About Us
Aims, objectives and policies of “the Jem”
The first issue of the Jem Magazine was published in 2000. At that time the magazine had a distribution of 3500. Now the magazine is delivered to over 7000 homes and businesses in Bolton and its surrounding areas.
Bolton has become home to a diverse mix of ethnic communities. The largest group in Bolton consists of British Asians most of whom have links with India in particular and Pakistan to a lesser extent. Most are Muslims with a substantial minority of Hindus. In addition Bolton also has a strong representation of Chinese, Africans and Ukrainians.
Jem Magazine aims to inform and increase awareness of culture, religion and activities & events taking place across these communities in hope of greater interchange and mutual understanding. This has been the policy of the Jem for the past four years : a policy which remains at the fore-front of the editorial team's mind and has received positive feedback from all sections of the community. To achieve this the cornerstone of the publication's editorial policy has been an outlook that is non-sectarian, non-sexist and non-racist and we remain committed to reporting news in a manner in-keeping with these values.
Alleviate fears
To establish an "outward-looking" approach the magazine has also been fortunate in persuading leading members of the indigenous community to submit articles based on their experiences and relationships with the ethnic communities.
The publication has sought to encourage people to participate in local organisations and while not suggesting that its influence is the only one believes that it can take some credit for the increase in the number of candidates and councillors from minority groups over the past four years.
The Jem has given Bolton's annual Mela its full support over the last 5 years. Each year the Jem covers the build up and the actual event over the summer weekend. The event's line-up of acts, interviews and photographs are published in the magazine and the Jem is proud to play its part in the annual event that welcomes major headlining acts and which year-on-year is drawing higher attendances. Other major events in Jem's calendar include Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Black History Month and other diverse festivals. The Jem also endeavours to promote any events of a charitable nature.
Sport occupies a place of prominence but coverage in the Jem is not simply restricted to the achievements of Bolton's boxing prodigy Amir Khan and Bolton's England pace bowler Sajid Mahmood. Over the last few months the magazine has featured the development of a £ 1,000,000 Indian cricket club ( open to everyone incidentally), the selection to the English table tennis team of a 15 year-old British Asian girl, and the establishment of as super soccer academy to encourage talent while the progress of overseas players in the Bolton Cricket league is closely monitored. We were also the first magazine to announce the formation of the first Asian women's football team in the UK.
Active in the Community
The owners of the Jem are active in the community and have enlisted the services in a voluntary capacity of a former BBC executive and journalist to oversee the editorial content and contribute to the magazine.
The Jem Issue 98
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Issue98
Previous editions of The Jem available online here
