“We received an unprecedented level of interest and numerous applications for this position,” said Trudy Vlok, acting MD for The Big Issue, a non-profit job creation and social development project that publishes an independent general interest magazine sold by unemployed people in Cape Town.
“However, we approached Paul as we felt that his proven track record in the local and international publishing industry made him the person to oversee the re-branding and re-launch of the magazine.”
The appointment has come right on time for the re-launch of the magazine planned for July 2007.
“This is an exciting time and I see this as a wonderful challenge,” said Paul. “It's a high and big chair to fill because of the high level of commitment from our sponsors and local supporters such as Pieter-Dirk Uys, but also because the sale of the magazine directly affects the livelihoods of those living on the streets.”
Speaking of the upcoming re-launch of the magazine, Paul said the magazine would be undergoing a revamp, with a fresh innovative approach to design and a shift in content, which would be edgy and in touch with the urban environment.
“We're not reinventing the wheel but advancing our current process,” he explained.
The magazine will cover local and international news, and will include profiles on celebrities, features on culture (embracing everything from food and wine shopping, and from fashion and design to shopping and architecture), the environment and entertainment, including sport.
“It's important that The Big Issue remains a platform for journalists and readers to question what is happening in their communities, and to provide solutions to the issues we're confronted with in our urban environment, “ said Paul.
He added that one of his objectives was to sustain The Big Issue as a good read and that it be associated with street trade and not street aid.
“I want people to look forward to the upcoming edition of The Big Issue and to buy it because it is informative, not because they see buying the publication as handout for the vendor.”
Paul joins The Big Issue with more than 25 years' international and local experience in newspaper, magazine and book publishing. When he lived in California, he owned his own magazine, The San Francisco Review of Books. Moving back to South Africa in 1996, he helped launch SACityLife, which became a successful television show on M-Net, as Big City – winning an Avanti award in 2001 – and later with e.tv as CityLife. During his editorship of The Property Magazine, it won the 2005 Philip Tyler Trophy for innovation in magazine publishing.
He is well-known in the Cape Town publishing industry as a freelance media consultant, editor and writer; as the editor of the V&A Waterfront Restaurant Guide 2006 and as consultant editor on Spirit, a trade magazine for Horeca (Hotels, Restaurants & Cafes), a division of British American Tobacco South Africa.
