Greece’s economy is still in shambles as the country faces record unemployment amidst austerity cuts. But in Athens, one street paper is serving as a life raft of employment for more than 140 men and women, some who have been unemployed for four years or more. Shedia was founded less than a year ago and already has a waitlist for vendors who want to sell the newspaper.
Earlier this month, in Munich, Germany, I sat on a panel with Chris Alefantis, Shedia’s director. It was the International Network of Street Papers’ 17th annual conference and we were discussing which vendors we serve and why. As the only representative from North America on the panel, I was discouraged to learn that criminalizing homelessness is not unique to Portland and the United States — that many European street papers are facing the same issues.
But I was empowered to connect with more than 100 men and women who publish street papers, and over the course of a year, empower more than 14,000 vendors to work their way out of poverty. From Serbia to Malawi, Canada to Taiwan, the importance of street papers is only deepening as we become more integrated in the fabric of our local communities and the impact of our work spreads.
In the era of 24-hour news and citizen journalism, the challenge for any newspaper is to maintain relevance. Daily newspapers no longer publish quickly enough to compete with the speed of digital news and the proliferation of free content on the Internet makes getting paid for quality journalism difficult. Street papers are poised to not only provide unique news commentary, but to create positive social impact by facilitating conversations and relationships across socio-economic lines through our vendors. Street Roots, in particular, has never been shy about reporting what is difficult or uncomfortable, and at any time we have 80-100 vendors selling the paper, making a dignified income and building relationships with their customers in the community.
Street Roots has taken street journalism a step further by launching news.streetroots.org and vocally increasing our presence on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. As often as possible, we tell the stories of the streets through the voices of the men and women who live on them every day. As a contributor to Street Roots’ social and digital media team, I was proud to see our work highlighted many times over, and to present an overview of our recent social media campaigns at the innovation exchange on the second day of the conference.
Many papers are using Facebook pages, some are on Twitter, but few have employed social media to create change to the extent that Street Roots has through our advocacy campaigns and Twitter reports. I returned to Portland energized to continue using the power of social media to communicate with our readers and continue telling the stories of our vendors in new and creative ways.
At 25, I was the youngest delegate at the conference, but not by much. I was amazed at the many young faces — I’d guess at least one-third of the delegates were under 35 — and passionate energy in the group. Many of us are stepping up in our roles at street papers that are well established with a tradition of strong editorial content and, in the case of Street Roots, nearly 15 years of vendor empowerment.
While our careers and media systems may be new, my generation will constantly learn from the tried and true methods of those who started the movement before us. As we take up the mantle, we will continue to ensure the regular delivery of high-quality content and, most importantly will continue to give a hand up, not a hand out. Vendors will always be the heart and soul of the street paper movement and at Street Roots, our vendors are the hardest working women and men I have ever met. They inspire me daily.
Cole Merkel is the Street Roots Vendor Coordinator. Follow him on Twitter @colemerkel.
Founded in 1994, the International Network of Street Papers supports and develops more than 120 street paper projects with a combined readership of 6 million per edition. Street Roots, along with its sister papers across North America, join members from 40 countries in 24 languages.
Street papers are independent newspapers and magazines that operate on a social enterprise and self-help model to provide an innovative solution to urban homelessness and unemployment. In addition to employment, many INSP street papers offer their vendors ongoing social support and training opportunities.