The Big Issue
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''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 business Social business was defined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and is described in his books. In these books, Yunus defined a social business as a business: * Created and designed to address a social problem * A non-loss, no ...
es 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.


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 as a response to the increasing numbers of homeless people in London; they have been friends since 1967.
The Body Shop The Body Shop International Limited, trading as The Body Shop, is a British cosmetics, skin care and perfume company. Founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, the company currently has a range of 1,000 products sold in about 3,000 stores, divided b ...
provided start-up capital to the equivalent value of $50,000. 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 Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
and England's South West Region. 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. January 2012, the magazine was relaunched, with an increased focus on campaigning and political journalism. New columnists were added, including the
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Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田 賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocali ...
of
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and
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. The cover price was increased. In 2016, ''The Big Issue'' celebrated surpassing 200 million magazine sales. In September 2021, the magazine celebrated its 30th birthday.


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 A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
arm of the organisation. It aims to underpin the company's work by tackling the underlying causes of homelessness.


Overseas projects

There are nine ''Big Issue'' projects by the same name in other nations. * ''
The Big Issue Australia ''The Big Issue'' in Australia is a street newspaper which began in 1996. The Australian edition of the paper is a project of the UK-based ''The Big Issue''. The first magazine was launched in Australia on the steps of Melbourne’s Flinders St ...
'' (from June 1996) * ''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) * ''The Big Issue Kenya'' (from 2007) * ''The Big Issue Korea'' (from July 2010) * ''
The Big Issue Malawi ''The Big Issue Malawi'' is a street paper in Malawi.International Network Of Street Papers "Our street paper" (accessed July 21, 2010) ' It is a bimonthly magazine sold only by homeless individuals.Masina, L. (13 March 2009) Malawi Magazine to ...
'' (from 2009) * ''The Big Issue Namibia'' * ''The Big Issue The Republic of Ireland'' * ''The Big Issue South Africa'' (from December 1996) * ''The Big Issue Taiwan'' (from April 2010) * ''The Big Issue Zambia'' (from 2007)


Criticism

''The Big Issue'' has been the centre of much controversy among publishers of street newspapers, mainly because of its business model. 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. Publishers of some smaller papers, such as ''Making Change'' in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, 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 Award The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award was created by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) in 1989 to encourage and recognize the countries, governments, organizations, and individuals who have made great contributions to the dev ...
* October 2008 –
Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
Social Entrepreneur of the Year award


See also

*
Homelessness in the United Kingdom Homelessness in the United Kingdom is measured and responded to in differing ways in England, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but affects people living in all areas of the countries. Characteristics of people experiencing homelessness T ...
*
International Network of Street Papers The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) is a Glasgow, Scotland, based trade organization founded in 1994 for over 100 street newspapers from 35 countries. INSP organises a yearly conference and provides technical assistance and a wire ...
*
Lucy Johnston Lucy Johnston (born 1969) is a British journalist, currently health editor of the '' Sunday Express'', and previously a staff reporter and investigative journalist for ''The Observer''. Johnston was a member of the original editorial team of ...


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Official site"Ethical Entrepreneurs" John Bird founder of ''The Big Issue'', talks about his early life and entrepreneurial journey
;Regional sites
빅이슈코리아Northern EnglandScotlandSouth West England大誌雜誌中文版Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Issue, The Newspapers published in London Political magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Street newspapers Magazines established in 1991 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Homelessness in the United Kingdom