Interesting ethical question there.
Fairhills founder Bernard Fontannaz said by sponsoring the vendors they were showing support for the treatment of alcohol misuse. He said they were opening an alcohol treatment centre in South Africa.
This does admittedly have an element of setting fires in order to have something to put out.
Street newspapers appear to be a growing thing. This is particularly interesting in a world where the Internet is leading to the death of so many hard copy versions of newspapers.
The International Network of Street Newspapers supports and connects over 100 street papers in some 40 countries, and will be having their yearly conference in Chicago July 29-Aug 1 of this year.
Their news agency is Street News Service, "an alternative online news agency that brings together the best of street paper journalism from around the world." One can search this site for articles in 22 languages. The articles focus on issues including homelessness, poverty, child welfare, and women's rights.
Here we have The North American Street Newspaper Association, which currently "has 31 members, 23 in the United States and 8 in Canada."
(From their front page)
A street newspaper is a newspaper that primarily addresses issues related to poverty and homelessness and is distributed by poor or homeless vendors. Vendors sell the newspaper for a set price, usually $1, and have to pay the organization a fraction of the price (20% to 40%) for each paper up front. The self-employed vendor sells the papers on the street and keeps the money he or she makes. For many people, this is the opportunity they need to get back on their feet and into permanent housing.
The benefits of street papers go far beyond economic opportunity. For the vendor, they offer a positive experience of self-help that breaks through the isolation that many homeless people experience. They offer the public a means to reach out with their dollar to help a homeless person directly and, over time, form a caring relationship.
Most street newspapers also provide homeless and/or those living on the margins of society the opportunities for expression by publishing their articles, letters and artwork. These publications build a bridge between the very poor and the wider public by helping people to understand the issues and the personal stories of those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder.
End Homelessness, one of the best homeless news blogs around, has published several stories on street papers. A few excerpts:
Street Papers: The Story Behind the Stories
Israel Bayer
June 29, 2009
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.
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.
How Lucrative Is Selling Street Papers?
Sept 9 2009
Shannon Moriarty
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?
Shannon also notes that "Vendors must also agree to a code of conduct which bar the use of alcohol, drugs, and peddling papers on private property."
Kevin Barbieux is one of these vendors of street papers. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and also has a blog; "The Homeless Guy", which he's been writing since 2007. This is an interesting blog; part of what he has been trying to do with it is dispel myths about homelessness, and having been in and out of being homeless since 1982, he knows a lot about it and his writing is both sophisticated and blunt.
Kevin has been threatening to stop blogging lately, and has even offered to sell the blog, so I recommend giving it a look if this subject interests you. Here today, gone tomorrow... |
