 Taking its cue from Drum, "Joe magazine" employed street-wise language in comic strips, fiction stories and thematic columns to explore everyday problems of the urban population.Its letters column, "Dear Joe", like Drum's "Speak up Man", encouraged interaction from readers.The magazine also carried an original short story in every issue, nurturing writers such as Sam Kahiga and Meja Mwangi, and even Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who occasionally contributed to the magazine.