Street TELLING (HYPER) LOCAL STORIES papers have always excelled at telling stories, sometimes through a hyperlocal lens. Pick up any edition of the Denver VOICE and you will find stories about the realities of homelessness written by those same people experiencing it, the latest news about issues that impact people who are homeless and features on artists creating space for people of all backgrounds to connect. According to Findlay, street papers need to lean in to local storytelling and find ways to support the voices of people with a lived experience of homelessness. One initiative he’s piloted in recent years is creating a journalism workshop for people who are homeless in the U.K. The classes train people on skills like interviewing and writing. Findlay said he is working on creating a toolkit for INSP-network street papers to set up a similar workshop of their own. These workshops go beyond helping people tell true stories, Findlay explained. They are a way for street papers to get back to their core mission: showcasing the lived experience of homelessness and helping people rebuild the relationships necessary to find stability again. “That creates a bit of excitement and opportunity around how street papers can continue and also expand their reach to new audiences, particularly where we’ve got those authentic voices in through vendor stories or that kind of extra lens that we provide to current affairs and news topics as well,” Findlay said. Another trend that could raise the tide for street papers is the revival of print in the post-Covid era, Findlay added. For instance, a poll from Roularta Media Group in Belgium found that 37% of youth age 18 to 34 reported reading print more today than they did five years ago. Another 89% of respondents expressed a preference for hard-copy books rather than e-books. “There’s a real sense of revival in print actually, which I think is quite reassuring,” Findlay said. ADOPTING AI The future of street papers also includes learning how to use artificial intelligence to achieve their organizational goals, Findlay said. He cautioned that street papers should not adopt new technology just because it exists. Instead, the organizations need to identify problems that new technology can help them solve. At the same time, street papers can use new technology to make a poignant social critique. Findlay pointed to The Big Issue South Africa as an example of how street papers can adopt artificial intelligence without sacrificing their mission. The paper is the first in the world that was edited with the assistance of an AI-powered editor named Genevieve Stanley, which helped create an issue about Elon Musk and the dangers of AI. “It’s not about using AI to plagiarize, but it can help you synthesize information,” Findlay said. STRONGER COLLABORATION Street papers also can strengthen their standing by finding new ways to collaborate. At times, those collaborations happen outside of the newsroom or print shop. Curbside Chronicle, a street paper in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has developed a series of social enterprises that help support its monthly paper. For example, the outlet launched Curbside Flowers, a full-service flower shop that helps people transition out of homelessness. Curbside also has partnered with local organizations like the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA franchise to sell branded merchandise that supports Curbside’s operations. Street papers also are trying to find ways for newsrooms to do more collaborative reporting on issues that matter to their vendors and audience. Annemarie Cuccia, editor-in-chief of Street Sense in Washington, D.C., told Denver VOICE her organization is trying to find a way to provide national-scope stories for street papers to localize. In some aspects, the idea is like a national wire service for street papers. Two national stories that could be localized include the Trump administration’s attempts to rewrite the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s funding guidelines or the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s streets. “We want to show how this story is affecting each of us in our individual communities and maybe go into local reporting from different areas,” Cuccia said. What’s most important in these collaborations is that local street papers maintain their independence, Cuccia added. “It’s really about making sure that we keep to that community-driven vision and that it is a place where people are close to the news,” she said. “We hope that our readers are in some ways close to the news, so people can sort of trust what they’re seeing and see different voices that are elevated.” Chief Executive of the International Network of Street Newspaper Mike Findlay-Agnew, CEO of Invisible People Mark Horvath, Managing Editor of the Denver VOICE Andrew Fraieli and former President of the Denver VOICE board Robert Davis at the autumn 2025 INSP North America conference. DENVER VOICE NOVEMBER 2026 9
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