North American Street Newspaper Association

Last updated
NASNA logo North American Street Newspaper Association logo.png
NASNA logo

The North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) was an organization of street newspapers that provided employment opportunities, community and a voice to homeless and other economically vulnerable people who existed between 2007 and 2013. As of October 2008 it had 28 members in the United States and Canada with a total monthly circulation of about 255,000 copies. [1] NASNA held an annual conference and run the Street News Service (SNS) together with AlterNet to share articles. [2]

Contents

History

The seed to start NASNA was planted in August 1996 at the first North American Street Newspaper Summit in Chicago, sponsored by papers StreetWise and Real Change as well as the National Coalition for the Homeless. It was formally founded in September 1997 when 37 street newspapers met at the second conference in Seattle. [2] [3] [4] In 2006 NASNA had 47 member newspapers. [5] In early 2009, the North American Street Newspaper Association hired an Executive Director for the first time. [6] In December 2013 the association was dissolved as a volunteer structure was viewed as preferable to the existing corporate structure. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Big Issue</i> magazine

The Big Issue is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. The Big Issue is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individuals at risk of homelessness, the opportunity to earn a legitimate income, thereby helping them to reintegrate into mainstream society. It is the world's most widely circulated street newspaper.

<i>Real Change</i> Newspaper in Seattle, Washington

Real Change is a weekly progressive street newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, USA written by professional staff and sold by self-employed vendors, many of whom are homeless. The paper provides them with an alternative to panhandling and covers a variety of social justice issues, including homelessness and poverty. It became weekly in 2005, making it the second American street newspaper ever to be published weekly. Real Change is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with an annual budget of 950,000 dollars.

Street newspaper newspaper or magazine sold by the homeless or poor, produced mainly to support them, providing coverage about homelessness and poverty-related issues, aiming to give these people employment opportunities and a voice in their community

Street newspapers are newspapers or magazines sold by homeless or poor individuals and produced mainly to support these populations. Most such newspapers primarily provide coverage about homelessness and poverty-related issues, and seek to strengthen social networks within homeless communities. Street papers aim to give these individuals both employment opportunities and a voice in their community. In addition to being sold by homeless individuals, many of these papers are partially produced and written by them.

<i>StreetWise</i> street magazine

StreetWise is a street magazine sold by people without homes or those at-risk for homelessness in Chicago. Topics covered depend on what is happening in Chicago at the time. In 2003, it had the largest readership of any street publication in the United States of America. Today, it remains among the largest street newspapers in the nation.

Newton South High School School in Newton, Massachusetts, United States

Newton South High School is one of two public high schools in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, the other being Newton North.

<i>Spare Change News</i>

Spare Change News (SCN) is a street newspaper founded in 1992 in Boston, Massachusetts for the Greater Boston Area and published out of the editorial offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts through the efforts of the Homeless Empowerment Project (HEP), a grassroots organization created to help end homelessness.

<i>Jornal de Notícias</i> daily newspaper in Porto, Portugal

Jornal de Notícias (JN) is a Portuguese daily national newspaper, one of the oldest in Portugal.

Chairperson Leading or presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly

The chairperson is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group, presides over meetings of the group, and conducts the group's business in an orderly fashion.

<i>Diário de Notícias</i> Portuguese daily newspaper

Diário de Notícias is a Portuguese daily newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal.

<i>Street Roots</i> newspaper in Portland, Oregon

Street Roots is a Portland, Oregon, United States based homeless advocacy group and a weekly alternative newspaper that covers homeless issues establish in 1998. The newsprint is sold by and for the homeless in Portland. The paper is published every Friday and sold through vendors who are currently or formerly homeless. The paper's editorial position is homeless advocacy. Vendors purchase the paper for 25 cents and sell them for $1 and keep the difference of 75 cents. The paper features alternative news, interviews, and poetry written by local journalists as well as the homeless and those who work with them. Street Roots is a member of the North American Street Newspaper Association and the International Network of Street Papers.

The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) is an organization that supports and develops street paper projects all over the world. It spans over 100 papers from 34 countries, with a combined readership of 5 million. INSP was founded in July 1994 and the network was initially managed by The Big Issue. INSP's headquarters are in Glasgow, Scotland. The network organises a yearly conference. It also supports new start-up street papers and runs the Street News Service. In 2008, it began giving annual awards for top street newspaper journalism in several categories. INSP co-founder Mel Young also organises the annual Homeless World Cup.

Put Domoi is a Russian street newspaper sold by the homeless in St. Petersburg, published twice monthly. The sellers receive half of the price. It was started in 1994 as Na Dne by Nochlezhka, an organization for the homeless. It was renamed to its current name in 2003. It was closely modeled after The Big Issue and is a member of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP). The paper has been critical of human rights violations in Russia which has made it some enemies. The INSP has been important for financial support and political legitimacy.

<i>Change of Heart</i> (street paper) quarterly street newspaper in Kansas

Change of Heart is a quarterly street newspaper produced and sold in Lawrence, Kansas. It was founded by Craig Sweets in late 1996. who says the idea of starting a street newspaper was given to him by Michael Stoops, the director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. The paper is a member of the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA), and is the only street newspaper in Kansas.

Street News was a street newspaper sold by homeless people in New York City, New York, the USA. Established in 1989, it is the earliest modern street paper still extant and the beginning of the American street newspaper movement. It aimed to provide a way of self-sufficiency to the many homeless and unemployed people in New York.

<i>Hobo News</i> newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri

Hobo News, alternately "Hobo" News, was an early 20th-century newspaper for homeless migrant workers (hobos). It was published in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati by the International Brotherhood Welfare Association (IBWA) and its founder James Eads How. Hobo News was important for legitimatizing the hobo identity and has been credited as a predecessor to the modern street newspaper movement.

<i>Das Megaphon</i> periodical literature

Das Megaphon is a street newspaper sold by homeless in Graz and other cities in Styria, Austria. It was started in October 1995 and is run by Catholic charity Caritas. The paper is published monthly with a circulation of about 13,000 copies. It is sold mostly by Nigerian and Liberian male refugees. Megaphon was one the street papers initiating the Homeless World Cup in 2001 and hosted the first cup in 2003.

The Homeless Grapevine was a street newspaper sold by homeless in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was published by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) from 1992 to 2009. Vendors bought the paper for 25 cents per copy and sell them for 1 dollar. The papers attempted to be a voice for the homeless and content was entirely dedicated to homeless issues, much of it written by current or former homeless. It was a monthly magazine of 16 pages and as of 2004 had a circulation of 5,000 copies sold by 15–20 vendors. Sellers were often at The West Side Market, Public Square, E. 9th St., East 12th and Coventry.

James Eads How American activist

James Eads How was an American organizer of the hobo community in the early 20th century. He was heir of a wealthy St. Louis family but chose to live as a hobo and to help the homeless migrant workers. The newspapers often referred to him as the "Millionaire Hobo".

Bernice Robinson American activist and educator

Bernice Robinson (1914–1994) was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement and education proponent who helped establish adult Citizenship Schools in South Carolina. Becoming field supervisor of adult education for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), she led political education workshops throughout the south, in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and other states to teach adult reading skills so that blacks would be able to pass literacy tests to vote. Between 1970 and 1975, Robinson worked for the South Carolina Commission for Farm Workers, supervising VISTA workers and directing day care centers. In both 1972 and 1974, she unsuccessfully ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives, becoming the first African American woman to run for a political office in the state.

References

  1. "About NASNA". NASNA. 2008. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  2. 1 2 Heinz, Teresa L.; Levinson, David (2004). Encyclopedia of Homelessness (illustrated ed.). SAGE. p. 539. ISBN   0-7619-2751-4 . Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  3. Danky, James Philip; Wiegand, Wayne A. (1998). Print Culture in a Diverse America (illustrated ed.). University of Illinois Press. p. 48. ISBN   0-252-06699-5 . Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  4. Howley, Kevin (2005). Community Media (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN   0-521-79228-2 . Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  5. Feldman, Leonard C. (2006). Citizens Without Shelter: Homelessness, Democracy, and Political Exclusion (annotated ed.). Cornell University Press. p. 166. ISBN   0-8014-7290-3 . Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  6. "North American Street Newspaper Association hires first Executive Director". Street Roots blog. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  7. "Time for a Change" . Retrieved 8 September 2014.