International Network of Street Papers


The International Network of Street Papers is an organization that supports and develops street paper projects all over the world. It spans over 100 papers from 34 countries, with a combined readership of 5 million. INSP was founded in July 1994 and the network was initially managed by The Big Issue. INSP's headquarters are in Glasgow, Scotland. The network organises a yearly conference. It also supports new start-up street papers and runs the Street News Service. In 2008, it began giving annual awards for top street newspaper journalism in several categories. INSP co-founder Mel Young also organises the annual Homeless World Cup.

Street News Service

Street News Service is a news agency for street newspapers run by the International Network of Street Papers. It carries articles, essays and news from newspapers sold and sometimes written by homeless and poor people. It helps street papers worldwide to share stories with each other with other alternative press. Mainstream news services Thomson Reuters and Inter Press Service support SNS with photos and training.
The news service is distributed weekly in three languages to over 200 journalists. SNS also has a team of 46 volunteers translators, offering translation to 15 languages.
It was originally started as a collaboration between the North American Street Newspaper Association and AlterNet.