The Big Issue in the North has widened its content and introduced TV listings in line with the London edition.
The revamp follows plans to centralise the content, resulting in three redundancies in the Northern office earlier this month.
The Big Issue in the North will now use the same cover as the national edition instead of an independent one. Seven pages of editorial, including the arts coverage, have also been dropped to make room for an eight-page TV guide, featuring a new arts and listings section.
The section, called Going Out and Staying In, will incorporate music events, exhibitions, theatre, clubs and cinema, along with TV and DVDs.
The editor, Ato Erzan Essien, stressed that the magazine will go on being independently run and will feature local content.
He said the move would enable the team to focus more on news and campaigns.
“We are trying to broaden the appeal,” he added. “We won’t have page long features or in-depth reviews but we’ll still cover what we did before, and more besides.”
The magazine is sold in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield.
By Ruth Addicott
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