Campus & Community / Magazine Feature

Dozens of street newspaper staffers join forces on DU campus

Journalists from “street newspapers” around the country will be discussing strategies and stories during the eighth annual North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) conference on the DU campus July 30 to Aug. 2.

Street newspapers started in the 1970s in the Pacific Northwest as a grassroots effort to raise awareness about homelessness. Homeless people publish articles, letters and artwork in the papers and sell them as a way to earn money.

“The defining factor is that there’s a jobs program in which homeless people can sell the newspaper,” says Tim Covi, editor of the Denver Voice, the Denver street newspaper hosting the conference.

This is the first time Denver is hosting the conference, which will draw journalists from 22 street newspapers nationwide. Workshop topics will range from layout and design to the power of e-mail marketing. Workshops will feature presenters from organizations such as The Denver Post, Columbia College, Megaphone Magazine and Colorado Nonprofit Association.

For more information about street newspapers or the conference, visit www.nasna.org.

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