The Big Issue Essay question

 Explain why magazines outside the commercial mainstream construct alternative representations. Refer to The Big Issue in your answer. (10 marks)

The Big Issue, is a street magazine with a niche audience of socially aware ABC1 readers. The audience consists of this highly educated readership group as The Big Issue often uses a lot of intertextuality and portrays alternative representations which audiences will only understand if they are socially and culturally aware. The Big Issue offers these alternative representations due to its ideologies and the mission of the organisation as a whole. The Big Issue was initially set up in 1991 by John Bird in a response to the rising levels of homelessness in London. He wanted to help people actively change their lives therefore he set up the magazine where vendors could buy it at half the price and then keep the money in which they make. The magazine has since been a success, with more than 200 million copies being sold which has helped transform many peoples lives. 

It is due to this ethical purpose of the magazine that leads it to construct alternative representations to mainstream magazines as the purpose of mainstream magazines (such as Vogue, Women's Health, Cosmopolitan) is usually to make revenue and gain market share whereas The Big Issue has an ethical focus. The Big Issue presents their ethical focus in the content in which they produce. For example, in Issue 1380 (October 2019) the front cover of The Big Issue is of the London landmark 'Big Ben' broken in half accompanied by the title 'Rebuild democracy'. The use of this image and title allows for The BI to suggest that they believe that we are currently living in a broken autocratic society which needs to change. This front cover aligns with The BI's liberal ideologies as the magazine looks to improve the lives of people and make a more equal society. This shows The BI to construct alternative representations to mainstream media as they have taken a political and social approach to a story whereas mainstream magazines mainly construct representations which focus on smaller and less relevant issues such as 'how to get rid of arm fat' as they have different intentions and ideologies. 

The ethical ideologies of The BI also influences how it constructs representations of particular people and social groups as the magazine often represents people who lack representation in main stream media or if they are represented, they are normally represented in a negative way with negative stereotypes associated. For example, Issue 1444 (January 2021) features Eddie Izzard on the front cover, a well-known transgender comedian and actor. The front cover features bold bright colours of blue, pink and white along with the title 'She's electric'. This allows for positive connotations to be created which shows The Big Issue presenting Eddie in a positive way and therefore presenting the transgender community positively. This may be different to representations offered in mainstream media as main articles and images in the magazines typically feature men and women who haven't changed gender as mainstream magazines can often be more narrowing and less accepting to cultural changes. This is different in The Big Issue due to their liberal nature where they want people to live their best lives no matter who they are. The Big Issue often portrays its love for freedom of speech and human rights therefore it is very accepting to people in society who don't fit the stereotypical 'norm'.

Overall, The Big Issue constructs alternative representations to magazines from the mainstream media due to having different ideologies and intentions. The Big Issue is very ethical and wants to help improve society and encourages people to do the same therefore its representations reflect these views. This contrasts the mainstream media who normally just represent people who fit the stereotypical 'norm' and discuss smaller less relevant topics in the aim to encourage a mass audience to appeal to the magazine and purchase it for profit.