Street Papers
How Lucrative Is Selling Street Papers?
Published September 09, 2009 @ 11:28AM PT
Street papers are important assets to the communities in which they operate. They are lauded as sources for alternative news as well as a means of earning income for homeless individuals. But just how much money can a person earn hawking street papers?
Homeless papers have been around for some time, but recently, they've been booming. The increase in homelessness has seen an increase in circulation as well as the number of individuals willing to sell the papers. According to the North American Street Paper Association, each of the 25 street papers in 19 cities across the U.S. and Canada have seen steady growth despite the down economy. In Denver, for example, circulation has increased from 9,800 to over 15,000 in just a year. These numbers are impressive, especially when you consider the economic strain many traditional print media sources are feeling.
The business model varies slightly from paper to paper, but it typically works like this: Street vendors pay 25 cents per paper, which they then sell for $1, keeping the difference. Other incentives are built in, including various sale benchmarks to earn vendor vests and hats, and free papers for attending vendor meetings. Vendors must also agree to a code of conduct which bar the use of alcohol, drugs, and peddling papers on private property.
Street paper advocates say that the beauty of the model is that individuals can earn as much or as little as they'd like -- it all depends on how hard they are willing to work.
But just how much money can a street paper vendor earn?
One couple in Nashville sells roughly 500 papers per month and earns "a couple hundred dollars." Unfortunately, despite their sales prowess, their earnings are not enough to pay for housing. So they live in a tent, saving their earnings for an apartment. According to the Tennessean, most street vendors do not use their income from selling street papers as a primary source of income, but rather as a supplement to purchase other necessities, such as medicine, toiletries, pet food, or utility payments.
To be honest, this isn't all that surprising. But be careful before you write off the street paper model because it's not a livable wage generator for street vendors. The real value of purchasing a street paper goes way beyond the physical transaction of paying money for a news source; the intangible benefits are worth much, much more.
First, it's the unique content. Street papers often provide a grassroots perspective on poverty and homelessness that, in many cases, are detailed in a first-person voice. Street vendors are often themselves contributors, and in this digital age, how often can you buy a newspaper from a contributing author?
For vendors, selling a street paper is a job. For many, it's the only job that will take them. For others, it's the first job they've had in a very long time. For these people, selling street papers is about the confidence created by operating a micro-business. The human interaction and opportunity to form relationships. It's the feeling of not being invisible, of having a purpose. Having a reason to get up in the morning.
Buying a street newspaper from a vendor is so much more than a business transaction. It is human interaction, eye contact, the seemingly mundane exchange of pleasantries that mean a great deal to a person who may have been written off. Street papers may not pay anyone's rent or provide a financial vehicle for getting off the streets. But they are a crucial first step towards re-acclimation into a world that has shunned them.
Photo from the Tennessean.
Nashville's Street Paper Thriving in Down Economy
Published August 19, 2009 @ 07:06AM PT
Two years ago, a small group of local Nashville residents came together to discuss new ways they could help people experiencing homelessness. Something more meaningful than distributing food or providing a bus pass or a referral to a local provider. Something that could empower homeless people while helping the Nashville community better understand the issue.
Nashville's first street paper, The Contributor, was borne from that meeting. For the past year and a half, while other small weekly papers have been closing their doors, this paper has been thriving while serving a mission greater than simply reporting the news.
The Contributor delivers diverse perspectives on homelessness while employing dozens of homeless individuals in the process has now been thriving here in Nashville for the past year and a half. Circulation is now around 4,000 monthly and increasing at a time when other newspapers are closing their doors and moving on. So many prospective vendors arrive at the weekly trainings it's hard to get them all set up for business in the time we originally allotted for this task.
The Contributor's premise is simple; the all volunteer staff donates their time to organize, assemble and distribute the newspapers to people experiencing homelessness. While this staff consists primarily of individuals who have never spent a homeless night, many work in some way with disadvantaged populations and they've done an admirable job of both relating to the folks on the street and providing critical moral, financial and physical support for the newspaper. While advertising would help defray at least some of the costs to publish the paper, The Contributor staff has not exploited this potential opportunity at this point, although there are plans in the future to increase ad sales.
Articles, photos, poetry, songs, puzzles and cartoons can be submitted by anyone, although if the writer has never experienced homelessness, the piece must be related in some way to homelessness. Those writers who've "rough slept" at some point during their lives or are currently on the street can write about anything, since one of the goals is to provide readers with diverse perspectives.
To sell the newspaper, an individual must be either homeless or formerly homeless and undergo a 30 minute training that lays down the do's and don'ts of behavior as a Contributor vendor. The new vendor is then issued an ID card and supplied with 15 free newspapers, which he/she can then sell for one dollar wherever they please, whenever they please. When a vendor needs additional papers, they can purchase them from the office for 25 cents apiece. The vendor can also earn free papers by referring a new vendor or by writing/contributing something that gets published in the paper.
If a vendor purchases a consecutive total of ten dollars worth of papers, they receive a black carry-bag emblazoned with The Contributor logo. This provides additional visibility and credibility for the vendor and the ten dollar goal ensures that expensive supplies aren't given to those who aren't serious about selling the paper. As a vendor's total newspaper purchases increases, he/she becomes eligible for additional items, including a newspaper vest, hat and shirt. Importantly, when a vendor sells 300 papers per month consistently (over three or four months), they are allowed to choose a "home territory." This allows the vendor to capitalize on the relationships and return customers they have cultivated as they work a particular area.
This is a critical component of the overall aspect of the newspaper, since another goal is to provide the general public with face to face interaction with people experiencing homelessness. By engaging with those on the street, stereotypes diminish, constructive relationships are formed and public perception shifts towards a more positive understanding of people they know to be homeless.
Vendors are not employees of the newspaper. Rather, they are their own bosses running their own business. The Contributor simply supplies them the necessary materials needed to keep the business running. Anyone experiencing homelessness can sell the paper, and they can do so on their terms, at times convenient to them, anywhere they find themselves at any given moment in time. There is no dress code, although when vending individuals must display their Contributor badges, refrain from any other type of selling, respect the right of "first come first serve" and/or "home territories" with other vendors, and vend only when sober.
Violations of these simple rules can result in disciplinary actions, including suspension of newspaper sales and a termination of the sales relationship if the violations are severe or repeated.
Content and articles run the gamut, from stories written by local outreach workers to diatribes and screeds from those who have had difficulties with homeless individuals in the past. Photos, weekly columns and puzzles provide readers with a diverse perspective on homelessness, allow a genuine and immediate sense of gratification as they purchase the paper, and contribute to someone actually working to improve their lot in life rather than simply panhandling for money.
Local businesses, once wary and reluctant to allow Contributor vendors near their store fronts, soon realized that when vendors are present, panhandlers move on. As vendors made connections in the area, this brought return customers to businesses and now, most businesses are so pleased to have vendors near their store fronts they often provide coffee and snacks to those vendors they have established a relationship with.
Most importantly, for vendors there is a return of self respect, of accomplishment, of belonging once again to their community. Several vendors have been able to parlay their sales into housing and many use it to supplement their meager social security disability checks.
One of the homeless vendors who wrote about his transition from a Tent City to housing recently won a "Best Vendor Essay" award from the North American Street Newspaper Association and Tasha French, Executive Director for The Contributor, was just elected to serve on their board.
Starting a street newspaper from scratch may seem like an overwhelming task, but when compared to what individuals on the street must endure on a daily basis simply to obtain a little food and a safe place to lay their heads each night, it's barely worth mentioning. The rewards are great, the cost is minimal, and if you are interested a number of resources are available to assist you in getting the effort from the drawing board to the street. It's a great way to help and anyone can contribute.
An Addict's Almanac
Published August 10, 2009 @ 07:05PM PT
Tye Doudy is the most hard hitting columnist I have ever read from the streets. Doudy writes the powerful and gripping column titled Addict's Almanac in Street Roots about life on the streets as a heroine addict. His columns have been picked up in other street papers in both the U.S. and in Europe, and stirred much debate at a grassroots level. (Publishers: Tye is waiting for your call!)
His first of a six-part series began in August of 2008 and ran through the fall of that year. The column has fostered many emotions locally, both good and bad. In July, Doudy picked the column back up and tackles the issues of domestic violence and addiction.
Portland is a heroine town, always has been. Doudy's column offers us an insight to a world that no journalist or Nightline special will ever be able to capture. The column is both in your face and humble, disturbing, yet masterfully woven. He is a real life Drugstore Cowboy.
Hope is in the Air for Street Papers
Published July 26, 2009 @ 06:06PM PT
Later this week, representatives from 22 street newspapers from the U.S. and Canada will be gathering in Denver, Colorado for the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) conference. The conference is being held at the University of Denver and hosted by the Denver Voice.
Born in 2007, the Denver Voice is a 20-page hard-hitting and clean monthly publication being led by veteran journalists and vendors.
The latest issue highlights an in-depth look at a three-year battle between Denver cab companies resulting in the first new cab company in the city in 15 years. In my humble opinion, the paper's reporting has been both hungry and smart. Denverites looking for real local news have to be happy with the papers presence.
Not to mention the fact that with the vendor program, Denver is experiencing a new look at homelessness. Relationships are being built and new conversations are taking place between the general public and homeless folks. The public must now look at homelessness with a more personal relationship attached to it. Most importantly, folks on the skids have the opportunity to gain an alternative income that will improve individuals and families quality of life. Change is in the air on the homeless front in the Mile High City.
The conference itself will bring together newspaper people, vendors who sell the newspapers, authors, historians, social service workers, and community organizers that work with street papers. They are made of both rookie and veteran editors, green and seasoned journalists, do-gooders, people experiencing homelessness, business folks, fundraisers, and people who believe in the idea of connecting media and the larger community with the streets.
All of the papers, large or small, are navigating through an unforgiving recession that has dumped thousands upon thousands of new faces on the streets. Not to mention that layoffs and budget shortfalls mean foundations, businesses and individuals are giving less.
All of this comes at a time when media itself is being reinvented. Daily papers are shrinking and weekly papers are nervous. Who delivers the news is changing. Street papers are filling a niche by covering issues on the fringes concerning poverty, immigration and homelessness itself.
Does that mean as a newspaper model that street newspapers are any better position financially? Unfortunately, no.
Street newspapers are looking at ways to survive just like the rest of the print media world. The only difference is that many street newspapers, unlike much of the print media elite, have been in survival mode for most of their existence. Having a shotgun newsroom and a humble community space for vendors along with dedicated group of volunteers and money to print is all a street newspaper needs to survive.
For many street newspapers hope in the air. While some of the papers attending haven't gotten through their first 12 months, other papers find themselves evolving, on the verge of going from the small train that could to a sustainable non-profit creating systematic change in the community. We are family, and this weeks conference is our reunion. We will do our best to help one another along.
Street Papers: The Story Behind the Stories
Published June 29, 2009 @ 04:18AM PT
What is a street newspaper?
It's simple. Street newspapers are independent newspapers and magazines that provide a unique work model for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Vendors buy the newspaper for a portion of the cover price, and then sell the newspaper to the broader community, keeping the proceeds.
There are currently 101 streets newspapers in cities in 37 counties around the world.
Street newspapers tend to thrive in cities that have a high volume of walking and/or bike traffic, and an adequate public transportation system. All of these elements allow for vendors selling the newspaper to be mobile and more important, it allows them to engage with other people living and working in the community.
Each newspaper exists locally in any number of political and cultural environments, often times working with a small team of dedicated staff and volunteers, to produce a newspaper or magazine with individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty.
For years, street newspapers existed in a vacuum and more or less were left to their own devices. That's changing. It's a movement that is one the verge of coming into its own.
At Street Roots in Portland, Oregon, we have around 80 vendors selling the newspaper throughout the city. Vendors typically sell the newspaper at busy intersections downtown and at lively neighborhood grocery stores, libraries, coffee shops, and other locations that attract walking traffic. People experiencing homeless and poverty are able to make money to survive and build self-confidence through the relationships built with customers. We also work with and highlight the voices of the streets through poetry, opinion pieces and artwork. It's about making human connections.
We are a modest and hard working publication that works on a fairly small budget. We believe in using quality journalism and community voices, including folks on the streets, to dig down deep to the heart of issues.
We are not alone. Street Roots belongs to both the North American Street Newspaper Association and the International Network of Street Papers, both of which produce the Street News Service (SNS).
The Street News Service is an online news agency that brings together the best of the street paper journalism from around the world. Each street newspaper has the ability to share news and community voices, giving newspapers the ability to share real life stories and poverty news happening around the world.
Alone, we are only one voice in one community. Together we are able to cover regional, national or global politics, including policies effecting homelessness, immigration, and gentrification, to name a few.
Megaphone in Vancouver B.C. has been producing award winning journalism. Real Change in Seattle, the same.
Both Seattle and Vancouver share many of the same values and cultural traits as Portland. People are interested. It gives Portlanders insight to our sister cities that you're not going to find in other print media in Portland. It's a win-win.
The reporting ultimately leads to educating readers about a variety of topics, and gives people an opportunity to take action.
For example, the Managing Editor of Street Roots, Joanne Zuhl, has been locked into an investigative piece over the past month about 300 families in NW Oregon that are losing their housing. The story has morphed into a grassroots advocacy effort led by dozens of organizations around the country to save the families from homelessness.
In U.S. and Canada, these regional and global partnerships are not isolated to the Pacific Northwest. Street newspapers in cities throughout the world are using a network to build relationships by sharing best practices, technology, fundraising and vendor tips, content and connecting with each other via the web.
My goal for this column will be to bring Change.org readers closer to the street newspaper movement by highlighting news and vendor voices that are having a social and political impact in communities around the world. I hope you will join me.
