Elements of representation
Selection and combination of issues, events, social
groups and individuals
Choices about representation
The positive and negative use of stereotypes
Social groups who are under- or misrepresented
The Big Issue ‘NHS’
Simply, the magazine represents the NHS under
pressure, which is a big issue for British people as this
is something they rely on massively.
The target audience for this front cover is the whole
of the UK, as health care is an essential product and is
therefore an important issue. The use of the blue and
white represents NHS colours as well as helping to
signpost people to NHS organisations and services.
The yellow makes the front cover more eye-catching.
There is also a dichotomy between the dark blue and
the bright yellow, providing a contrast that allows for
the magazine to stand out.
The NHS is the UK’s publicly funded healthcare
system with 564 million people utilizing it annually. In
the image the message conveyed is that the NHS are
under pressure and struggling to keep up with the
vast number of patients it is having to administer and
treat, especially during the pandemic.
Using CAGEDS this can help us identify which social
groups are being represented on the front cover. The
NHS workers are struggling as represented on the
cover.
Elements of representation
Impacts of industry contexts on choices producers
can make
How the media, through representation, construct
versions of reality
How representations make claims about realism
The Big Issue ‘NHS’
The front cover is not the usual cover used by the Big
Issue, as the front cover is normally compiled of their
vendors. This front cover may remind readers of the
pressure that the NHS was under and possibly cause
them to see the NHS in a different light. This article
will educate those who aren’t fully clear on what is
happening.
The struggle is constructed through the cracks in the
image which demonstrate the sheer pressure that the
NHS is under as it is beginning to fall apart. Upon a
second glance, the cracks could also emphasize the
possible broken and fractured NHS system. Further,
this image provokes a sense of a decrepit and
splintering NHS, that is only being held together by
the fortitude of the doctors and workers.
Claims regarding realism are made in a way media
language influences the reader to accept what they
are reading is true. The photograph and text stating
‘under-pressure’ reinforces the understanding of
their current state showing seriousness of the cracked
system.