Former Sleaze editor Neil Boorman is to launch a free quarterly ethical lifestyle magazine aimed at an ‘increasingly apathetic youth market”.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift is a customer title for Christian Aid and will cover ethical abuses in the third world while aiming to provide its readers with simple and transparent ways to make a change.
As a separate entity to Christian Aid it will attempt to shrug off the religious aspects of the charity while repositioning itself as provocative and sexy with a shock element to target 16 to 25-year-olds.
With an initial print run of 40,000, the 36-page title is expected to grow to 100,000 by year two. It will be distributed in media packs to select bars, venues and art spaces.
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External agencies including Shine PR and Liberty are organising the production of the magazine and higher education branding company Purity will take the brand into universities.
Boorman, creator of the Shoreditch Twat magazine and publisher of the short-lived London style magazine Good For Nothing, said: ‘Ctrl+Alt+Shift is a techy term which is much more appealing to our market than the traditional Christian Aid brand.
“Firstly it is to educate people about the actions of the parent brand and then to cut through that increasing youth apathy to try to get positive calls for action from young people again.
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‘We are thinking as a lifestyle brand rather than a charity. Every subject we touch upon is told in the language of Shoreditch Twat and Vice magazine.”
One feature includes a voxpop asking young people what they believe they are worth on the child sex slave market and comparing their response to the real prices.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift’s editor club columnist for thelondonpaper and former music journalist Chantelle Fiddy said: ‘To engage young people you have to use humour.
“I don’t want people to think I’m sending up the issues but the reality is if you want them to take notice, read these articles and be proactive you have to be edgy and provocative. The attention span of kids today is minimal.”
Others journalists involved include ex-Countdown champion and senior writer for Nuts magazine Pete Cashmore and Emma Warren who helped set up Jockey Slut.
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