street roots
2
Aug. 2, 2013
1DITOR1ÄI.
We need new solutions to old problems
Street newspapers are finding
their own online tu rf
ost of the times you see the words “digital” and
“newspapers” in the same sentence, it’s in the
context of lost opportunities, negative realities and
handwringing projections.
But around the globe, street papers are looking at the
digital model and seeing a world of possibilities.
For years, Street Roots and our sister papers in cities
worldwide have connected through the International
Network of Street Papers, or INSP, linking best practices
and great journalism, and creating a global movement that
gives a hand up — not a hand out — to tens of thousands of
men and women experiencing poverty and homelessness
every day.
This past week, the International Network of Street
Papers conducted its 17th annual conference in Munich,
Germany, where 110 delegates discussed not only their
vendors and their newspapers, but also where the digital
world can take both.
Street Roots Vendor
T e c h n o lo g y c a n h e lp e w n
Coordinator Cole Merkel
th e p la y in g f ie ld fo r
attended the event,
sharing how our small
s m a ll? g r a s s r o o t s n e w s
organization has
o u t le t s a n d o t h e r s o c ia l-
amplified our vendors
fu s tlc e o r g a n lia t lo a s ,
and our voice with the
World Wide Web.
In December, Street Roots merged social media with
social justice to create #SR24 — a 24-hour Twitter feed with
reporters through the city chronicling the experiences of
people who were homeless. In July, we revisited the
concept to open a window on the lives and experiences of
vendors with #SRWorks. Globally, we participated in the
inaugural Vendor Week, which celebrated the work and
personalities of vendors just like ours, in cities around the
world.
More importantly, we partnered with social-service
organizations throughout Portland in a campaign to
preserve more than $2.1 million in city’s safety-net
programs - those services that provide shelter for people
on the streets during emergency conditions, and keep
people from falling into homelessness with short-term
assistance.
Street papers are looking at ways to harness new
technology for the benefit of vendors, from education and
socialization to tapping into resources that help them get
back on their feet. They’re looking at open source software
options, much like the model Street Roots used last year to
build our web site (news.streetroots.org).
We know that technology can help even the playing field
for small, grassroots news outlets and other social-justice
organizations. The Pacific Northwest is leading the effort
through public-private relationships with innovators in
technology.
Street Roots is currently working with open source
developers to build a news site to share with our entire
street newspaper network. Megaphone, our sister paper in
Vancouver, B.C. is working on building a smartphone app
that would allow customers to identify where a vendor is
selling at any give time. The newspaper in Seattle is
developing a digital payment method in a manner that will
preserve the financial and personal relationship customers
have with vendors.
Street newspapers are adapting in the 21st century and
will continue to do so. We have to. The world won’t wait.
M
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him at
israel@streetroots. org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
Send letters to the
editor to the Street
Roots office, 211
NW Davis St.,
Portland, OR 97209,
or e-mail to joanne®
streetroots.org.
khe past few weeks have been chock full
of tragic events, bad press and anxiety
on the streets, specifically downtown.
A group of kids,
presumably homeless,
attacked a 70-year old
employee of the
Portland Outdoor Store
downtown. He was
hospitalized after a blow
By Israel Bayer
to his head. This comes
after months of
frustration and advocacy
by the business
community to do something about the street
kids downtown.
“We need enforcement. We need to be able
to send a message that this kind of behavior is
not acceptable in our city,” Megan Doern, a
spokeswoman for the Portland Business
Alliance recently told the Oregonian.
She’s right. It is unacceptable. Violence
shouldn’t be tolerated.
Mayor Charlie Hales and the police bureau
then moved to sweep campers in front of city
hall. The camp has become disorganized in
many ways, and it’s unclear to the public what
exactly the group is protesting.
A column in The Oregonian two weeks ago
by Steve Duin shredded the group’s credibility,
if there was any, after claiming that heroin was
being used by the campers. Still, that doesn’t
change the fact that some of those campers
should be connected to services before being
scattered throughout the city.
It’s also worth noting that the small sliver of
sidewalk in front of city hall has become a
symbol of free speech for anti-war protestors,
environmentalists, homeless advocates and the
Occupy Portland movement over the past
decade. I would never wager to guess what the
actual long-term outcome might be for the
sidewalk in front of city hall.
Also lingering are the next steps on Right 2
Dream Too (R2DToo), the tent city that has
been operating for nearly two years in
downtown. A judge will soon rule in a case that
could decide if the camp owes the city
thousands of dollars in fines. The outcome
may have an impact on what the next steps are
for R2DToo.
Regardless of the outcome of the court
case, to ignore R2DToo would be foolish.
Scattering 80 individuals and families
throughout downtown would be shortsighted.
My guess is the mayor and R2DToo
understand this dynamic clearly. They also
understand they can’t stay at their current
location forever. I’m hopeful something will be
worked out.
Having said all of that, there is no perfect
time politically for city hall to make a move on
issues such as camping, sidewalks and
panhandling. With the wave of bad press, a
fuming business community and so much
uncertainty in the air, it appears now is as
good as time as any.
Let’s back up for a minute.
No mayor runs for office with the hopes of
having to deal with thousands of people
sleeping on the streets, especially in a thriving
city like Portland. But the crisis of
homelessness, as it relates to public safety,
neighborhood livability and the lack of
housing, is exactly what a mayor inherits.
The mayor isn’t alone. The same debate
about what to do about homelessness and the
housing shortage is happening all across
America.
Knowing this, you shouldn’t be surprised to
know that most urban environments have tent
cities, a massive shortage of affordable
housing, and a public discourse on a range of
issues related to people on the streets,
including camping and panhandling.
The message that Portland is too easy on
See SOLUTIONS page 3
P H O T O BY ISRAEL BAYER
joanneOTeetroots.org
V e n d o r C o o rd in a to r Cole Merkel
coleO Teetroots.org
O p e ra tio n s D ir e c to r Sarah Beecroft
P ro g ra m A s s is ta n t Kara Dimitruk, Jesuit
Newspaper Association and the International
Network of Street Papers.
kara@streetroots.org
D e velo p m e n t D ire c to r Sarah Cloud
R e p o rte rs Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Nathan
Street Roots
211 NW Davis S t
Portland, OR 97209
Gilles, Robert Britt, Sue Zalokar, Erin Fenner
P h o to g ra p h e rs Kristina W right, Christopher
503-228-5657
Fax: 503-227-3117
streetroots.org
news.streetroots.org
Onstott
Volunteers
Mary Pacios, Jan Bayer, Ann Ereline, Vinnie Kinsella,
Ann-Derrick Gailiot, Joe Thick, Stacey Heath, Taurin
Skinner-Macginnis, Bethany Hague, Michelle Holbert,
John Lisifka, Raven Cañóles, Carol McCreary, Michelle
thk
rxiTfifrsx. wk ®
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Breslau, Paula Cracas
Street Roots Rose City Resource
Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a
comprehensive booklet o f services for people
experiencing homelessness and poverty.
To inquire about getting guides, call 503-228-5657.
Resources are also available online at
www.rosecityresource.org.
Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office