MAGAZINES (P2)

 MAGAZINES

THE BIG ISSUE 

MEDIA LANGUAGE AND REPRESENTATIONS

Examined on:

Social context

Cultural context

Political context

Magazines reach 72% of people in the UK (39.1 million)

Research

What is the big issue?

A magazine to support people who are homeless

Who set it up?

John Bird and Gordon Roddick and they did it to help homeless people in London

When was it first published?

First published September 1991 by Dennis Publishing

Which countries is it in?

United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Namibia, Kenya, Taiwan, Malawi. Sell 50,000 copies per week

How is it financed?

Financed directly from vendor sales and advertising

How is it different to other newspapers/magazines?  

Offers homeless people the chance to earn an income

How would you describe its content? 

News, politics and culture

How can you buy it and how much is it?

£4 and you can buy it off people on the street and ethical shops such as coop

What is their ethos?

Give people a hand up, not a hand out

Why was it relaunched in 2012?

To increase its focus on political journalism and campaigning

Front covers:

- Celebrities

- Diversity

- Ongoing social campaigns

- Vendors

Niche magazine, outside the commercial mainstream. It provides a contrasting example of how media language can be used to construct alternative representations that appeal to particular audiences.

The big issue is apolitical (has no political standing)

72% of big issue readers are ABC1

43% of readers are AB

BIG ISSUE VS VOGUE

Big issue has a more political focus

Big issue comes out every Monday

Vogue title in front of model, whereas big issue behind- Vogue thinks masthead is more important than the model

Big issue has a split masthead

Different fonts- Vogue more classy

Modern big issue copies will have barcodes

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Intertextuality- Where a media text creates reference to another media text

The UK magazine industry is constantly growing, with a projected market volume of $108.40 billion in 2025. Some of the most popular magazines in 2024 UK are the National Geographic, Good Food, and Radio Times. 

Fundamentally, the Big Issue's a-political nature means that it can attack different political beliefs. It could be argued that the Big Issue privilege a white male perspective and there is an under-representation of people of colour and women on covers when an individual is the focus. The Big Issue challenges stereotypes in its representations of excluded groups.

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The front cover follows the style of the big issue because it includes the large split masthead. However, they have used a more cartoony style image which is less common within the big issue past covers. The central image signifies people of different political parties voting. Red- labour, blue- conservative, grey-others, yellow- liberal democrats. They may have put the grey one in the middle as they have no political standing and want to bring more attention to that one. 'The Great Resignaton' was where many people left their jobs if they were unhappy with them. It symbolises that even though people may have different political views, they are all running away from their jobs. The big issue has no political standing, so they included both of the main parties.

Colour- Bright, vivid, eye-catching colours
Layout- Apolitical in middle
Image- Anonymous so relates to anyone
Fonts- Chunky, bold font
Typography-

 

The UK magazine industry is constantly growing, with a projected market volume of $108.40 billion in 2025.

In the big issue's 'Great Resignation' cover, there is a cartoon-style image of people in different colour clothes running in the same direction.