Your local newsagents

Talk to your local newsagents and supermarkets

You may want to contact your local newsagents and supermarkets about your concerns as this could be the most effective way to bring about changes in their display policies. Here's a template letter for you to use freely or adapt for your own purposes:

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Dear newsagent,

Displaying "women's chat mags" on your shelves.

As someone who regularly shops in your store, I am writing to ask whether you would be willing to promise that women's lifestyle "chat" magazines (such as "Chat", "Take a Break", "Pick Me Up", "That's Life" and "Love It") that display adult headlines on their covers are kept out of children's sight in your display racks.

For example, in May 2017, these headlines included subjects such as sex abuse, incest, pedophiles, murders, brutal rapes and dead babies. Other prominent headlines have been on cannibalism, child killers, beheadings and feeding dead bodies to pigs as a means of corpse disposal.  Headlines such as these are very typical for these womens chat magazines.

I'm sure you agree that these headlines are not suitable for young children. Major retailers such as Sainsburys, Morrisons, Waitrose, ASDA, the Co-op and Tesco will also be asked to take action to ensure that these adult publications are displayed appropriately. This means moving them to a top shelf that is well above the eye-line of children and placing them behind covers in such a way that the titles are visible but the headlines are not.

I would ask that you also agree to take these actions, so I can feel confident shopping here with my family.  I feel sure that such a policy would pay off for your business because of the goodwill you would receive.

Please let me know what you think.

Regards,
<your name here>

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