Print Media - Big Issue Essay (Big in Japan)

The media language presented on the front cover of The Big Issue, 'Bob Big in Japan' presents the topic of homelessness in a positive light compared to other newspapers and companies, presenting Bob and his owner James as counter types to homelessness. James Bowen appeared as a guest on the One Show, notifying people of the current issues as it is claimed that the numbers of homeless people have more than doubled since 2010, and 41% say that drugs or are in recovery. The homeless charity known as 'Shelter' represents this issue in a negative way, including images such as sad children with the option to donate. This contrasts greatly with this magazine cover, as it uses Barthes' semantic code to create a saturated background, showing that homelessness can be helped, as homeless people are not all lazy citizens and therefore a counter stereotype to the mainstream media.

The composition creates a formal mode of address due to Bob being placed in the centre, taking up the majority of the cover. Bob being photoshopped to a larger scale, the size of buildings, connotes the idea that he is very important and successful in Japan. The intertextual reference of him being larger than Godzilla represents how Bob has become a celebrity figure, suggesting that he is even more famous than a classic character from a blockbuster film. This may be due to the fact that Japanese culture is known to think very highly of cats, particularly because they are cute and easy to clean as pets. Cats are also revered for giving good luck and other positive results, which links to the representation of a counter type of homelessness in The Big Issue.
High-key lighting is used in order to create a positive mood, implying that this is the effect that Bob has on others. This further creates Bob and his owner a countertype to homelessness, as it would never be expected for a homeless person (who is lazy in the right-wing view) to be a public figure.
The typeface used on the cover suggests further than Bob is important, due to it being the masthead - and therefore the largest and boldest text presented. The use of saturated colours such as pink on the masthead 'Big in Japan' creates the effect that this article is positive and will therefore appeal to the needs of entertainment and escapism. There are a number of intertextual references throughout the front cover, including the use of pink text which symbolises Japanese pop culture due to their high appreciation for blossom trees, representing the beauty of life. This links in with the Street Cat Named Bob as life could've gone very badly for both him and his owner James, however they were very lucky which in itself is a counter type to homelessness representation in the mainstream media. The font used is sanserif, more modern than serif font, which creates the impression that Bob is the new icon of homelessness. It also causes audiences to become intrigued as to why Bob is so 'big' as there is no explanation.

The Big Issue represent homeless in a fairly positive light, with the use of the cover line 'The street adventure continues', creating a positive connotation of street life as adventure suggests excitement. This relates to how it is possible to fix the issue of homelessness, and doesn't stereotype the working class in a negative way. However, mainstream media including the Daily Mail create headlines such as '75% of incapacity claimants are fit to work', implying that the working class are lazy and dependent on the welfare system (underclass) - causing the public to have no sympathy for the homeless. As well as this, the Daily Mail have also published the following headline, 'vile product of welfare UK' following a photo of single parent with multiple children. This creates the impression that the 'underclass' abuse the rights of the welfare state to be lazy, and therefore do not deserve donations. This relates to the theory by Newman (2006), who argues that working class are depicted as dumb and immature in the media. The Big Issue are a left-wing paper, supportive of the working class, and therefore their representation of the homeless act as a counter stereotype to this theory. The use of the slogan 'a hand up not a handout' acts as a counter type to other homelessness representation as it implies that they are helping homeless people to become working citizens, rather than just giving donations.