GetWiki

{{Short description|Street newspaper that supports homeless people}}{{Redirect|Big Issue|the South Korean television series|Big Issue (TV series)}}{{EngvarB|date=August 2022}}{{use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

factoids

| editor_title = Editor-in-chief| previous_editor = | staff_writer = | frequency = weeklyPUBLISHER=AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS (UK) >DATE=21 FEBRUARY 2023, 15 July 2023, | category = Entertainment and Current AffairsWEBSITE=BIGISSUE.COM, 12 September 2018, | firstdate = September 1991NEWSPAPER=BIG ISSUE ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20080924193153/HTTP://WWW.BIGISSUE.COM/MAGAZINESITE/INTRODUCTION.HTML URL-STATUS=DEAD, MalawiHTTP://WWW.VOANEWS.COM/ENGLISH/ARCHIVE/2009-03/2009-03-13-VOA24.CFM?CFID=187725495&CFTOKEN=62612648&JSESSIONID=883030802A70D7EDE3DE70476207222C4274 > DATE=13 MARCH 2009 TITLE=MALAWI MAGAZINE TO HELP PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO POOR FIRST=LAMECK VOICE OF AMERICA, {{Dead link>date=June 2018 fix-attempted=no }}WEBSITE=BIGISSUE.COM, 11 September 2018, | language = English (UK Edition)| website = bigissue.com| issn = }}The Big Issue is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. The Big Issue is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individuals at risk of homelessness, the opportunity to earn a legitimate income, thereby helping them to reintegrate into mainstream society. It is the world's most widely circulated street newspaper.ENCYCLOPEDIA, Encyclopedia of Homelessness, David Levinson,weblink 538, Heinz, Teresa L., 0-7619-2751-4, 2004, SAGE Publications, Street Newspapers, WEB,weblink 2002, 12 February 2009, Brown, Ann M., Small Papers, Big Issues, Ryerson Review of Journalism, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070911030448weblink">weblink 11 September 2007,

History

Inspired by Street News, a newspaper sold by homeless people in New York City, The Big Issue was founded in 1991 by John Bird and Gordon Roddick (husband of The Body Shop entrepreneur Anita Roddick) as a response to the increasing numbers of homeless people in London.WEB,weblink Introduction, The Big Issue, 11 February 2009, 1 March 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090301153536weblink">weblink dead, and WEB,weblink History, The Big Issue, 11 February 2009, 1 March 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090301141303weblink">weblink dead, WEB,weblink HOW WE MET; JOHN BIRD AND GORDON RODDICK, The Independent, 27 August 1995, June 10, 2016, Greenstreet, Rosanna, The Body Shop provided the equivalent of $50,000 in start-up capital.WEB, Boukhari, Sophie, The press takes to the street,weblink UNESCO, The UNESCO Courier, 15 May 2001, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080220220110weblink">weblink 20 February 2008, The magazine was initially published monthly but in June 1993, The Big Issue went weekly. The venture continued to expand with national editions being established in Scotland and Wales, as well as regional editions for Northern England and South West England. Further editions are also produced in seven locations overseas.In 1995, The Big Issue Foundation was founded to offer additional support and advice to vendors around issues such as housing, health, personal finance and addiction. Between 2007 and 2011, the circulation of The Big Issue declined from 167,000 to less than 125,000. Competition between vendors also increased at this time. From July 2011, the different regional editions were merged into a single UK-wide magazine.WEB,weblink Big issue launches first UK-wide edition, Press Gazette, 8 June 2011, 26 September 2021, In January 2012, the magazine was relaunched, with an increased focus on campaigning and political journalism. New columnists were added, including the Premier League footballer Joey Barton, Rachel Johnson, Mike Shinoda of Linkin ParkNEWS, Mike Shindoa and Music For Relief: 'Let's power the world',weblink The Big Issue, 18 September 2012, Shinoda, Mike, 23 September 2012, 3 January 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160103000535weblink">weblink dead, and Samira Ahmed. The cover price was also increased.NEWS, 7 January 2012, The Big Issue Magazine: Help the Homeless, The Economist,weblink 30 January 2012, NEWS, Revamped Big Issue hits the streets,weblink BBC News, 16 January 2012, 30 January 2012, In 2016, The Big Issue celebrated surpassing 200 million magazine sales.NEWS, BBC News, Big Issue celebrates 200 million sales,weblink 11 September 2018, 7 April 2016, In September 2021, the magazine celebrated its 30th birthday. WEB,weblink The Big Issue marks 30th birthday with a special birthday edition and brand new digital editorial strategy, AllMediaScotland, 20 September 2021, 26 September 2021,

Ethos

The magazine is produced by the Big Issue Company Ltd. The company is a self-sustaining business that generates income through magazine sales and advertising revenues. Financially, The Big Issue is a social enterprise. The Big Issue Foundation is the registered charity arm of the organisation. It aims to underpin the company's work by tackling the underlying causes of homelessness.(File:Bigissueforsaleinjapan-2017-5-6.jpg|thumb|The Big Issue for sale in Japan, 2017)

Overseas projects

There are nine Big Issue projects by the same name in other nations.

• The Big Issue Australia (from June 1996)About - The Big Issue www.thebigissue.org.au accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue France (from October 1993): In France, a non-profit organisation named Big Issue France created with support from John Bird the magazine against exclusion called La Rue.
• The Big Issue Japan (from November 2003)"What is the Big Issue Japan?" www.bigissue.jp accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue Kenya (from 2007)The Big Issue Presentation www.bigissue.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107064309weblink |date=7 January 2016 }} accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue Korea (from July 2010)The Big Issue Korea bigissuekr.tistory.com accessed 22 May 2015
• The Big Issue Malawi (from 2009)The Big Issue Presentation www.bigissue.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107064309weblink |date=7 January 2016 }} accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue NamibiaThe Big Issue Namibia www.bigissuenamibia.org accessed 22 May 2015. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205222939weblink |date=5 February 2015 }}Soul Beat Africa "Big Issue - Namibia", 17 August 2004. accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue The Republic of Ireland Ireland's Big Issue www.irelandsbigissue.com accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue South Africa (from December 1996)Big Issue, South Africa depts.washington.edu accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue Taiwan (from April 2010)THE BIG ISSUE 大誌雜誌 www.bigissue.tw accessed 22 May 2015.
• The Big Issue Zambia (from 2007)The Big Issue Presentation www.bigissue.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107064309weblink |date=7 January 2016 }} accessed 22 May 2015.The Big Issue Zambia launchingvisions.wordpress.com accessed May 22, 2015.

Criticism

{{update|section|date=June 2012}}{{further|Street newspaper#Differing approaches}}The Big Issue has been the centre of much controversy among publishers of street newspapers, mainly because of its business model.WEB,weblink 12 February 2009, Magnusson, Jan A., The transnational street paper movement, Situation Sthlm, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060629073232weblink">weblink 29 June 2006, Publishers of some other street newspapers, especially in the United States, have criticised it for being overly "commercial" and having a flashy design. According to these critics, street newspapers ought to focus on covering political and social issues that affect the homeless, rather than emulating mainstream newspapers to generate a profit.BOOK, Howley, Kevin, Community Media, Cambridge University Press, 2005, illustrated, 71, 0-521-79228-2,weblink 12 February 2009, Publishers of some smaller papers, such as Making Change in Santa Monica, California, said they felt threatened when The Big Issue began to publish in their area. Other papers have also criticised The Big Issue for its professional production and limited participation by homeless individuals in writing and producing the newspaper. Others, however, have stated that The Big Issue uses a successful business model to generate a profit to benefit the homeless, and its founder John Bird has said that it is "possible to be both profitable and ethically correct".

Awards

• October 2004 – UN Habitat Scroll of Honour AwardWEB,weblink . World Habitat Day 2006 &124; Previous Scroll Winners, Un-Habitat., 26 March 2013, 2 October 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131004220918weblink">weblink 4 October 2013, dead,
• October 2008 – Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year awardWEB,weblink$FILE/EY_EOY_2008_award_recipients.pdf, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur 2008 award recipients, 2 December 2009, Ernst & Young, 2, 21 October 2014, 24 September 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150924041001weblink">weblink$FILE/EY_EOY_2008_award_recipients.pdf, dead, NEWS, 7 October 2008, Richard Harpin, CEO of Homeserve Plc, is Ernst & Young 'UK Overall Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008',weblink Ernst & Young,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120223234233weblink">weblink 23 February 2012, 21 October 2014,

See also

• Homelessness in the United Kingdom
• International Network of Street Papers
• Lucy Johnston

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Further reading

• JOURNAL, The Big Issue and other street papers: a response to homelessness, 1999, Environment and Urbanization, Sinead, Hanks, Tessa Swithinbank, 9, 1, 10.1177/095624789700900112, 149–158, 155008284, free,
• BOOK, Swithinbank, Tessa, Coming Up from the Streets: The Story of The Big Issue, Earthscan, 2001, 21–33, 1-85383-544-7,weblink 11 March 2009,

External links

{{commons category}}

• Official site
• "Ethical Entrepreneurs" John Bird founder of The Big Issue, talks about his early life and entrepreneurial journey

Regional sites

• 빅이슈코리아
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070816015950weblink">Northern England
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070824162630weblink">Scotland
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20020523031259weblink">South West England
• 大誌雜誌中文版
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060715052929weblink">Wales

{{Street newspapers}}{{Authority control}}