There’s something shifting at Megaphone — in a good way.
We’re proud to introduce Megaphone magazine’s new peer newsroom: The Shift. It’s an awesome group of more than a dozen vendors and storytellers who will be gathering monthly with Managing Editor Paula Carlson to brainstorm story ideas, take on assignments, determine the direction of the magazine and be a part of an exciting year-long project in partnership with the UBC Learning Exchange that will develop journalism best practices for reporting on marginalized communities.
Why The Shift? So the framework of Megaphone magazine can “shift” to being a more inclusive street paper, empowering those with lived experience to tell the stories that matter to them and their communities.
The inaugural group is made up of Louise Boilevin, Julie Chapman, Nicolas Crier, David Deocera, Yvonne Mark, Mike McNeeley, Jathinder Sandhu, Eva Takakanew, Richard Young, Michael Geilen, Lance Lim, Priscillia Mays Tait and James Witwicki. Witwicki is also the magazine’s new copy editor.
The group meets regularly with the managing editor to:
• Collaborate and plan the monthly magazine’s direction for the year;
• Brainstorm topics and issues to cover;
• Map out features, photos and commentary;
• Pitch ideas, take on magazine assignments — including photography — and work to change how media reports on the Downtown Eastside.
• Connect with one another and share their creativity and experiences.
Represented within The Shift are people with direct lived experience of poverty, homelessness, Indigenous issues, substance use, physical disabilities, mental illness, incarceration, racism, immigration, LGBTQ2+ and other important concerns that make up so much of the current public discourse and politics at all levels of government. Who better to have their voices heard?
Megaphone publishes news, opinion, arts and entertainment, photography, creative writing, Q&A interviews, community stories, celebrity profiles, international street paper news — and so much more!
As usual, members of The Shift are blowing us away with their work, which you’ll find on the pages of this edition of Megaphone — including the cover story, Scenes From a Decampment, which starts on the next page. Look for their stories in upcoming editions as well.
Hold onto your seats… The Shift is happening!
