs special issues on holidays, spa breaks, cosmetic surgery, watches and jewellery and private schools. What does this suggest about the magazine's representation of life in Britain?

Life is quite luxurious and money oriented.

3) What audience groups might be offended or insulted by the front cover of Tatler?

Middle working class as they find that the Royal Family offers a heap of unnecessary taxes which adds a heavier burden on top of the wages they make in a struggling economy. 

4) Find three other front covers for Tatler from different months. What issues, subjects or people are regularly

 featured in Tatler? 

The most common subjects featured on Tatler are concerning the Royal Family and British Star Celebrities from the more higher end, which solidifies the idea that these magazines are aimed at upper class audiences.