GQ

• GQ is a men's fashion and lifestyle magazine
• GQ has an online version, social media presence, video programming, and events
• The March 2022 issue of GQ featured an analysis of the magazine's representations of masculinity
• Semiotic analysis


  Analysing the signs and meanings in media texts
• The GQ magazine cover features a celebrity with star power to attract the audience
• The cover subverts the celebrity's glamorous image with a more aggressive masculinity
• The magazine's masthead and coverlines are designed to make the magazine stand out
• Genre


  The patterns and conventions of a media form
• GQ features fashion editorials with expensive designer clothing
• GQ is dependent on luxury fashion advertisers for financial sustainability
• Stuart Hall's constructionist theory


  Meanings are constructed through selection, organization, and interpretation
• GQ's representations of masculinity challenge traditional stereotypes
• Gender performativity


  Gender is constructed through stylized repetition of acts
• GQ is published by the global media company Condé Nast
• Jonathan Bailey is a charming womaniser in Bridgerton, but the actor is content to discuss his homosexuality, saying, "I'd much prefer to hold my boyfriend's hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that, than get a part."
• The interviewer concludes Bailey is a "sex symbol to many men and women".
• The representation of Bailey offers a broader vision of masculinity beyond the old heteronormative values.
• GQ wants to position itself as part of this evolution of masculinity.
• GQ is published by Condé Nast - a mass media company with a global reach.
• Condé Nast was founded in 1909 and now owns some of "the world's most iconic brands", including Glamour, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Vogue.
• Condé Nast aims to "entertain, surprise, and empower".
• Companies in the cultural industries are driven by profit.
• Magazines are expensive to produce so mergers are inevitable as the publishers continue to lower their costs and maximise revenue.
• Condé Nast had already been acquired by Advance Publications in 1959 before they took control of GQ in 1979.
• After a century of investment and acquisitions, Advance's portfolio also includes shares in Reddit and the media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery.
• The concentration of power in news and information markets has always been a feature of the industry.
• This pattern of ownership enables a few wealthy individuals and families, such as the Newhouse family, to distort the media landscape with their incredible political and economic influence.
• The Harmsworths control DMGT and publish The Daily Mail.
• The media moguls can spread the financial risk and enable producers to develop texts which will satisfy different audiences.
• The average circulation per issue of GQ in the UK was 89,072 in 2021 – down from 110,063 in 2018.
• Without the efficiencies which come from the larger publishing group, GQ might struggle to reach the shelves in your local retailer.
• GQ generates revenue through single-copy sales, subscriptions, and advertising.
• Advertising on the back cover of the magazine costs over £24,000, and a double page spread will set you back around £40,000.
• A billboard digital ad on GQ's website costs over £44 CPM (cost per mille).
• GQ also earns revenue through affiliate marketing and advertorials.
• The Advertising Standards Authority oversees the regulation of sponsored content in GQ.
• GQ's UK audience has a substantial average household income of £138k and, on average, spends £7.7k on fashion and £1.2k on beauty each year.
• 61% of GQ's readers are classified as ABC1 with junior to higher managerial and professional positions.
• GQ readers can be described as "activators" from the UK's Consumer Groups and "aspirers" in the cross-cultural consumer categorisation.
• The Uses and Gratifications Theory proposes audiences are actively engaged in a process of selecting products to satisfy their personal needs and ambitions.