Homeless Newspaper

LET'S FOUND A NEWSPAPER OF A DIFFERENT KIND!

Support the homeless!

 

EMPOWER THE POOR!

By Stephen Wilson

 

Streetwise is not a newspaper that takes on issues critical to homelessness. It is merely a creature of the millionaire class who have no desire to change this corrupt system.

          "I swear I saw you selling a copy of the Big Issue {A paper the homeless sell to earn a living} in 1995. You were wearing a hat and quite short. I was tempted to go up to you and shout "Go and get a real job" but decided not to," stated a friend from Scotland. I retorted that it was impossible because at that time I was living in Moscow. But my dear friend was spot on about one thing. I was homeless in Moscow living a nomadic existence where I moved from student hostels, a homeless shelter and a Moscow soup kitchen. But, yes, maybe there was a guy who bore a striking resemblance to me selling such a newspaper on the streets of Glasgow. They say everyone has their double. All I can say is that my double has my sympathy. And who knows? May be I also have a double somewhere in America. Perhaps my friend might just be endowed with the sixth sense and saw me in the future. For should I be forced to return to Scotland I will in deed have a go at selling the Big Issue. It seems a very feasible and attractive idea! My friend from Scotland sent me a copy of the first issue of the Big Issue following the end of the lock down caused by the  Covid 19 crisis. The front page carried a photo of a famous cat who helped a poor man called Bob with the headline: 'A Street Cat Bob, A Tribute.' By the way, this newspaper, unlike the American version, at least writes articles about the predicament of the homeless and the poor. The Big Issue does not feel embarrassed or ashamed about raising such controversial issues.

 

But it is high time that a new and authentic paper which fights for the interests of the homeless and empowers them be founded in Chicago. Although this may seem a pipe dream and a highly problematic feat, we should give it a go. Now is the ripe time. It is doable! Chicago has the journalists, the know how, some experience and potentially much moral if not financial support. But the founders have to be crystal clear about exactly what this newspaper would be about. Therefore, I think the following points are worth listing. Although this hardly exhausts them all.

 

1. The aim of the newspaper is to help the homeless and poor to buy the paper for a fee but sell it for double keeping the difference. {In Britain sellers buy the paper or magazine for one pound and fifty pence and sell it for three pounds keeping the difference.} This is not a handout and the vendors who sell the paper often strike up a great friendship with readers. The homeless often offer real friendship and pleasant conversation with their customers. This is important in an age where shop assistants are being replaced by robots which serve you in Scotland. Last week my brother Peter was shocked to find the friendly and warm shop assistants were no longer serving him. They had been made redundant. Instead, a Dalek (The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who) was barking loudly about special discounts and gifts. So homeless vendors play a profound role in creating a warm and friendly atmosphere around them. They should never feel ashamed to sell the paper despite the odd malicious remark, "To go and get a real job".

 

2. The newspaper has to have a distinct identity of its own. Now, it seems that practically every newspaper you come across looks the same. They are all written in the same bland way expressing identical predictable prejudices. It is as if journalists have to toe the same line laid down by corporate interests. They support the vested interests of the rich and powerful. This is because they are owned by the rich. We need a newspaper with a distinct journalism of a different kind where each article should strive to be a work of art. Journalists should be fearlessly outspoken against every injustice they confront. They should not be over concerned about their image or worried about offending the government. We don't need another trendy or respectable newspaper. That means this newspaper not only writes about the homeless, but empowers them by giving them a voice.

 

3.  A crucial problem is how to fund a newspaper without relying on sponsors who can attempt to call the shots and tame the newspaper into being just another newspaper like any other that refuses to call out the 1 percent who run the city. Perhaps it would be better to obtain sponsors not from some business man who sets his own agenda to boost his own image, but on like-minded people who wholly agree with the radical aims of the newspaper. It is better to rely on ten genuinely sympathetic sponsors than one self-interested sponsor who is on an ego trip or seeks to boost his prestige. There are cases in Britain where bookshops and pubs facing closure were saved by the well concerted and combined efforts of their customers who came up with funds to save them. The newspaper The Guardian does not receive funding from any rich magnates, but relies on free donations from all their readers. They have managed to avoid closure. So novel ways of fund raising have to be fully explored even though it remains one of the biggest stressful headaches.

 

A new alternative homeless newspaper may seem a tall order. But I think it is doable and I believe Jim Vail and Thomas Hansen as well as other Americans have the know how, experience and the audacity! We must dare to use our own reason. So let's say, "Go for it"!