The Big Issue is a magazine sold in five editions across England, Wales and Scotland by homeless and recently-homeless people. Its stated aim is to help homeless people help themselves, by providing a legal income through the sale of the magazine. Founded by John Bird, the Big Issue is edited by professional journalists but then distributed and sold by homeless people. It has been extremely successful in London, Brighton and Liverpool and is in the process of being set up in Los Angeles. The magazine is funded by sales and advertising within the magazine.
Although financially a not-for-profit organisation, the Big Issue has branched out into other areas that have been controversial. A recent mass resignation of the editorial staff protesting at the levels of funding, work-overload and managerial control rocked the Big Issue in 2002 but it still manages to survive and is still fulfilling its aim of "helping the homeless help themselves".
The BigIssue is a magazine sold by homeless people in order that they can earn an income and regain their self esteem.
However, The BigIssue is also a campaigning paper, raising issues that don't get coverage in the national press and more importantly providing a platform for homeless people to share their experiences and opinions.
The BigIssue gives homeless people a voice in The Street Lights section of the magazine, which is written by homeless people about their own experiences.
It was born as a charity, but a lot of BigIssue vendors complain that it is not a charity anymore.
What they say is that that BigIssue is just a business, they feel overworked, they told me that if they don’t sell 100 magazines per week they can loose their pitch no matter if it rains.
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