street roots
2
April 1, 2014
We’ve got this, all of us, together
A*
'f you’re going to get into social criticism
with absurdity and satire, you can’t be
__ politically correct when you do th a t”
Mark Twain? Shakespeare? Jon Stewart? -
Nope. John Cusack. Wait, what? Seriously?
John Cusack.
This is actually the
second column this year
in which J’ve quoted
John Cusack. How does
that happen? You’ve got
I
We’re changing what you love
to make it faster, shorter!
hank you, readers, for tuning into another edition
of $treet Roots. We know you love our journalism,
our commentaries, and of course our slick
newsprint presentation, so we’re making changes to
serve you better.
The Street Roots Content Actuarial Bureau in Sweet
Falls, Idaho, has been working this past year crafting
ways we can more effectively package our product, in a
more timely fashion, to maximize throughput by
bundling our synergies into a more productive delivery
B
system.
Our w riters and staff are excited by the changes. We
know you will be too.
It’s all an effort to
We know yon want to look
generate a greater
at something while you're
impact using our our
at work, just not for very
core competencies, .
long.
with objectives and
goals to m eet your,
the reader’s, needs. You want it fast, fresh, and raw, so
we’re focusing on all of that, and letting the rest rely on
your waning discretion. Because that’s what journalism
is about, these days. And we can’t let the competition at
The Oregonian pàss us by.
Starting soon, our reporters will be posting thingies ,
online a minimum o f seven, times daily, reporting on
stuff one minutia at a time, but at breakneck speed,
“breaking” news as we read about it wherever,
whenéver. We’U be launching several new mini-projects \
of repurposed news structured in a way that’s digestible
for our varied m arket price points. We’ll be incentivizing
b e s t p r a c t i c e s an d o ffice-driven, titilla tin g play-by-play in
a w ay few m e d ia o u tle ts h a v e c o n s id e re d in o rd e r to
b e tte r m a n a g e y o u r fo cu s of a tte n tio n a n d so cial —
o utlook.
You can expect salacious lead paragraphs with no
more than 15 words, a pithy quote by the third (one-
sentence-only, of course) paragraph, and a minority
voice within the top four inches of any copy.
And don't worry, you won’t have to read and read and
read. Gosh, that’s tiring. We’U he keeping all stories to a
maximum of 500 words. Because w e know you w ant to
look at something while you’re at work, just not for vèry
long.
And to ensure that our reporters feel confident about
their production, our crack team of content managers in
Instanbul will be monitoring keystrokes with a
supportive output algorithm, ensuring that no moment
is wasted on backspaces or thoughtless hesitations.
We’re moving forward.
How will we know it’s all worth it? Through a series of.
reviews, evaluations, judgments and money Crunching,
we’ll be able to détermine if we’re reaching our goals,
hitting our core competencies and making news — well
— just plain better.
We’re calling this new approach our new approach, or
NA. Because we know, what you know, that journalism
isn’t an art. It’s a science. And that’s why you tune in,
turn on and tough it out.
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him a t
israel@streetroots.org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
LETTERS
Readers keep us grounded, in fo rm e d on w h a t we’re doing wrong
D e ar S tre e t R oots,
WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
Send questions and
comments
anywhere but .
editor@streetroots.
org for serious
consideration
Our mission
Street Roots creates income opportunities for
producing a newspaper and other media that are
catalysts for individual and social change.
Street Roots publishes every tw o weeks, launching
on Fridays, and is available exclusively through our
street vendors or by subscription, W e are proud
members of the International Network o f Street
Papers,
l l B I l l - S llli ll( ll
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
streetroots.org
news.streetroots.org
O
¡3
Executive Director Israel Bayer
israeltstreetroots.org
Managing Editor Alan Smithee
alantstreetroots.org
Vendor Coordinator Cole M erkel
coletstreetroots.org
'
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit Volunteer,
gracetstreetroots.org
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Office Assistant Am ber Bielman
Reporters Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Nathan
Gilles, Sue Zalokar, Ann-Derrick G aillot
Photographers Kristina W right, Christopher
Onstott
Gandhi or Martin
Luther King Jr. or
Mother Terresa to
frame a social justice
issue. Apparently, I quote John Cusack. No
wonder some people in the community ,
aren’t taking me seriously. Whatever. f
If you’re confused, which we usually are
at Street Roots, don’t be. Street Roots
publishes an annual April Fool’s edition of
the newspaper that mocks Portland and \
everything on planet Earth. Someone,
somewhere with some kind of wisdom
named it satire. If you’ve been heralded or
belittled in this edition, both a
congratulations and an apology are in
order.
Honestly, some days I wake up and' don’t
know how or why they trust m eto do •-*
anything at Street Roots. No wonder it has
taken the organization 15 years to think
about going weekly.
That reminds me. Did you know.Street
Rootsis trying to go weekly in the winter
of 2014-15? It’s true.
What if I were to tell you a story about a
firSt-time anonymous donor who
approached us about helping out. She told
us of her love for Street Roots and how'
much she would like to give to an
organization in which her family’s money
was going directly to support people. Here
Was a place where it would help vendors
increase their income dramatically with a
weekly publication.
She humbly offered $10,000 and asked if
readers and supporters would match that
amount during the month of April. “Would
readers feel inspired to give knowing that
others believed in the organization?” she
asked.; / ;
My response was, “Yes, we know that
Street Roots readers want a weekly
newspaper. I know the vendors want it
more than anything.”
Inside this satirical edition of Street
Roots, you’ll find an envelope. By giving a
one-time or online recurring donation your
support will go directly toward helping
Street Roots go weekly. And that’s no joke.
We can provide the support to vendors
and give Portland quality journalism with .
your support. Dig deep, friends. With your
support, we’ve got this. After all, we are
the little train that could, and we can and
we will get up that mountain. We can do
: this. .
I would really consider donating to your
organization if, you took a firmer stance on
panhandling downtown. My checkbook is
waiting.
-
do morgtQ help support the fluoride
Campaign. I would give you a donation if I
thought you would actually do more to
support our children in the community.
- PROUD READER
LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER
Dear Street Roots,
Deaf Street Roots,
I really want to support Street Roots, but < '
I-really appreciate your newspapers, but
really feel that you’ve become too close to
wish you would cover more about the police,
thé business community. I’ll be sending my
Central America, the drug war, the
donation elsewhere.
- SOMETIME READER recession,'Old Town, homeless policy, global
warming, domestic violence, health care,
Dear Street Roots,
early-childhood-poverty, Ike, the Blazers, the
I’m really disappointed that Street Roots
Timbers, beer, bikes, immigration, access to '
supported putting fluoride in our water.
sidewalks, tourism, surveillance, culture, ice
What were you thinking? I ’m canceling my
cream, food justice, the environment, tyranny
monthly donation immediately. Thanks and
in general and Matt Damon. Possibly, if you
goodbye.
— LONGTIME REAbEK prioritized some of these issues your
vendors would sell more papers and people
would be more respofisive to the newspaper.
Dear Street ,Roots,
. —SUGGESTING SUCCESS
I’m really appalled that Street Roots didn’t
Board o f Directors
Venders
Bruce Anderson (Chairman), Michael Anderson (Vice-
chaimian), Heather Stadick (Treas.), Eddy Barbosa (Sec.),
Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon,
Darren Alexander, Amber Bielman -
Street Roots vendors buy the newspapers for 25 cents
each and sell them for $1, keeping the 75 cents in
profit for themselves. In order to keep the cost low to
Volunteers
our vendors, we receive additional support from
donations and in-kind contributions.
Jan Bayer, Lisa Waldo, Elizabeth Tierney, Rob
Shryock, Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Stacey Heath, Vinnie
Kinsella, Michelle Breslau, Paula Cracas, John Barker,
Mary Locke, Lucas Manfield, Jessie Carver, Cherie
Vedal, Sam Bouman, John Yohne, Isaac Hastings
Hauss, Emily Green
Street Roots Rosa 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 onlineat
www.rosecityresource.org.
75c
goes directly to the vendor
who sold you the paper
25c
goes toward
printing costs
Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday,
W ednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.