Print Media - Big Issue Essay (Money for Good)

The magazine cover uses cover lines in order to represent the poor in a way that reflects the Big Issue's values. For example, the Big Issue helps those in poverty by allowing those on the street to become 'vendors' for the company. This is reflected in the inclusion of Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of the microcredit concept and founder of the Grameen bank in Bangladesh. Yunus believes that microcredits are more beneficial to the poor and begging than charities due to the fact that they work in order to pay back the non-interest loan, eventually paying back all borrowed money and being working citizens. Yunus won a joint nobel peace prize for his actions, which the Big Issue associate with on a large scale. Yunus appears to agree with the Big Issue's slogan 'a hand up not a handout', as he believes micro credits are a more encouraging method and a better alternative to charities (although charities are still a good institution). These views link with theorists such as Butsch (1992) who stated that working class are portrayed as flawed individuals, as the Big Issue clearly tries to tackle this problem within the media by representing the poor through big figures such as Yunus and Paolo Nutini.
As well as this, some other cover lines present the issues with poverty. For example, 'After Brexit, will the poorer be better off?'. Brexit is a British issue which has created moral panic in the media for a lot of people, and therefore the mention of it being positive may appear fairly controversial to certain audiences. However, an article from the Brookings states that it is estimated that Grocery bills will fall by £27 a week while rents also tumble as land values drop. The low-paid will get a £12-a-week wage boost as fewer immigrants compete for jobs. Estimates such as like this support the Big Issue's ethics as it provides hope for those who are struggling and means that it will become easier for the homeless vendors to find proper jobs. However, other studies such as those from CNN believe that the number of children living in poverty in the UK will spike to around 30% over the next five years because of government welfare cuts as a result of Brexit. 
Another cover line, featuring Paolo Nutini, addresses 'urban renewal' in reference to Paisley. Paisley is an area in Scotland that used to be rich,  but has recently found itself to be an urban deprived area. An article from the Independent state that it is suggested that dying early is 20 per cent more likely for those who live in the northern areas of the country.  Schools in northern areas receive less funding that their southern counterparts, while schoolchildren in the north have fallen behind by the age of five. Schools in the south-east are also sending nearly 50 per cent more students to Oxbridge than the national average. Paolo Nutini is arguably the biggest artist from Scotland, and therefore his presence on the Big Issue is important in spreading awareness of the inequality. 

The media language of the front cover presents the issues of money in a positive light, using analogous colours to make it stand out to readers. The main colour used is green, a colour which has connotations with making the world a better place. This relates to the skyline which reads 'the only way is ethics', denoting that the Big Issue want to improve certain issues, particularly related to poverty. The masthead reads 'money for good' and is presented as large, centred and white. This makes it clear to the audience what the topics of the issue are surrounding and therefore relates to its target audience. The use of sanserif font could portray how attitudes towards money and the poor are changing, and how the Big Issue do not have a traditional or conservative mindset on particular issues.