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The History of The Homeless Grapevine A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Magdalena I. Chapin May 2013 © 2013 Magdalena I. Chapin. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled The History of The Homeless Grapevine by MAGDALENA I. CHAPIN has been approved for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Michael S. Sweeney Professor of Journalism Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii ABSTRACT CHAPIN, MAGDALENA I., M.S., May 2013, Journalism The History of The Homeless Grapevine Director of Thesis: Michael S. Sweeney The Homeless Grapevine was a street newspaper that was written, produced, and distributed by homeless individuals in Cleveland, Ohio, and their advocates, from 1993 to 2009. The Homeless Grapevine sought to promote equal treatment and justice for the homeless of Cleveland through its grassroots reporting on the issues surrounding the marginalized population. Through a deep reading and oral history interviews with former Grapevine editors, writers, contributors, readers and vendors, this study is a historical look at The Grapevine’s sixteen years of production and the changes it made in individual lives as well as in awareness on a local, state and national level. iii For Kevin and Ron from streets of tar to streets of gold iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Tremendous thanks is given to Michael S. Sweeney, Ph. D., Aimee Edmondson, Ph. D., and Patrick Washburn, Ph. D for their discouragement, encouragement, and patience with me throughout my pursuit of meaning and masterdom. I owe my sanity and productivity to Joseph Barbaree and Rachel Figley, my two favorite successes of graduate school. Angelo Anderson, Brian Davis, Jean Taddie and Councilman Joe Cimperman, thank you for your cooperation, understanding, knowledge, inspiration and dedication. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………..........iii Dedication …………………………………………………………………………..........iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………..........v Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: History and Method............................................................................................3 Homelessness ..........................................................................................................3 Historical Street Papers ...........................................................................................5 Mainstream Media Coverage of Homelessness ......................................................5 Modern Street Papers ............................................................................................10 Studies of The Grapevine ......................................................................................11 History of The Grapevine .....................................................................................14 Method ..................................................................................................................17 Chapter 3: Results .............................................................................................................20 The Story ...............................................................................................................20 The Contents .........................................................................................................24 The Poetry .............................................................................................................44 The Vendors...........................................................................................................48 The Restructuring ..................................................................................................53 vi The Adversity ........................................................................................................59 The Awareness.......................................................................................................66 The Politics............................................................................................................70 The End .................................................................................................................76 The Change ...........................................................................................................78 Chapter 4: Conclusions .....................................................................................................82 Appendices ........................................................................................................................84 Appendix A: IRB Forms .......................................................................................84 Appendix B: Street Vendor Contract ....................................................................89 Appendix C: West Side Market Policy .................................................................91 Appendix D: West Side Market Schedule ...........................................................92 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION From the most famous newspapers, such as the New York Times, to the small penny press publications, throughout history the goal of newspapers has been to make the public aware of happenings going on around them, to spread “the word.”1 The Homeless Grapevine was an advocacy street paper that was published by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1993 to 2009. The publication covered news relating to the homeless and impoverished in the area and nationwide. It was the first street paper of its kind in Ohio since the early 1900s and was used as both a means of income for the homeless population and a tool for the advocacy of human rights. The Homeless Grapevine sought to promote equal treatment and justice for the homeless of Cleveland through its grassroots reporting on the issues surrounding the marginalized population. It successfully provided an outlet for a usually unheard population’s voice. The Grapevine brought the opinions of the homeless on political and social issues to the forefront within their own publication and, through this, caught the attention of audiences both locally and nationwide. The Homeless Grapevine was also influential in starting three other street papers and was one of the founding papers in the North American Street Newspaper Association, an organization that bands together over 1 Mitchell Stephens, A History of News (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), Chapter 1, passim. forty street papers from across North America and Europe with the goal of promoting justice for the homeless.2 This study is a historical look at The Grapevine’s sixteen years of production. Through a deep reading and textual analysis of the eighty-seven issue population and through conducting oral history interviews with former Grapevine editors, writers, contributors, readers and vendors, this thesis tells a history of the life of the paper, from its meager photo-copied beginnings to the final issues that gained nationwide media attention. 2 “Members and Services, North American Street Newspaper Association — Providing Work Opportunities. Changing the Conversation,” at http://www.nasna.org/members-and-services/ (accessed March 22, 2013). 2 CHAPTER 2: HISTORY AND METHOD The Homeless More than three million people in the United States experience homelessness each year and even more are at risk of homelessness. The fundamental causes of homelessness include lack of affordable housing, cutbacks in social services, and reduction in government assistance to help those with lagging incomes. Millions of low-income households put more than 50 percent of their income toward rent, leaving them just one missed paycheck or medical emergency away from homelessness.3 Homelessness in America has gone through changes in cause and definition. Before the Industrial Revolution there simply was not enough shelter to go around. In the early nineteenth century, the influx of immigrants to America caused many people to be homeless at least temporarily. What Shields refers to as the third period of homelessness from the 1870s to the 1970s was defined largely by income and capitalist societal trends. As larger monetary gaps were created between the rich and the poor, the rise in price of living forced many onto the streets. The fourth wave of homelessness, which is still continuing, is uniquely characterized by the influx of women, children, and families on the streets due to a rise in economic inequality beginning in the 1980s and ‘90s.4 3 “NLCHP.org,” NLCHP.org, http://www.nlchp.org/hapia.cfm (accessed May 31, 2012). 4 Todd G. Shields, “Network News Construction of Homelessness: 1980-1993,” Communication Review 4, no. 2, (2001): 193. 3 Homelessness is described as lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and has been around for centuries, but it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that the term was widely accepted. Before then, those who are now thought of as homeless were “vagabonds,” “drifters,” “hobos,” “hermits,” “gypsies,” and “rail-riders.” The issues related to the lives of these individuals first entered the public eye as a concern in the writings of journalist Jacob A. Riis. His 1890 book How the Other Half Lives described the ways in which impoverished people of New York survived. He covered homelessness from the young