KERRANG! INTERVIEW WITH STUART WILLIAMS

To broaden my understanding of different media industries, I recently read an article in Media Magazine about Kerrang!. As someone with a strong passion for alternative music scenes and subcultures, the idea of one day working for Kerrang! really appeals to me. The article was an interview with Stuart Williams, publishing director of Kerrang!, in which he discussed his career in the media industry and how he secured his current position. His story helped me see the media as a cultural industry in the way Hesmondhalgh describes, balancing creativity with commercial pressures. The article made me more aware of how institutions carefully construct and maintain a distinctive brand identity. I was particularly interested in how Kerrang! represents its audience as part of an ‘outsider’ community, which links to Gauntlett’s ideas about identity and how media texts allow audiences to explore who they are. It also made me think about Hall’s representation theory, especially how certain groups and subcultures are encoded and then decoded by different audiences. Reading this interview has motivated me to research career paths within the media industries and has strengthened my ambition to become an editor, particularly in a role where I can shape representations and narratives around music, youth and alternative culture.