INSP Awards 2022 - WINNERS!

At the climax of this year's Global Street Paper Summit, the first annual gathering of street paper staff since before the Covid-19 pandemic, street papers around the world celebrated their work, imagination and resilience in the preceding few years at the INSP Awards ceremony.

Held in the Milan Museum of Science and Technology, the event was also a moment of reflection and introspection. Before the awards were handed out, street paper staff remembered those who had died during one of the most difficult periods in the street paper network's history.

Many of the people eulogised had sold street papers in their time, and as the awards began to be handed out, it was street paper vendors again at the centre, with trophies going to the best vendor contribution to a street paper, and the best best example of vendor support.

Presented by INSP board chair Fay Selvan and Scarp de' tenis editorial secretary Sabrina Montanarella, there were also awards for the advocacy side of street papers in the form of best campaign. And, of course, recognition of the immense journalistic and design work of street paper teams via awards for the best photograph and the best cover, the latter of which was decided by a public vote that drew attention from around 2,000 people. All other categories were decided, for the first time, by INSP's member street papers themselves.

Find out the winners of each category below, along with some pictures of the night's events.

The Best Cover award asked for entries that conveyed the theme of 'resilience'. The ten finalists were chosen for their strong story telling ability to convey the theme, through composition and colour, creating a cover that was eye catching for the reader. The award was won by Slovenian street paper Kralji Ulice for the striking cover above, as determined by a public vote.

The above photo, entitled 'Best Friends Forever', published in Gothenburg, Sweden-based street paper Faktum, won the award for Best Photograph. The photo captures the 60 years of friendship shared by Dagny Carlsson, 109, the world’s oldest blogger and her bestie KerstinTörnqvist, 89. The key to long life is friendship and living in a celebratory way, which can be seen clearly in the photo.

In spring of 2021, Hannover street paper Asphalt, together with twelve other street papers (BISS, bodo, Donaustrudl, draußen!, Draussenseiter, fiftyfifty, Hinz&Kunzt, Die Jerusalëmmer, KiPPE, Straßenkreuzer, Strohhalm, Trott-war) started an online petition demanding the opening of hotels for homeless people during the lockdown.

The petition holding 165,000 signatures was presented to the Minister President of the Federal German states. The campaign was politically and publicly debated and featured across several news agencies, broadcasters and daily newspapers. It won the Best Campaign award in Milan.

In December 2020, Oklahoma City street paper The Curbside Chronicle opened a brick-and-mortar flower shop as a permanent extension of its seasonal flower campaigns. Curbside Flowers operates like a traditional florist, providing daily flower deliveries, a retail shop, and wedding and events floral.

Curbside Flowers employs magazine vendors ready to transition into a more traditional work environment. Each vendor earns a college certificate in retail floral design. So far, the flower shop has offered employment to 22 vendors. In its first year of business, the project sold over 10,000 bouquets, executed 101 weddings and banquets, and generated 8,700 hours of employment for florists. The project was a worthy winner of the Best Vendor Support award.

Vendors contribute to street papers in journalistic and artistic ways all the time. To mark that, INSP recognises the Best Vendor Contribution, which this year went to Asphalt, the Hannover street paper's second award. In the piece, three Asphalt vendors travelled together to the world's most important art exhibition for contemporary art, documenta fifteen, to conduct interviews and offer their perspectives. For some, it was the first time they had travelled in decades. It was courageous and exciting for them, resulting in a beautiful piece of journalism.

The Global Street Paper Summit was held in Milan between 12 and 15 September in collaboration with the local street paper Scarp de' tenis. It was attended by 120 people, representing 48 street papers from 24 different countries.