Street Sense (newspaper)

Last updated
Street Sense
Real People, Real Stories, Real Change
Street-Sense-Volume-15-issue-1.jpg
Cover of volume 15 issue 1
Type Street newspaper
Format Compact
Founder(s)Ted Henson, Laura Thompson Osuri
PublisherStreet Sense Media
Editor-in-chiefAnnemarie Cuccia
Opinion editorRebecca Koenig, Emily Kopp, Lydia DePillis
Staff writers15-30 volunteers
FoundedAugust 2003
Political alignment Nonpartisan
LanguageEnglish
City Washington, DC
Country United States
ReadershipApprox. 12,000 monthly
Sister newspapers International Network of Street Papers
Website streetsensemedia.org

Street Sense is a weekly street newspaper sold by self-employed homeless distributors ("vendors") on the streets of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It is published by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Street Sense Media, which also produces documentary filmmaking, photography, theatre, illustration and poetry. [1] The organization says this media, most of which is created by homeless and formerly homeless people, is designed to break down stereotypes and educate the community. [2]

Contents

Street Sense Media is a member of the International Network of Street Papers [3] and the Institute for Nonprofit News. [4]

Newspaper

The newspaper is a collaborative effort between homeless vendors, freelancers, and staff, focusing on issues of homelessness and poverty. It provides a "no-barrier" work opportunity for homeless individuals, fostering community engagement and social conversation. [5] [6] [7]

As of 2017, Street Sense Media has over 130 active vendors distributing roughly 10,000 newspapers every two-week cycle. [8]

Media Center

Ten years after it was founded as a street newspaper, the organization began expanding into multimedia content in 2013, starting with theatre. Street Sense Media's theatre groups — Staging Hope (inter-generational) [9] and Devising Hope (adults) [10] — perform original works throughout the D.C. metro area, exploring themes such as love, family, grief, and personhood.

The next year, the organization founded the nation's first homeless filmmakers cooperative, [11] a group of homeless and formerly homeless people working together to share their experience through film. The group's first three films premiered at E St. Cinema in the spring of 2015. [12] Two more — both directed by formerly homeless women — premiered at E St. Cinema that fall. [13]

In 2015, Street Sense Media launched a podcast, Sounds from the Street, which featured conversations with activists, policymakers and people experiencing homelessness.

The organization's artists also produce photography, [14] illustration [15] and writing. [16] Street Sense Media provides weekly courses, tailored for its homeless and formerly homeless vendors, in each type of media it produces. [17]

History

Street Sense published its first newspaper, Street Sense, in November 2003, three months after two volunteers, Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson, approached the National Coalition for the Homeless about starting a street paper in Washington, D.C. [18]

For the first year, Street Sense operated as a project of the National Coalition, but in October 2004, the organization incorporated and moved into its own office space.

Awards

Winner


Finalist

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Washington Blade</i> American LGBT newspaper

The Washington Blade is an LGBT newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The Blade is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the Philadelphia Gay News and the Gay City News of New York City. The Blade is often referred to as America's gay newspaper of record because it chronicled LGBT news locally, nationally, and internationally. The New York Times said the Blade is considered "one of the most influential publications written for a gay audience."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian American Journalists Association</span> Non-profit organization in the US

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California, with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current president is Washington Post reporter Nicole Dungca. The executive director is Naomi Tacuyan Underwood.

<i>The Big Issue</i> Street newspaper that supports homeless people

The Big Issue is a United Kingdom-based 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street newspaper</span> Newspaper sold by the homeless or poor

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>Spare Change News</i> Street newspaper for the Greater Boston Area

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>Eos</i> (magazine) Academic journal of the American Geophysical Union

Eos is the news magazine published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The magazine publishes news and opinions relevant to the Earth and space sciences, as well as in-depth features on current research and on the relationship of geoscience to social and political questions. Eos is published online daily, and as an AGU member benefit in 11 issues a year. It accepts both display and classified advertising.

Peter Gutmann is an American journalist and attorney. He graduated from Wesleyan University, cum laude, with a B.A. in 1971, and attended the University of North Carolina, where he earned a M.A. in Communications in 1974. He earned a J.D. from George Washington University in 1978.

The Online News Association (ONA), founded in 1999, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Washington D.C., United States. It is the world's largest association of digital journalists, with more than 3,200 members. The founding members first convened in December 1999 in Chicago. The group included journalists from WSJ, Time, MSNBC, and the FT, among other outlets.

<i>Street Roots</i> Homeless advocacy group and newspaper in Portland, Oregon, United States

Street Roots is a Portland, Oregon, United States–based homeless advocacy group and a weekly alternative newspaper that covers homeless issues. The newsprint is sold by and for the homeless in Portland. The paper is published every week 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Charley</span> Australian journalist

Peter Charley is a journalist, documentary film maker, television producer and author.

Alexandra Brandon Stoddard is a writer at large at The Bulwark and an associate editor and columnist at RealClearPolitics. Previously, she worked as an associate editor and columnist for The Hill newspaper. She has been quoted by other news media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Network of Street Papers</span>

The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) is a non-profit membership organisation and global community dedicated to tackling poverty and homelessness. The organisation supports street papers to start up, develop and scale through events, regional networks, peer-to-peer learning opportunities and its international news agency called the News Service It also connects street papers and supporters, building a global movement to tackle poverty.

<i>The Jeepney Magazine</i> Filipino street newspaper

The Jeepney Magazine is a street newspaper sold by poor and homeless people in the Philippines. It was launched in March 2008 with two purposes: to write for and about the poor, and to provide them with jobs to make a living. It is sold for 100 pesos, half of which the seller keeps. Selling 10 copies per day is expected to eventually let the sellers exceed the minimum wage by 40 percent. The Jeepney Magazine is published by the Urban Opportunities for Change Foundation and is a member of the International Network of Street Papers. The name refers to the jeepney, the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines and a symbol of Philippine culture.

<i>The Big Issue Malawi</i> Magazine sold by the homeless in Malawi

The Big Issue Malawi is a street paper in Malawi. It is a bimonthly magazine sold only by homeless individuals. The project's facilitator is a local charity known as the "Culture Awakening Society"

<i>The Contributor</i> (street paper)

The Contributor is a bi-weekly street newspaper published in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The publication's content focuses on primarily social justice issues as they are framed by politics, music, art, culture, sports, homelessness and poverty. It is written by local journalists as well as people experiencing homelessness or working within the homeless community. The magazine's editors are Amanda Haggard and Linda Bailey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Simon (journalist)</span> American journalist

Roger Mitchell Simon is a writer and commentator, the chief political columnist of Politico and a New York Times best-selling author. He has won more than three dozen first-place awards for journalism, and is the only person to win twice the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award for commentary. His book on the 1996 presidential race, Show Time, became a New York Times best-seller.

Inside GNSS (IG) is an international controlled circulation trade magazine and website owned by Gibbons Media and Research LLC. It covers space-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technology for engineers, designers, and policy-makers of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). In the United States, GNSS is identified mainly with the government-operated Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS). InsideGNSS.com is the complimentary website of online news, events, digital newsletters, and webinars, and archived magazine articles.

ARLnow is a local online newspaper covering news in Arlington County, Virginia.

References

  1. "Street Sense gives homeless creative tools to build careers and help others". PBS NewsHour. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  2. "In Our Backyard Interview: "Homelessness is Like Being Slowly Disassembled" - Talk Poverty". Talk Poverty. 2015-01-15. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  3. "Our Street Papers". INSP. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  4. "INN Member Directory Profile". INN. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  5. "Street Sense PDF Archives". Issuu.com. 2003-11-15. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  6. Keiper, Caitrin (2014-04-01). "Spring 2014 - Nonprofit Spotlight: Street Sense". Philanthrohpy Magazine. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  7. TEDx Talks (2014-04-16), Encountering others on the streets of DC: Ted Henson at TEDxFoggyBottom, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2018-07-23
  8. "Become a Vendor". Street Sense Media. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  9. "Remembering Elizabeth Kitsos-Kang, who "made people into artists and artists into people"". DC Theatre Scene. 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  10. "Street Sense performances showcase struggles of homelessness". The GW Hatchet. 2014-11-23. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  11. "Homeless filmmakers prepare for prime time | WTOP". WTOP. 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  12. "In D.C., Homeless Filmmakers Tell Stories from the Street". CityLab. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  13. Petula., Dvorak (August 24, 2015). "A life filled with wrong turns leads to a moving chronicle of homelessness". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  14. Myers, Aaron (2017-11-15). "Street Sense Pop-Up: Photography in Action". The District NOW. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  15. DeMarco, Lauren (2016-09-30). "DC homeless show off their artistic side at Street Sense's District of Art celebration". Fox 5 DC. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  16. Selyukh, Alina (2014-05-23). "Obama writes to homeless poet on "Commentary to a Black Man"". Reuters. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  17. Johnson, Richard (2015-09-25). "Drawing the invisible". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  18. Mazzucca, Tim (2003-11-13). "Area homeless to inject Street Sense into media picture". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  19. Phillips, Michael (2006-06-30). "Homeless Reporter Gets Job, and Story, Evicting Others". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  20. Harley, Chantel (2007-02-08). "For Homeless Staff, A Paper's Big News". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  21. "Longtime Court journalist David Pike dies; November 5, 2007". Washington Start Obits Blogspot. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  22. "Street Sense Excellence in Journalism Awards". Street Sense Media. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  23. Gilbert, Sophie (2013-01-03). ""Street Sense" Now Costs $2". Washingtonian. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  24. Clozel, Lalita (2015-06-03). "How Digital Hope is helping homeless writers make it online". Technical.ly DC. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  25. Gilchrist, Alison (2015-11-19). "Street Sense social worker celebrated for work empowering homeless vendors". INSP. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  26. Schneider, Drew (2017-09-22). "Street Sense gets a new look, and new vests to help you find them". Petworth News. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  27. "As People Stop Carrying Cash, The Street Sense Newspaper Pioneers Digital Payments". DCist. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  28. "Street Sense newspaper was a lifeline for the homeless in D.C. Coronavirus forced it to stop the presses". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  29. "To Keep Distributors Safe, Street Sense Is Suspending Its Print Publication". DCist. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  30. "Street papers adapt to a new reality: coronavirus and a world in lockdown". INSP News Service. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  31. Carome, Brian. "From our CEO: Street Sense Media suspends print newspaper publication amid public health pandemic". Street Sense Media. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  32. "Street Sense Is Returning To Print On July 1". DCist. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  33. ""Better for vendors, as well as for customers": Washington DC's Street Sense goes weekly". International Network of Street Papers. 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  34. ""Introducing the 2021-22 Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellows". Poynter. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  35. "30th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards". D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  36. 1 2 3 4 D.C. Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (14 June 2017). "2017 SPJDC Awards Announcement" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  37. D.C. Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (13 June 2018). "2018 SPJDC Awards Announcement" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  38. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: 2018 Winners Announced!" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  39. 1 2 3 4 D.C. Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (12 June 2019). "2019 SPJDC Awards Announcement" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  40. 1 2 3 D.C. Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (9 June 2020). "Dateline Awards for work published, broadcast in 2019 announced online in historic first for SPJ DC Chapter" . Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  41. D.C. Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (16 June 2021). "Probing account of how police dealt with a mentally ill man takes top honor in annual Dateline Awards contest" . Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D.C. Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (16 June 2021). "Dateline Awards 2021 finalists and winners" . Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  43. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: INSP Awards: meet our finalists for Best Vendor Contribution to a street paper" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  44. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: finalists revealed for best street paper reporting" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  45. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: Presenting the Finalists in Best Vendor Contribution 2018" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  46. 1 2 International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: Best Vendor Contribution 2017 Nominees" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  47. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: Discover our Best News Feature Nominees for 2017".
  48. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: Best Cultural Feature Nominees for 2017".
  49. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: Finalists for the 2017 Best Project Award" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  50. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: the Nominees in Best Vendor Contribution 2018 are here" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  51. International Network of Street Papers. "INSP Awards: the Nominees in Best Vendor Contribution 2018 are here" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  52. 1 2 International Network of Street Papers. "Presenting the 2019 Nominees for Best Vendor Contribution" . Retrieved 21 June 2019.