It was a rough start for Real Change vendor John O'Donnell.
"When I first started selling, I thought it was pretty weird," he said. "I didn't think I'd be able to sell fifty papers a month. But then you learn. You sell yourself. Some people will smirk, but you can't let them get to you. It's like if you go fishing in the ocean: No matter how hard you work, you just can't catch them all."
As it turned out, John could sell 50 papers a month -- and then more. Eventually he was selling enough to pay the entire rent on his apartment each month. But when his landlord unexpectedly raised his rent another $100, he couldn't afford it and found himself homeless once again.
Now money from his Real Change sales goes into savings for the next apartment, or in case his number ever comes up on the low-income housing waiting list he's been on for several years.
John's story is not unique. Across the world, more than 200,000 people have been given a hand-up through the street press concept since 1994. It is a remarkable success story that combines social enterprise with independent journalism in a global effort to help some of the world's poorest people.
The concept is simple: Vendors buy copies of the papers at a fraction of the cover price and sell them to their customers to generate an income. Street press readers help vendors to earn a dignified income and escape poverty.
This is a key message of the 2011 'Vote for Dignity' campaign, launched by the International Network of Street Papers to coincide with the UN's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct. 17, 2011.
To mark the campaign, Scottish-based INSP has announced that the street press movement is growing. Street press sales have increased across the world for the second year running, lifting tens of thousands of people out of poverty. Every edition, 6.2 million people read the 112 magazines and newspapers sold by homeless people in 40 nations. At a time when consumers are becoming increasingly disillusioned with media conglomerates, street press offers quality journalism, free from political and corporate influence. More importantly, these publications save lives while offering hope and dignity to people living on the margins of society.
David Schlesinger, chairman of Thomson Reuters China, is honorary president of INSP. He says: "Go around the world and buy a street newspaper or magazine and you are not just doing good, you are really getting something good. There's a true exchange and creation of value, using real journalism as the medium. As someone who has always believed passionately in the revelatory and transformative powers of journalism, I am really proud to be associated with this movement. It shows how the published form can help people change their own lives and also have an impact on the society around them."
Lisa Maclean, executive director of INSP, adds: "Street press offers dignified employment and social support to people experiencing homelessness and poverty in 40 countries. INSP street press is also in a unique position to uncover stories and share the perspectives of people and issues not typically discussed in the mainstream press. It is independent, acts as a powerful voice for social change and challenges the status quo. And it reaches out to an incredible 6 million readers across the globe every edition."
The quality of street press journalism was showcased recently in Glasgow, Scotland, at the INSP 2011 International Street Paper Awards. Winning entries ranged from an astonishing report about 31 homeless people who were murdered in S