The paper that helped the homeless

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2021

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1989 celebrities in New York set up the 'Street News' paper to help the homeless. People living rough sold the paper at a profit instead of begging, initially it was very successful with around 250,000 copies sold per issue and the idea was copied around the world. Lee Stringer was living on the street when he began selling 'Street News', he discovered a talent for writing and went on to be a columnist and then editor of the paper. He told Witness History how living on the streets made him a better writer and how he became a successful author as a result of the chance he was given at 'Street News'.

(Photo: A street vendor holds a copy of 'Street News'. Credit CBS)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me
0:45.6	Rebecca Keesby. Today we're heading for New York in the 1980s and the launch of
0:51.1	Street News, the first modern newspaper created to help homeless people.
0:56.0	Lee Stringer didn't just sell the paper, he ended up editing it and then became a successful writer.
1:02.0	But it was a long difficult road to get off the streets.
1:06.0	Help the homeless buy your street nose here on 75 cents.
1:11.0	This is when homelessness again was the number one social issue in America and around the
1:17.2	globe somewhat.
1:18.3	This is the fallout of the 80s.
1:21.6	It was boom time, the age of deregulation, market capitalism and cheap borrowing for business.
1:28.0	New York was an oasis of opportunity for some, but for others it was the end of the line.
1:33.6	Homelessness was at an all-time high.
1:36.0	One of thousands who found themselves living on the streets was Lee Stringer.
1:40.5	He'd had a pretty good job, but a series of family tragedies led him first to the
1:45.2	bottle and then to crack cocaine. It was the back-to-back desk of a few people close
1:51.1	to me, my father and a friend of mine and my brother.
	...

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