MEDIA LANGUAGE

Huck context

• launched in 2006

• inspired by rebellious heritage of surf + skate

• founding editor + TCOLondon Publisher Vince Medeiros

• Editor in chief - Andrea Kurland

• bi-monthly magazine, website, online video channel

• recognised for style of exploring subcultures as entry points for articles about music, politics + places

What did it’s publisher TCO London say?

• independent agency + media owner

• premium content for HIGH WORTH MILLENIAL AUDIENCE

• explored independent culture - people + movements that paddle against flow

• published in en + fr

• roams globe, documents counterculture

What are some of the huck features?

• stories of independence + youth-fuelled social change

• characters + stories that challenge the status quo

• counter narratives + underrepresented voices

• subcultures that go against dominant paradigm

• raw with premium aesthetic

• narrative arcs that champion triumph over adversity

• in-depth personal profiles

• visual storytelling

• original access led huck documentaries

• grassroots stories

• unfiltered voices

Editorial values of huck?

• inclusivity

• global reach

• counter culture

• travel

• activism

• countering third world divisions + attitudes

• outdoor + active

• informal + personal mode of address

• champions independent culture + counterculture

• inspired by ppl challenging status quo

• transgressive acts

• creative potential of counter culture

• attitude rather than a demographic

• small collab team (4 editors split half half)

Genre codes + conventions

• non mainstream magazine - subverts conventions of mainstream e.g. WR

• minimalist unconventional design - small text, negative space

• emphasis on photo journalism

• creative, innovative design techniques

• specialist mode of address

• diversity of topics + content

• high production values

• art direction

• ideas led editorial

• keepsafe format (collectable)

• long-form journalism

• postmodern aesthetic - intertextuality, pastiche, bricolage

Genre hybridity?

• sports - skateboarding/surf journalism

• gonzo journalism

• youth culture mags

• arts + culture mags

• social activism

• lifestyle mags

• documentary/reportage

• coffee table mag - display items

analysis of front cover

• masthead - lowercase typography retro style reminiscent of 1960s surf culture

• title - connotations of skate culture ‘huck it’ (get air) + rebellion ‘huckleberry finn’ intertextuality

• ‘defiance issue’ - diversity of content across each bi-monthly edition. resistance rather than conformity

• ‘female fighters’ - feminist activism - YPJ - Kurdish Feminist Army

• main image - dramatic wide open harsh landscape of Eastern Syria, single female fighter - 18yo Newsha Tavakolian. journalistic style photo - authenticity

• quote ‘we live in a world where women are dominated by men. we are here to take control of our own future’ anchors meaning of main image

• cover lines - Henry Rollins, Iraq Metal, Pussy Riot, David Bowie, Mongolia Skate

• minimalist design - no conventional coverlines, lack of consumerist ideologies

• colour - desaturated to signify gritty realism

viewpoints + ideologies

• alternative politics + viewpoints

• counter cultural lifestyles

• young female editor

• radical culture + activism

• challenging authority/status quo

ROLAND BARTHES semiotics connotations, enigma + action codes

• challenging dominant cultural myths of gender stereotypes

• enigma codes - use of pull quote to construct narrative enigma

• action codes - gun, uniform, stance, ‘we are here to take control’

• symbolic codes - female subject symbolic of defiance

• referential codes - intertextuality, cultural capital

LEVI STRAUSS STRUCTURALISM - binary oppositions

• mainstream vs counterculture

• dominant vs subordinate

• conformity vs resistance

• passivism vs activism

• liberation vs oppression