Congratulations to the 2010 NASNA Award Winners.  List below are the winners from last nights (July 31) awards event.  Through the coming week we will post the winner’s articles, photos, or designs.

Best Vendor Essay

“Camp Runamuck founder tells her side of the story” – Barbara Kalil, Street Sights

Best Cover Design

L’Itineraire, Photograph by Isabelle Clement

Best Interview

“Who’s raking the muck?” – Joanne Zuhl, Street Roots

Most Improved Street Paper

Megaphone Magazine

Most Improved Vendor Program

Street Speech

Best Feature Story

“Providing Their Own Sanctuary” – Brenna Daldorph, StreetWise

Each day NASNA will post the answers to 4 common questions asked to all workshop presenters leading up to the conference.  Check back daily for more information on this year’s conference workshops and roundtables.

1)  Why do you think your workshop topic is important for street newspapers and/or nonprofits?

With the ongoing decline of ad-based print journalism, non-profit media outlets are being looked to as a template for how journalism can survive and thrive. Street newspapers are uniquely positioned to lead the way for a reader-supported donor based funding model for print journalism.

Fundraising is one thing, development is somewhat another thing. Raising money is about developing strong community relationships and being effective and vocal advocates for the matters that vendors and readers care about most. This workshop will focus on engaging and stewarding donors at all dollar levels to grow a solid donor base for ongoing organizational success. Together we will map out how to develop meaningful relationships with donors in order to maximize their financial and non-financial investments in your organization and your organization’s appreciation of your donors.

This workshop would be appropriate for anyone already reasonably confident in raising money via grassroots, donor-centered means and also for those looking for a comprehensive overview of how to sustain an organization with effective, donor-centered, fundraising by attending both Fundraising 101 and 201.

2) What is one thing attendees will take away from your workshop/discussion?

An engaged and active attendee will go home excited to implement at least one new donor engagement strategy.

3) What are you most looking forward to at the conference?

I am excited about meeting people from different street newspapers and learning more about the different street papers around North America. If just 1 person walks away a more confident and savvy grassroots fundraiser, that would be nice too.

4) If someone can’t make your workshop what’s the best way for people to contact you if they have questions?

Those interested in learning more about fundraising or needing to ask a specific development related question are welcome to call or email me anytime.  Kathleen Porch, 206-441-3247 x 201 and development@realchangenews.org.

Each day NASNA will post the answers to 4 common questions asked to all workshop presenters leading up to the conference.  Check back daily for more information on this year’s conference workshops and roundtables.

1)   Why do you think your workshop topic is important for street newspapers and/or nonprofits?

Many of the conference attendees are nonprofits and therefore need to learn to effectively make a case for funding to foundations, corporations and individuals. Our panel will feature several experienced grantmakers discussing what they look for in organizations, in letters of inquiry, and in full proposals. Hopefully attendees will come away with ideas to help them in future fundraising.

2)    What is one thing attendees will take away from your workshop/discussion?

Our hope is for an open discussion of what it is like from a funder’s perspective, but also to discuss the experiences of attendees in dealing with foundations. Attendees should come away from this with tips on what to do and what not to do in reaching out to funders.

3)    What are you most looking forward to at the conference?

We’re excited about NASNA’s conference taking place in the Windy City! We most look forward to meeting attendees and learning more about their cities, their organizations, and their street newspapers.

4)    If someone can’t make your workshop what’s the best way for people to contact you if they have questions?

They can contact us by email:

mhallett@mccormickfoundation.org

mbaltman@mccormickfoundation.org

Each day NASNA will post the answers to 4 common questions asked to all workshop presenters leading up to the conference.  Check back daily for more information on this year’s conference workshops and roundtables.

1) Why do you think your workshop topic is important for street newspapers and/or nonprofits?

Street papers exist for two purposes: First, to give homeless vendors a product to sell; second, to inform readers. High-quality content is the key to filling both purposes. Because street papers tend to have low budgets and can’t compete financially with high-paying publications, they have to be creative in obtaining editorial content that will draw readers.

What is one thing attendees will take away from your workshop/discussion?

How to fill their pages with content that will make readers want to buy more copies after their initial purchase.

What are you most looking forward to at the conference?

The opportunity to exchange ideas, helping our street paper with what we learn and helping other street papers by sharing our experiences.

If someone can’t make your workshop what’s the best way for people to contact you if they have questions?

To reach Margo Pierce, write to margo@writerdiva.com. To reach Greg Flannery, write to GFlan_1999@yahoo.com or call 513-421-7803, ext. 12.

Please note: Listed below are three finalists for each of the six award categories.  Winners will be announced at the 2nd North American Street Newspaper Awards on July 31 during the NASNA conference held in Chicago, IL.

Best Vendor Essay: Fresh perspective from the street

Title: All Roads Can Lead to Home(lessness)
Paper: Denver Voice (Denver, Colorado)
Author: John Alexander

John Alexander, veteran VOICE vendor writes a very articulate and compassionate article about the variety of circumstances that can lead to homelessness. John looks at his own situation as a homeless VOICE vendor with the detachment and honesty of a professional journalist, and portrays the circumstances of others he has met while living on the street with humility and respect.  This essay ultimately creates four portraits that are all consistently humanizing and have the effect of unpacking stereotypes and forcing readers to look beyond the surface of the people we see daily on the streets.

Title: Camp Runamuck founder tells her side of the story
Paper: Street Sights (Providence, Rhode Island)
Author: Barbara Kalil

No other issue defined 2009 in Rhode Island more than the rise of a ‘Tent City’ under a bridge in Providence area.  Camp Runamuck, eventually failed. The state of Rhode Island and the city of Providence spent over a hundred thousands of dollars in lawyer’s fees, chain link fences and police overtime to bring the tent city down. Barbra Kalil, one of the leaders of Camp Runamuck, writes this letter to Donald Carcieri, Rhode Island’s Governor, where she expresses a true insider’s perspective of the problems in the city’s emergency shelters and why, tent cities come into existence.

Title: My View of the Bridge
Paper: Toledo Streets (Toledo, Ohio)
Author: Gary Bond

As a formerly unhoused Toledo Streets volunteer and vendor, Gary Bond writes for the paper on behalf of his friends and those for whom he advocates. Gary had recently visited a homeless camp before he wrote this poem/essay from the perspective of someone living at the camp trying to explain what it’s like to readers.

Best Cover Design: Making a statement on the street

Paper: Denver VOICE (Denver, Colorado)
Designer: Ross Evertson and photography by Zoriah Miller
Date: October 1, 2009

The cover uses an extremely arresting image to make people stop and want to know more. The man’s face is like a story; instantly causing curiosity about what happened to him and who he is. He projects confidence, charisma and suffering at the same time. The image is left to speak for itself and not muddied up with text, there is a simply listed table of contents instead, in the hope of leaving the reader curious enough to flip through and find out more.

Paper: L’Itinéraire (Montreal, Quebec)
Designed: Isabelle Clément
Date: May 1, 2009

This photograph has been made after a special make up design. Laure Waridel is one of the most important environmental activists in Quebec.

Paper: Toledo Streets (Toledo, Ohio)
Designed: Amanda Moore and photograph by Love is Greater Photography
Date: November 2009

For our inaugural issue, we wanted to do something that would stand out from any other publication in the region, as well as communicate the depth of our feature story and the level of community involvement in the project highlighted in the feature story (the 20^th year of the Homeless Awareness Project Tent City).

Best Interview: Spotlight on change makers

Title:Gregor’s Promise
Paper: Megaphone (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Author: Sean Condon

During Vancouver’s 2008 municipal election campaign, Gregor Robertson boldly promised to end street homelessness in Vancouver by 2015.  After a year in office, Megaphone received unprecedented access to the mayor to address his plan to end homelessness. The interviewer did not shy away from uncomfortable topics, asking the mayor about the failed emergency shelters and the recent death of a homeless man in a public park. Nor did the mayor shy away, offering candid responses to questions about how the city will police during the Winter Olympics, the city’s notorious open drug market, and his ability to keep his promise to end homelessness.

Title: Gomorrah: That ol’ one-ring circus
Paper: Real Change (Seattle, Washington)
Author: Rosette Royale

An interview with Max Blumenthal, who went undercover in the GOP to write his book “Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party.” Blumenthal says: “What I do in my book is offer a critique of a radical movement that took over a major political party that was once a big-tent party and is now a one-ring circus…. Martin Luther King said the arc of history is leading to justice. And I think that’s true. My book hints that this is a movement that sees itself dying in a culture that’s increasingly diverse and increasingly progressive.”

Title: Who’s raking the muck?
Paper: Street Roots (Portland, Oregon)
Author: Joanne Zuhl

This interview presented a reader-friendly look into the changing and rather messed up world of journalism of late, from a man whose speaks both with personal knowledge and a shared concern for the state of media today. Ken Silverstein, current Washington, D.C. editor for Harper’s Magazine, helped people understand better the workings of major media houses, their failings, but also their resilience.

Most Improved Street Paper: Striving for quality

Paper: L’Itineraire (Montreal, Quebec)

L’Itineraire made a number of changes from 2008-2009.  They increased the number of pages from 32 to 48 pages and increased the variety of stories and features.  They increase the format to be a bit bigger.  They also added more space for vendor submissions.

Paper: Megaphone (Vancouver, British Columbia)

In 2008, Street Corner decided that a redesign was needed to take the publication to the next level. First, the name. We wanted a name that would represent what we thought our vendors were: empowered. Thus, Megaphone.  Along with the name change came a redesign of the visual elements of the publication.  It was important for us to not limit improvements to the cosmetic. We added new features and regular columns. We expanded our news, features, and arts section, focusing on local and under-reported news and events.

Paper: StreetWise (Chicago, Illinois)

In November 2008 StreetWise switched from a 12 page newspaper to a 16-24 page full-color glossy magazine. By switching to magazine format, StreetWise was able to offer our vendors a better, more sellable product. Although there were a couple kinks that took a while to iron out the switch has been a resounding success. The organization and the vendor see more bottom line profit, allowing the vendors to make more money, and allowing the organization to invest more money and resources into vendor education programs.  Since the switch, ad revenue has risen dramatically with quite a few repeat customers. In terms of content, when we switched to a magazine, we had more room for quality content. Our cover stories can be more in depth and our supporting features are much more organized and user-friendly than before.

Most Improved Vendor Program: Working to help others

Paper: Denver VOICE (Denver, Colorado)

The VOICE opened a ground level vendor office to provide a restroom, training space, and consistent distribution location.  New vendor training was improved to incorporate various learning techniques. They also began a monthly training between downtown police and vendors to build relationships and limit negative interactions.  Finally they improved their discipline system so vendors and staff can work together while being respectful of each other

Paper: Street Speech (Columbus, Ohio)

Street Speech launched in the spring of 2008 and struggled to get vendors trained and to stay with the program. Because of limited resources and staff, it also couldn’t offer other programs, such as training classes, job searching, and more.  Since the beginning of 2009, the program has sky rocketed toward success. The vendor training has become more robust and efficient; there have been new employment-aimed programs created, new programs for benefit-seeking vendors, and programs that work toward vendor cohesiveness, and creating a social network with vendors.

Paper: StreetWise (Chicago, Illinois)

StreetWise added five new vendor programs in 2009.  StreetWise partnered with the University of Illinois to provide case management; partnered with local job skills training programs and colleges to provide education opportunities; worked closely with vendors to save money to put a down payment on an apartment; partnered with the Veterans Administration (VA) to sponsor a weekly support group meeting and enrollment to VA programs; and partnered with church, and school groups to provide weekly meals for the vendors.

Best Feature Story: Writing for social impact

Title: Los Pichoneros
Paper: Denver VOICE (Denver, Colorado)
Author: William Hillyard

Los Pichoneros (The Pigeons) explores the world of homeless Mexican immigrants in Southern California. The article analyzes the way in which the downward spiral of the U.S. economy has actually had the effect of keeping undocumented immigrants inside the United States, in a state of limbo. Once here, people are opting to stay and weather the economic storm. With fewer jobs, more of these immigrants are becoming homeless and fall outside the purview of most integral services.

Title: Food banks hire security to patrol the lines
Paper: Real Change (Seattle, Washington)
Author: Cydney Gillis

As the recession and layoffs have driven more people to food banks citywide, wait times and angst about getting the day’s best pick of food have increased. This has led to jostling and altercations at some facilities, particularly those where clients spend hours waiting outside or in cramped quarters. Several local food banks have hired security staff to monitor the lines.

Title: Return of the Dragon
Paper: Street Roots (Portland, Oregon)
Author: Amanda Waldroupe

This feature brings to the surface a problem that Portland’s streets know very well, but the community seems to sweep under the rug. It framed heroin addiction as a health care crisis, so stigmatized that people who want to get out of the addiction feel paralyzed by their status. The writer interviewed several people who used, but not as a means to get high, but rather as a means of alleviating the pain of addiction: they maintained, they survived. Their illness was physical, but society sees it as a moral deficiency, and after years of addressing addiction from that perspective, we have more heroin users on our streets than ever.

Title: Providing Their Own Sanctuary
Paper: StreetWise (Chicago, Illinois)
Author: Brenna Dalorph

StreetWise contributor Brenna Daldorph spent the summer of 2009 immersing herself in the Chicago immigrant community forming relationships with church outreach groups, families of illegal immigrants, illegal immigrants who are homeless, or living doubled/tripled/quadrupled up with others. Brenna opts to document the lives of the immigrants themselves, as seen through their eyes on the street. In doing so, she provides a voice for a huge population who keeps itself invisible and silent in order to avoid deportation.

Each day NASNA will post the answers to 4 common questions asked to all workshop presenters leading up to the conference.  Check back daily for more information on this year’s conference workshops and roundtables.

Photo by photos8.com

1) Why do you think your workshop topic is important for street newspapers and/or nonprofits?

With the ongoing decline of ad-based print journalism, non-profit media outlets are being looked to as a template for how journalism can survive and thrive. Street newspapers are uniquely positioned to lead the way for a reader-supported donor based funding model for print journalism.

Raising money is important. We all know that, but it can be a daunting task—especially when you wear multiple hats in the organization and have oh so many other things that you need to get done. Fundraising, or more specifically, the lack of ability to raise money, is widely considered to be one of the hardest barriers people face when trying to get a newer non-profit up and running or to sustain any organization, old or new.

But raising money does not have to be hard. With the right mindset and approach, raising money can be a deeply satisfying affirmation that the work we do matters and makes a difference. Seeing people invest in the work of your street newspaper and being able to confidently ask people to invest will change how you think about fundraising once and for all. This workshop will open up a whole new world of possibility to those new to fundraising or who just generally dislike fundraising no matter how long they have been doing it.  Specific topics include finding new donors, how to ask confidently for what you need and best practices for effective and powerful donor-centered grassroots fundraising.

2) What is one thing attendees will take away from your workshop/discussion?

Concrete steps they can take to start raising more money for their street newspaper. An engaged and active attendee will leave with a decreased sense of apprehension or dislike for raising money.

3) What are you most looking forward to at the conference?

I am excited about meeting people from different street newspapers and learning more about the different street papers around North America. If just one person walks away a more confident and savvy grassroots fundraiser, that would be nice too.

4) If someone can’t make your workshop what’s the best way for people to contact you if they have questions?

Those interested in learning more about fundraising or needing to ask a specific development related question are welcome to call or email me anytime.  Kathleen Porch, 206-441-3247 x 201 and development@realchangenews.org.

Each day NASNA will post the answers to 4 common questions asked to all workshop presenters leading up to the conference.  Check back daily for more information on this year’s conference workshops and roundtables.

1) Why do you think your workshop topic is important for street newspapers and/or nonprofits?

NASNA and its global counterpart INSP have been incredibly successful at building connections between street papers at the organizational level by facilitating communication and exchange between editors, directors, and vendor coordinators. However, they have always struggled to find new ways of building the same kinds of platforms and links among the homeless and low-income people who work as vendors.

The global vendor blog project is an opportunity for street papers to not only draw upon digital media technologies to create new platforms for participatory communication by their vendors, but it is also an exciting move toward building structures for collaboration and dialogue among vendors in different parts of North America and around the world.

2) What is one thing attendees will take away from your workshop/discussion?

Attendees will receive a practical introduction to the global vendor blog project—a technical walk-through the back-end of the blog platform, an overview of accessible technologies to support multimedia blogging, and tips on facilitating vendor blogging workshops—which will enable them to participate in the project at their own street paper.

3) What are you most looking forward to at the conference?

I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to meet some new street paper folks and to reconnect with old friends that I’ve met at past NASNA and INSP conferences.

4) If someone can’t make your workshop what’s the best way for people to contact you if they have questions?

I’m available by email at erinand@gmail.com. I will be coordinating the launch of the blog project through the end of August and then the Street News Service intern at INSP will be taking over, so the contact after that point will likely be sns@street-papers.org.

Here is a roundup of things going on in the NASNA community the past month.  Seems like it is a popular time to redesign websites and newspaper layouts.

Street Roots: Joanne Zuhl, managing editor of Street Roots attended the INSP conference and she shared her experiences in a recent story.  Street Roots was also the recipient of 3 first place awards at the recent local Society of Professional Journalists awards event.  Congratulations!

Real Change News: Real Change completed a contentious move on May 24 and are now firmly in their new offices in the neighborhood of Pioneer Square in Seattle.  The Real Change staff also recently earned four awards in the 2009 regional contest of the Society of Professional Journalists.

StreetWise: This past school semester StreetWise partnered with journalism students from the Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.  And this week StreetWise vendors are selling the magazine with a redesigned look.  They have also designed a new website for the the organization.
Old

New

Street Sense: Street Sense is currently conducting a reader survey and will host their 3rd annual summer fundraiser: The David Pike Excellence in Journalism Awards.  The event honors the late David Pike who was a former Street Sense board member.

Street Sights: From the looks, it seems like Street Sights has slightly redesigned their logo and updated the look of their website.

Spare Change News: Welcome to the club of recently redesigned papers. (old first, new second)

Street Speech: The board just approved a trial run of printing 2 issues a month in July and August.  With the recent growth in circulation they hope to capitalize on community support and increase their vendor’s earnings.

Streetvibes: Greg Flannery, editor at Streetvibes, attended the INSP conference in May and shared his experiences in the latest issue of Streetvibes.

Toledo Streets:  Amanda has taken to social media to keep her community up to date on how they can help after tornadoes ripped through northwestern Ohio.

The Contributor: Again the folks in Nashville have jumped on the redesign band wagon and produced a great new website.  They have also stayed busy working to help their vendors affected by the recent floods.

Megaphone Magazine: Megaphone got some recent press in the Vancouver Courier that resulted in a donor stepping up and covering the cost of the vendor writing program to the tune of $5,000 after reading the news article.

Denver Voice: Also currently in the process of the 2010 Reader survey and had their first big fundraiser in mid-May, a concert/comedy show that brought in almost $10,000.  Also some positive press about their Boulder distribution project in the Daily Camera.

Street Pulse: Street Pulse will have the most delegates at the conference with 8 folks making the drive down from Madison.

Oregon Vagabond: Became the newest street paper member on Wednesday June 9.  The paper is located in Eugene, Oregon.

Homeless Image: St. Petersburg’s street paper is still working to get their vendor program up and running, but was accepted as an associate member by the board at their last meeting.  They face an uphill battle with pending legislation looking to outlaw sidewalk sales of newspapers in St. Pete.

One Step Away: Circulation of our newest member (since Dec 09) continues to rise and is hovering around 7,000 a month.  They have seen many individual vendor successes recently, including one vendor who saved his money from selling the paper to send his daughter to prom.

Buy a street paper, help end homelessness

By Gregory Flannery

Melbourne, Australia – Clarity arrived on the final day of the 15th annual conference of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP).

“We could very well be the largest social enterprise in the world,” said Lisa Maclean, executive director of INSP.

Street papers around the world employ an estimated 50,000 homeless and formerly homeless people as vendors, according to Maclean.

Social enterprise is the use of economic activity for social good. Selling street papers is a form of self-employment for poor people.

“Selling street papers is an instant shift from unemployment to employment,” said Steven Persson, CEO of Big Issue Australia, host of the INSP conference. “You can start a business for $1.”

Streetvibes and many U.S. street newspapers sell for $1 but street papers in Europe and Australia tend to be glossy magazines, selling for up to $5. The price range and print quality are among the many variations in street papers around the world.

The INSP conference included 70 delegates from 42 street papers in 27 countries. Some of the papers are huge. Erlik Oslo, in Norway, for example, sells 24,000 copies a month. The population of metropolitan Oslo is about 1.3 million. In Cincinnati, whose metro area has nearly twice as many people, Streetvibes sells about one-third that amount – 8,000 copies a month.

Some street papers have paid staff. Many do not. (Streetvibes has one.) Some European street papers receive government subsidies. Many street papers do not. (Streetvibes is published by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, which refuses all government funding.)

INSP members shared sales strategies, discussed local impediments – it is illegal to sell on the streets in the Philippines, for example – and pondered new riddles: When Big Issue Korea launches in Seoul this summer, how many copies would be right for a city of 10 million people?

The one common element among street papers is their purpose: to fight poverty by giving homeless people jobs.

‘Other choices’

The final day of the INSP conference featured a presentation by the Global Poverty Project, whose Australian general manager, Richard Fleming, provided inspiration for the struggle. He described his work at a school in a village in Bangladesh, where he met a girl living in a brothel with her mother and sister.

“She told us the only reason she worked in prostitution was there was nothing else she could do,” Fleming said. “She had no skills. She couldn’t read or write. … She doesn’t want to do it but it’s the only economic power she had. That’s why street papers exist – to give people economic opportunity to change the way they live, so they can go off and have other choices in their life.”

The theme of the INSP conference was, “Global Collaboration: Real Solutions.” Fleming’s presentation was the opening salvo in planning for the Global Speak Out, INSP’s initiative for addressing poverty in the year ahead.

Inspiration isn’t enough in itself, of course. Facts matter. This was, after all, a conference of journalists. When Fleming closed with a bit of rhetoric – saying “extreme poverty” can be ended in this generation, even as Nelson Mandela succeeded in ending in apartheid in South Africa and Great Britain succeeded in ending the slave trade in the 19th century – it did not go unremarked that the latter assertion was a stretch. Great Britain banned slave trading in the early 19th century, but hardly eliminated it. In fact, some 26 million people across the world are victims of human trafficking today, according to organizations working to end slavery.

Fleming’s call to join the struggle to eliminate extreme poverty led to practical thinking by delegates. In a workshop following his presentation, INSP members came to the conclusion that, rather than start a new campaign to end poverty, they will do best to concentrate on the work they already do.

The general membership embraced the notion: Street papers are a tangible solution for individuals. Given the size of the street-paper movement, street papers are already one of the largest social enterprises in the world. Trudy Vlok, general manager of Big Issue South Africa, summarized INSP’s newfound self-appreciation.

“We are rock stars,” she said.

Vlok’s paper plans to publish a special edition for June, when the World Cup is played in South Africa.

“They’re going to have this huge event,” she said. “We want to make sure poor people get something out of it.”

That special edition will not be about the woes of poverty, but rather a guide for visitors in town to enjoy the soccer championship.

Not doing favors

Therein lies the existential tension of the street-paper movement – trying to build newspaper sales in order to benefit vendors while giving readers substantial content. Street papers have to be about more than homelessness, or they won’t sell. No one, after all, wants to be scolded by a constant refrain about the woes of being poor.

“I think most street papers realize they don’t want to be called a ‘homeless paper’ anymore,” said Joanne Zuhl, managing editor of Street Roots in Portland, Ore. “If vendors can’t sell the paper, we’re not doing them any favors.”

Enlov P. Mathiesen, editor of Erlik Oslo, agreed.

“I think homelessness bores people,” he said. “If it’s about homelessness every issue, they’re not going to read it.”

To that end, delegates at the conference discussed ways to improve editorial content in order to build sales and thereby benefit vendors.

Some street papers don’t limit themselves to journalism. Some are affiliated with larger social enterprises. For example, Der Jerusalemmer, in Germany, operates a café that employs and serves homeless people. Big Issue Australia sponsors a touring street-soccer team. Frank Dries, editor of Straatnieuws in the Netherlands, described a project through which vendors offered for sale not only copies of the magazine but also recyclable shopping bags. A competition among local artists led to the final design, with the shopping bags emblazoned with the message, “Do you want to hold me?”

Straatnieuws vendors sold about 2,000 shopping bags, and local media coverage helped promote the street paper as an employment opportunity for homeless people. The slogan on the bags also points to another purpose for social enterprises such as Streetvibes – wearing down the social barriers that isolate homeless people. Thus our question for readers: “Do you want to hold me?”

Along with representatives from L’Itinéraire, Denver Voice, Streetvibes, Streetwise, What’s Up and Street Roots, last week I was one of more than 70 street paper delegates from around the world that converged in Melbourne, Australia, to help build a stronger global street paper movement. While the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), which Megaphone is a member of, used its 15th annual conference as a chance to look forward, what struck me most was how powerful this network has already become.

With more than 100 street papers providing employment opportunities to roughly 500,000 vendors in all corners of the globe (and more papers popping up every year), the movement has never been stronger. As The Big Issue South Africa director Trudy Vlok told delegates, street papers are now the biggest social enterprise project in the world. Every time you buy an issue of one of the NASNA member street papers, you are participating in an international campaign to end poverty.

What I most appreciated from the conference was the opportunity to learn from other papers on how to improve their services for vendors. Perhaps no paper best exemplifies the extraordinary accomplishments and potential of a street paper than the conference’s host, The Big Issue Australia. With roughly 400 vendors across the country and a monthly circulation of 80,000, it has helped create a new kind of community that bridges class, gender and race divisions.

The Australian street paper has strong support from corporations, public services, local and national governments and, most importantly, the general public. The paper’s readers recognize how important it is to have a vibrant street paper because of what it can do for the homeless vendors and the paper recognizes how important it is to provide a high-quality magazine for this project to succeed.

Not satisfied with simply continuing to maintain the status quo, The Big Issue Australia is now finding new employment opportunities for women by involving them in a subscription project and they are helping to run the country’s street soccer program so their vendors can connect on the pitch as well as the streets.

What is truly exceptional about the street paper movement is how each paper is willing to share their stories and projects and work together so that every paper can move forward. I am proud of what the movement has already accomplished and look forward to the NASNA conference this July to learn more about the giant steps street papers are still set to make.

Sean Condon
Megaphone Executive Director
NASNA vice-chair