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Shortlist is a free weekly multi-award winning Men's Lifestyle magazine, first launched in 2007. It is the dominant magazine in this area of the magazine industry, constituting a total of 58.9% of all Men's Lifestyle magazine readers. For comparison, the other leading mags in this sector have percentages of the total readership as follows:
* Men's Health = 20.5%
* GQ = 13.4%
* Esquire = 7.3%

It is clear that Shortlist is has a winning formula and committed following.

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Shortlist has 505,500 readers a week (rounded number).
Out of these weekly readers, 85% of them are ABC1 men aged between 25 - 55 with the average age being 34.
On average these men have an income of £44,000.

Shortlist have 1 million online users/readers, labelled ''unique men''.  That makes 57% of the total readership who visit the mag online.

Shortlist use these basic figures to construct a product which both tailors towards these men but also takes advantage of their salaries in order to make money.
They actualise this agenda through how they address, communicate and talk about their readers. Shortlist tap into an idea, an image of a modern man who is competent, successful, but also a consumer. Being a consumer is the most important thing, as that is what brings in their revenue and keeps the magazine free; their readers' willingness to purchase the products advertised in the mag. This is why half of every issue is advertisements.
This is how Shortlist talks about their readers:
''For those navigating the opportunities, contradictions and challenges of modern masculinity.

Our readers are busy men building their careers and relationships. They are looking for ways to optimise their time and their considerable buying power.

Shortlist is the funny, feminist, well-informed, well-dressed friend every metropolitan man needs.''
on page 3 the last 2 paragraphs are repeated.

From first page of their media pack.

This is from the second page of their media pack:
''                  Audience
Anxious, ambitious, caring, pleasure-seeking, hard-working, yoga-loving, cocktail-drinking - and almost certainly yearning for a good night's sleep - the Met Set is a very different, very specific set of people. This liberal urban elite is probably the most influential demographic in Britain today. They are powerful consumers, but consumers with heart.''

These quotes show that Shortlist has a clear picture of who they want their readers to be. Describing them as ''liberal'' tells us that their readers, as well as Shortlist are not racist, not homophobic, but embrace the individuality of people of all sorts.
This can be seen in example 1.1, in which Anthony Joshua is seen on the cover. Example 1.2 shows Timothee Chalamet on the cover of a Shortlsit issue. The actor is known for portraying a gay character in the film Call Me By Your Name.
Individuality is an important point that is continuously brought across by Shortlist. They link their readers to the magazine, making the magazine come across as a symbol of their individuality. This is shown in this quote from page 8 of their media pack:
''it's a mainstream magazine, but to the reader it never feels like a product aimed at everyone. It's for them. The fact that it's a little bit more knowing, a little bit funnier, a little bit cleverer and a little bit cooler than everything else makes our readers feel like they're a part of something special.''

All of the above quotes are examples of how the magazine positions their readers to accept their ideal image of who should be reading the magazine through their use of persuasive language. This gives them power and control over the overall image of modern men in mainstream society.

Other examples of the magazine using persuasive language to position their readers include:
''The Fuel To Rule'' whole page advertisement seen on page 70 of issue 325. Though not directly a quote from Shortlist, is an advert placed in the mag by them which tailors to the target audience. it subtly positions the reader to stay motivated to keep on top, to dominate, to rule, to fight for status.
On page 71 an article about mountain biking titled ''Man:Machine'' has the subheading in capitals ''Take on a mountain''. This language encourages readers to be risk takers, to take on challenges.
On page 76 of the same issue, an article titled ''Middle Class War'' comparing two middle class minor celebrities' (AB) lifestyles and giving them a score at the bottom to showcase who's lifestyle is more middle class. This taps into the readers' need to feel middle class and be respected for that.

Now let's see what Shortlist's content tells us about their target audience.

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Shortlist's main content consists of entertainment, fashion, grooming, technology, advertisements, food and drink, articles on famous and/or high achieving men who the readers can look up to, advice columns and specifically business advice.
Their audience, through the magazine, can gain cultural competence about these topics, learning about them week after week.

Entertainment - Articles and advertisements mostly on the mainstream art forms; film and video games, with a special focus on film.

On the cover of issue 325, the film Edge of Tomorrow is covering the page. On the cover of issue 537, the Spider-Man PS4 game is advertised.
Also in issue 537, a double page spread advertising the film American Animals is evident.
In every issue there are plenty more film advertisements. In issue 537 there is also a single page poster for Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, whilst in issue 325 there are single page poster advertisements for Dallas Buyers Club, Out of the Furnace, Godzilla, and A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Shortlist has special columns dedicated to film such as the 'ShortList Screen' in which films that are out that week or upcoming films are talked about. This is evident in issue 537, page 38 to 40.
In issue 325, pages 8 and 9, film and gaming are given a showcase in the forms of Fury, a film with main lead Brad Pitt, and the video game Halo.
Shortlist also offers a service called ShortList Film Club, which offers the opportunity for readers to be able to preview films in special showcases around the country.
Here is an article talking about the film club:
https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/film-club/introducing-the-shortlist-film-club/94742

All this shows that, under the Uses and Gratification theory, this content is used for diversion and is attractive enough to often be on front covers of ShortList, further re-instating that is used to bring readers in who see film as a good source of escape through entertainment.

Fashion & Grooming - On their media pack, page 6, Shortlist writes about their Fashion content:
''The Shortlist man is looking to pick up the best of trends and adapt them to his personal style. We understand that he is beyond tribal allegiances and label worship but he will not be left behind. He is looking for a price mix, free to invest where appropriate but also happy to move into the mainstream if he likes what he sees. Our audience is busy and has very few places to go for style inspiration, so we take our responsibilities to advise and inspire very seriously.''
This quote is another example of how Short List is trying to come across as special and to hold on to their readers tightly through such language as ''Our audience is busy and has very few places to go for style inspiration'' as well as to further push their own agenda as to what a Shortlist reader should be; ''The Shortlist man is looking to pick up the best of trends and adapt them to his personal style.''

This is what ShortList says about their grooming content in the media pack:
''Our audience is at the cutting edge of grooming, very happy to experiment with new products and hugely demanding when it comes to quality. In both their professional lives and at play, they are insistent on looking in control of their face and hair. They are part of the liberal elite, unembarrassed to spend on themselves and often happy to indulge in high-end products as a reward after their long and demanding working days.''
This paints ShortList readers as materialistic, vain, and on the Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles (VALS) categorisation, as Innovators who crave luxury, but also having the quality of wanting excellent products, like Thinkers.

In every issue there are male models representing new fashion. In issue 537 this is evident on pages 18,19, 21, 23, 24.
In issue 325 this is evident on page 6. Also in this issue, on pages 33, 35 and 36 is a 'Style + Grooming section' talking about and exhibiting various pairs of sunglasses which are fashionable.

ShortList also release a special bi-annually form of their mag, focusing solely on fashion, called MODE.

Technology - this is another big subject in ShortList magazines. Evidence to support this claim can be found on page 10 of issue 537, which is advertising headphones. In the same issue, on page 13, there is an advert for Sky Broadband and TV. Further more, on page 22 there is an advertisement for portable speakers, and on page 25 there is an offer for readers to win an Amazon voucher, if they state their own opinions, ideas, and viewpoints to VocaList, ShortList's feedback community. This is an example of curating content, a technique used here to involve their community of readers by involving them in improving the magazine as a whole, from the inside, through special offers or competitions from outside brands, such as Amazon in this case.
Page 29 of issue 325 showcases a whole lot of tech gadgets, including a pair of headphones, an ''Iscooter, a portable speaker, a phone charger, a camera phone, and the ''app of the week''. There are more tech advertisements throughout the issue.

Food and Drink - Another big part of the Shortlist man's lifestyle, there are plenty of showcases in the forms of specially written articles about luxury foods and drinks.
In issue 325, on the bottom of page 8 there is a mini ''advertorial'' piece talking about a brand of beer called Meantime. Page 11 sees a full page advertisement for Fosters beer, and the page right after it; advertising Coors Light. Page 31 is advertising Kozel pints on a whole page, whilst page 8 of issue 537 has an ''advertorial'' on various dry meats, titled ''Sausage Fest''. Issue 325 sees an article titled ''A MR Hyde Guide to Wine'', on all of page 74.
There are of course more throughout the two issues.

Advertisements -
One of the other most common advertisements seen in ShortList are those advertising cars. In issue 325 alone, there is a Nissan single page advert on page 2, a whole double page spread advertising a new Honda car, an article on a new Maserati car on page 14, a whole page for a new Toyota car on 16, and a Renault Clio advert on 34.
A double page column which appears in every issue which really, is just a ''how many products can we advertise in a single page?'' kind of column, is called ''The Chosen Few'', and can be found on pages 18 and 19 of issue 325, and pages 14 and 15 of issue 537.
Holiday advertisements are at times seen, such as the one on page 58 of issue 325.
At other time health products and advertisements are seen. Examples of this are on page 26 of issue 325, which advertises a hayfever product, and on page 16 of issue 537, which advertises health insurance.

Articles on Inspirational men -
For ShortList's 10 year anniversary they printed out special covers for this special issue which had 10 different celebrity men on the covers holding a photo of themselves 10 years before, with the subheading ''What a difference a decade makes''. These celebrity men were all succesful and to some degree inspirational. Example 2.1 shows a collage of the covers whilst example 2.2 shows Rami Malek, and example 2.3 - Jeremy Corbyn.
This is inspirational because the covers alone, with the black and white pictures of the celebrities in their past, plus the strap line, are telling the readers that ''hard work is worth it, look where you can get in 10 years, want to know how they did it? Read on!''.
This is an example of 2 step flow, and the 10 people on the covers are opinion leaders, who the readers might follow and listen to in order to gain information. An example of Surveillance, from VALs theory too.
Furthermore, on the inside cover of issue 325, a column called ''The 20 Greatest Men You've Never Heard of'' is the main show, another example of 2 step flow. The article itself is on pages 40/41, 43, 44 and 45. It briefly mentions a wide variety of successful men in fields as diverse as chemical engineering, axe-making, crime-fighting, biohacking, vintage spirit collecting, and fly fishing.
In the same issue an article about Seth Macfarlane and his new film (at the time) A Million Ways To Die In The West  cover pages 49 to 51.
On the inside cover of issue 537, the cover is taken by Dave Bautista with the heading ''Big Thinker'', as he is shown sitting on a big pile of books, wearing reading glasses which stand out in their black frames. The article, seen on pages 26 to 30 showcases a different side to the wrestling and acting star,setting out to prove that you can be both super fit and strong with a killer body, but have brains. This is the point of the article. Bautista is being used as an opinion leader to men who may be insecure about fitting into both categories of intelligence and just sheer muscle gym-hitting adrenaline junkies.

Advice columns - The last thing, which is very apparant in ShortList, are its advice columns. Readers go to these advice columns for surveillance (Uses and Gratifications theory). Columns in the past have included:
* An interview with a DJ on how to make music for the sake of making good music rather than just for money titled ''Legendary DJ Goldie on blazing a trail and not doing it for the bling'' (page 8, issue 537)
* ''How to nail your best man speech'' (issue 537, page 11)
* ''    Danny Wallace is a man
Life lessons from our award-          winning columnist'' (issue 537, page 17)
* ''A social feed to get you hired'' double page spread from pages 32/33, issue 537, which includes snippets of advice from 8 leading business leaders talking about what they look for when hiring staff.
* ''How to pack for any disaster'' is a 4 page column listing how to survive in 3 deadly situations: when an avalanche happens and you're under or close to it; Falling overboard a boat or ship; Being kidnapped (issue 537, pages 34 - 37.
* ''Manage a long beard and embrace Remington's everyday confidence'' column in issue 235, page 57.

Overall, everything I have written about so far and evidenced, tells us that the ShortList man is educated, career focused, ambitious, materialistic, egotistical, not domesticated. ShortList men want to be knowledgeable, to be leaders, to have power, to have a good career, and to eventually be providers for a family.
They enjoy drinking/dining out, fashion, travel, having the newest and most efficient technological gadgets as well as grooming products, and watch films and may play video games as a form of entertainment, they are concerned about what car they have. They are worried about their finances, their societal image.
Shortlist men are mostly liberal, and want to be involved in politics.
They are Innovators, Achievers, Thinkers, Strivers, Experiencers and Makers (VALS theory).
They use Shortlist for not only Diversion, but Identification, as seen through the way ShortList talks about their readership, for Surveillance as seen in the advice columns and esoteric subjects often portrayed, but also for Social Interaction since ShortList is a community, and updates its readers on what is happening in the present, which is an easy way to get into a conversation with someone.

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The most noticeable thing about the look of ShortList is the vibrancy it gives off through it's use of colour. It never looks dull. It utilises blue, yellow, red and white most, but you'll see colours such as green, light blue, orange. and even pink often too, through everything from column fonts and page backgrounds, to bright colourful advertisements.

Blue - A good example of the use of blue is seen on pages 40 and 41 of issue 325, which is a double page spread headlining the article ''The 20 Greatest men You've never Heard Of''.
Blue suggests technology, and is appealing to male audiences, and is used to represent men.

Red - The article ''Mutual Disrespect (pages 53, 55, 56 of issue 325) showcases a heavy use of red as a font. In this case red has been used to give a strong connotation of blood.

Yellow - The column ''How to Pack for Any Disaster'' on pages 34 to 37 of issue 537 is an example of yellow being used as the dominant background colour.
Yellow, in relevance to ShortList, represent liberal values and attitudes, as well as positivity.

Green - three of the ten covers of the 10 year anniversary issues had green as a primary colours. Examples 2.1 and 2.2 showcase this. Green is associated with growth, science, and envy of new material possessions.

The covers are often aesthetically pleasing. Such an example especially is the ''Altering Perspectives with Baby Driver's Angel Elgort'' on page 3 of the media pack.