History
Inspired by Street News, a newspaper sold by homeless people in New York, 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. The Body Shop 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 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.
In 2001 the magazine sold nearly 300,000 copies. 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. In January 2012 the magazine was relaunched, with an increased focus on campaigning and political journalism. New columnists were added, including the Premier League footballer Joey Barton, Rachel Johnson and Samira Ahmed. The cover price was increased.
Read more about this topic: The Big Issue
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)