M25CMC JOURNALISM PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM



‘NEWS’ ANALYSIS RESEARCH PRESENTATION PROPOSAL

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|Student Name |

|GEORGIA TRODD |

|Research Project Title [should not be too long, suggest max 15 words]: |

| |

|Were skin conditions reported on in Cosmopolitan UK whilst Winnie Harlow was on America’s Next Top Model? |

| |

|Research Question [Definitive focus: Identifies object of study to realise objectives]: |

| |

|Were skin conditions reported on in Cosmopolitan UK whilst Winnie Harlow was on America’s Next Top Model? |

| |

|Research Aims and Objectives [specific realistic goals/ends or intended outcomes & how to achieve them]: |

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|To discover if skin conditions (such as psoriasis, vitiligo, stretch marks, cellulite, eczema etc) are shown in Cosmopolitan UK. For example; in |

|campaigns or on front covers, in articles, in advertisements. If they’re not, why they’re not and the influence this has on British women |

|(particularly regarding body image). I will look at psychological studies, analyse fashion magazine covers/pictures of models within magazines, and |

|look into reasons why skin conditions are or aren’t acknowledged. I also want to analyse the wording in Cosmopolitan UK regarding skin/skin |

|conditions, and see if there’s any trend in the way it’s reported on. I want to do this because I feel it’s an important issue, women of all ages in |

|Britain have skin conditions but do the women we see/are shown in fashion magazines have them too? Chantelle Young (or Winnie Harlow) took part in |

|America’s Next Top Model Cycle 21, which aired August 18th 2014. Contestants due to take part were released to the public in February 2014, so from |

|then until Chantelle Young left the show I want to discover; were skin conditions reported on by Cosmopolitan UK whilst Winnie Harlow (Chantelle |

|Young) was on America’s Next Top Model? |

|Context/Background & Rationale [link with society & similar work, past & current; why project is important now]: |

| |

|As I have a skin condition myself (vitiligo) I have an interest in the way skin conditions are presented in the media and, in particular, fashion |

|magazines such as Cosmopolitan. I recently came across a movement called the #NoFilter movement where people are posting photos on social media |

|without editing it and without putting filters on it, to show the world who they really are. The movement itself claims to be a quest for |

|authenticity, with more than 33 million examples of #NoFilter on Instagram. People like Winnie Harlow (who also has vitiligo and is a fashion |

|model/has appeared in many fashion magazines), as well as Em Ford (a former model who has also appeared in magazines who has severe acne) have joined|

|the movement. It interested me that two models who have featured in fashion magazines have joined this movement, and that lead me to want to look |

|into the subject further. I believe this topic is important because it’s incredibly relevant. Women and girls of all ages have skin conditions, but |

|often they’re seen as something to be embarrassed about or something to hide or fix – magazines may have a role in these beliefs through the way they|

|report on skin conditions or through their lack of reporting on skin conditions. If they’re not reported on, why aren’t they? And if they are, how |

|are they? |

|Literature Review [theories to be employed in making sense of, or analysing, the chosen topic, citing theorists, most common theories in literature]:|

|• Papadopoulos and Walker (2003): Women’s magazines highlight faults in appearance and emphasise the importance of looking like the glossy images on |

|their covers and in their articles. ‘Magazines show images of women with perfect skin… and often serve to create a kind of stereotype which women |

|feel they have to look like.’ ‘Any deviation from these magazine stereotypes can make many of the readers feel abnormal and different.’ ‘The media |

|can make skin disease patients feel stigmatised…’ through only reporting on/showing images of people with “perfect” skin. |

|• Parker et al (2011): Qualitative research study of the media and patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic eczema found that respondents ‘identified|

|a societal ideal of flawless skin, largely mediated by media portrayals of perfection.’ ‘Failure to meet this ideal precipitated psychological |

|morbidity in female, but not male, respondents.’ ‘An appreciation of the pervasive pressures of society and media upon females with skin disease may |

|inform management strategies, particularly psychological management strategies, in patients with skin disease.’ |

|• Papadopoulos and Walker (2005): ‘A number of reference points exist that a person will draw upon when constructing their mental model of body |

|image. These include the socially represented ideal body shown in the media.’ |

|• Eagly et al (1991): ‘Media… portrayals often equate evil with such skin conditions as scarring…’ |

|• Dion et al (1972): The idea that good people are seen as “perfect” and beautiful (no scars, perfect skin, etc) and bad people are seen as |

|“imperfect” (with scarred/deformed/diseased skin) – ‘typically we face constant messages from the media that to be beautiful is to be good.’ |

|• Wissinger (2014): Looks at the modernisation of models in magazines and the media putting ‘filters’ on people/everything to make them and their |

|bodies and skin look ‘perfect’. |

|• Jones (2004): A study of how appearance/body image portrayals in magazines affects adolescent girls and boys. |

|• Heason and Kent (2013): Research into the psychological effects of Vitiligo, looking at how society (and therefore the media/magazines) can |

|influence these effects too. |

|• Bowser (2010): When skin conditions/diseases are reported on in the media, they ‘sensationalise’ the treatments to fix the problems. ‘Many were |

|hailed as “miracle” treatments’. |

|• Lavinthal (2008): ‘Cosmo know what qualities make a woman alluring: healthy, glowing skin…’ |

|• Therefore, there is a gap in the market for my research and space to answer why women with skin conditions aren’t presented in magazines. As well |

|as why magazines portray clear ‘perfect skin’ as normal/good and anything else as abnormal/bad. The psychological effects of the media and magazines |

|not portraying skin diseases and conditions, such as acne, as normal seems to play a major role in a lot of the academic research found, which raises|

|the importance of why this research is relevant. |

|Methodology and Sources [Tools/techniques to be employed in the gathering and analysis of data; methods of accessing/acquiring data or evidence or |

|information; sources of the data]: |

|Looking at examples of articles in Cosmopolitan UK about skin conditions between February 2014 and December 2014 using content and discourse |

|analysis. |

|• Hsieh and Shannon (2005) describe content analysis as showing three distinct approaches: conventional, directed, or summative. They suggest it as a|

|widely used qualitative research technique. |

|• Yang (2008) suggests content analysis analyses the form and substance of communication. Underlying meanings and ideas are revealed through |

|analysing patterns in elements of the text, such as words or phrases. |

|• Weber (1990) content analysis ‘can be a useful technique for allowing us to discover and describe the focus of individual, group, institutional, or|

|social attention.’ |

|- Looking at Cosmopolitan UK articles/front covers/campaigns/images within the magazine online |

|- Looking specifically at the way women are portrayed (are they shown to have skin conditions?) |

|- Are there any trends in the way in which skin conditions are reported on? For example, only ever spoken about under the context of giving a cure or|

|remedy to help fix the condition as though it’s a problem that needs fixing? |

|• Paltridge (2012) ‘discourse analysis examines patterns of language across texts and considers the relationship between language and the social |

|cultural contexts in which it is used. Discourse analysis also considers the ways that the use of language presents different views of the world and |

|different understandings.’ |

|• Salkie (2006) suggests discourse analysis is one area of linguistics, ‘the systematic study of language.’ |

|• Brown and Yule (1983) ‘the discourse analyst attempts to discover regularities in his data and describe them.’ |

|- Take note of trends in language used to describe the women portrayed in the magazine why is this language being used? Are women shown to be more |

|desirable with “flawless” skin, or are skin conditions acknowledged/accepted? |

|- Describe the regularities found in Cosmopolitan UK regarding the reporting of skin conditions. How do they report them? What words are used to |

|describe someone with a skin condition/skin disease? |

|- When looking at the language used, how may these words affect women/readers that have skin conditions? |

3

|Ethical Implications (if any) [briefly indicate whether/how there is an ethical implication for the researcher in this work. What do you need to |

|consider as a researcher?]: |

| |

|Looking at pre-existing material and research already conducted by others - no ethical implications. However, as skin conditions are a delicate |

|subject to discuss for many, I need to remember to be sensitive when conducting my research. The greater the vulnerability of the |

|community/author/participant, the greater the the obligation of the researcher to protect them (Silverman, 2016). |

|Strengths/Weaknesses of the Project [briefly indicate any strengths or weaknesses of the project across all areas]: |

|- Strength: it’s an original topic. It’s focussing on skin conditions rather than body image issues in general. |

|- Strength: the question is narrowed down to a specific magazine and specific time frame, which means that precise information can be found easier |

|than if the question was very broad (Babbie and Rubin, 2009). |

|- Strength: the subject affects many people, my methodology will show this. |

|- Weakness: Van Dijk (2008) suggests that ‘link between discourse and society is often indirect and depends on how… users themselves define the genre|

|or communicative event in which they engaged.’ Therefore using discourse analysis may not reflect how the language used in Cosmopolitan truly |

|affected all readers. |

|- Weakness: not much previous research on the question to back up findings |

|- Weakness: Neuendorf (2002) ‘content analysis is as easy or as difficult as the researcher determines it to be.’ |

References

• Babbie, E. and Allen, R., 2009. Essential Research Methods for Social Work [online]. USA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

• Bowser, A., 2010. Acne and Rosacea: The Complete Guide [online]. London, UK: Vermilion.

• Brown, G. and Yule, G., 1983. Discourse Analysis [online]. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

• Dijk, V. T., 2008. Discourse and Context: A sociogonitive approach [online]. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.

• Dion, K. et al., 1972. What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology [online]. 24 (3), 285-290.

• Eagly, A. et al., 1991. What Is Beautiful Is Good, But…: A Meta-Analytic Review of Research on the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype. Psychological Bulletin [online]. 110 (1), 109-128.

• Heason, S. and Kent, G., 2013. Vitiligo: More Than a Skin Disease [online]. Sheffield, UK: University of Sheffield.

• Hsieh, H. and Shannon, S., 2005. Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research [online]. 15 (9), 1277-1288.

• Jones, D., 2004. Body Image and the Appearance Culture Among Adolescent Girls and Boys: An Examination of Friend Conversations, Peer Criticism, Appearance Magazines, and the Internalization of Appearance Ideals. Journal of Adolescent Research [online]. 19 (3), 323-339.

• Lavinthal, A., 2008. Cosmo’s Sexiest Beauty Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Gorgeous [online]. London, UK: Hearst Books (Sterling Publishing Co.)

• Neuendorf, K., 2002. The Content Analysis Guidebook [online]. California, USA: SAGE Publications.

• Paltridge, B., 2012. Discourse Analysis: An Introduction [online]. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.

• Papadopoulos, L. and Walker, C., 2003. Understanding Skin Problems: Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis and Related Conditions [online]. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons LTD.

• Papadopoulos, L. and Walker, C., 2005. Psychodermatology: The Psychological Impact of Skin Disorders [online]. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.

• Parker, M. et al., 2011. ‘Perfect Skin’, the media and patients with skin disease: a qualitative study of patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic eczema. Australian Journal of Primary Health [online]. 17 (2), 181-185.

• Salkie, R., 2006. Text and Discourse Analysis [online]. London, UK: Routledge.

• Silverman, D., 2016. Qualitative Research [online]. London, UK: SAGE Publications.

• Weber, R., 1990. Basic Content Analysis [online]. California, USA: SAGE Publications.

• Wissinger, E., 2015. #NoFilter: Models, Glamour La-bor, and the Age of the Blink. Theorizing the Web [online]. 1 (1), 1-20.

• Yang, K. and Miller, G., 2008. Handbook of research methods in public administration [online]. Florida, USA: Auerbach Publications (Taylor Francis Group).

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