In Bob We Trust: Essay

In Bob We Trust: Essay

Task 7:

You will analyse the media language and media representation of the issue of the Big Issue “In Bob we trust”. To what extent does the Magazine diverge from mainstream/rightwing depictions of the poor/homeless. Why is the magazines remit an important factor in the way the magazine represents homelessness?  Discuss the social and political context of homelessnes. Discuss the impact of homelessness in Britain today from your research.

Word count minimum 750

The Big Issue is a magazine, which launched in 1991, which aims to decrease poverty by creating opportunities for the less fortunate, through social trading and business solutions.  It allows people to sell their magazine to the public to try and make some money of their own, which will encourage them to stay sober or drug free in order to make money. The magazine has a saturated yellow main cover line, in a bold san serif font, which says "In Bob We Trust". This is used to catch people's attention and attract them into looking at the magazine, its also against a dark blue background which makes it stand out even more as it pops out. The magazine has flare reflections edited onto it, which makes it look like christmas lights or snow, giving it a christmas feel. "In Bob We Trust" is a reference to "In God We Trust" which is written on every dollar bill, this is a representation that Bob should be looked up to as he's a source of hope and faith to those who are struggling. Bob is in the centre of the magazine which shows his importance, he uses direct mode of address to properly catch the audiences attention and draw them into the magazine, it also looks like he's directly addressing everyone, which makes it more personal. The use of a cat on the front cover will attract a wider audience as people usually like animals, so they'd stop to look at it, which may result into them buying. The cat is presented as very clean and shows to be wearing a scarf, this goes against the typical stereotype that homeless people are nasty people who are just addicts, this cat is a representation of the fact that "street" people can turn their lives around and do something if they are given the chance. Bob symbolises hope.The tag line says "Lessons from Britain's favourite streetwise street cat", this shows how many people have already heard of Bob's story and it is used as an inspiration to others who are struggling. If someone hadn't of already hear of Bob it would attract them to read the magazine as they'd be intrigued to see what it's about. The tag line of the Title of the magazine is " A hand up not a hand out", this shows how the magazine is used as a source of help and rehabilitation to those who are in need of help. It keeps them occupied, giving them a sense of responsibility, pulling them away from bad habits, it's not seen as a charity as the people actually have to work for it they aren't just given money. 

        The Big Issue is very much a left wing magazine as it wants to support those who aren't as fortunate and have to sleep rough, it opposes the right wing's political views. The right wings political view opposes socialism and social democracy, right wing parties consist of conservatives, nationalists and fascists, whereas the left wing supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality. The big issues shines a more positive light on homelessness, as they show that they can be rehabilitated and pulled away from their bad habits with just a little bit of help and faith, showing how they're just like everyone else, yet fell into a bad lifestyle. They do this to try and change people's negative opinions and stereotypes on homeless people. People may get these negative opinions from the more right wing papers, like the Daily Mail, as they only ever show them in a negative light and state that they're violent drug addicts and alcoholics, which isn't the case most of the time. People see homeless people as being beggars and drains on society and due to the rise in homelessness people are even more hostile towards them, this refers to Shildrick and McDonald's theory that the poor do not deserve sympathy, the magazine then goes against this theory as they want to show how poor people aren't bad.The magazine wants to change these negative stereotypes and allow people who are homeless to prove themselves by selling the magazine and sharing their story. This may start to change people's attitudes and encourage them to help the homeless rather than judge them. The story of Bob the cat represents the hope and faith people need to have in the homeless to help and encourage them to lose their bad habits and get their lives back on track.