[2] Known for its strong editorial and environmental policies,[3][4] and its bi-monthly independent magazine, it describes itself as existing to "cover stories the mainstream media sidestep and provide alternative perspectives on today's global critical issues.

[12] New Internationalist has produced films, books and other materials for various United Nations agencies and related bodies concerned with world development.

It was an issue of New Internationalist magazine, in August 1973, that first drew attention to the irresponsible marketing of baby milk in the Third World by multinational companies.

[21] In the early 1970s, there was a significant public interest in the relationship between the West and developing countries[citation needed] highlighted by issues such as the Vietnam War, armed conflict during the decolonization of Africa, The "Green Revolution", African Socialism, Cuban domestic and foreign policy under Fidel Castro and in Communist China under Mao Zedong, issues about trickle-down economics, etc.

The publisher was rescued by funding from groups including Cadbury's and Rowntree's trusts, the Methodist church in the UK, Community Aid Abroad in Australia and Oxfam-Quebec in Canada.

In the following years New Internationalist produced press kits for the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the UN Children's Fund and participated in BBC television's Global Report series.

By the 1980s, marketing efforts focused on gaining subscriptions (in particular by Direct Debit) rather than on newsstand sales had resulted in a financially stable company.

[31] A second Community Share Offer was launched in 2021 in the wake of the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the slogan "Save Our Stories" and a target of £350,000.

In 1976 a more co-operative approach was adopted and developed over the years so that, although legally it was a limited company owned by the original shareholders, Peter and Lesley Adamson, the NI operated as a collective, with decision-making shared by all members on an equal footing.

New internationalist magazine nowadays is less Eurocentric and reflects broader concerns with environmental, gender and cultural angles in addition to social, economic and political ones.

In 1976 this changed and since then each month's edition has been devoted to one particular subject (for example Islam or World Food) to give the reader a comprehensive guide and analysis.

There have been issues on East Timor, Western Sahara, Cambodia, Burma, Fair trade (coffee, bananas and cocoa), homelessness, Jubilee 2000 and UN Sanctions on Iraq.

Reflecting this change, the magazine altered its strapline, which read "the people, the ideas, the action in the fight for global justice" until 2018.