Neither silent nor invisible’: anti-poverty communication in the San Francisco Bay Area

Overview

The communication practices of three US anti-poverty groups in the San Francisco Bay Area – Coalition on Homelessness, Poor News Network, and Media Alliance – are discussed whose communication strategies work for the recognition and rights of low-income and homeless people, and for policies to better redistribute economic and communications resources. In the wake of media closures in the local public sphere, and major restructuring of social welfare programmes, these groups’ creative and engaged communication strategies empower poor people and support the building of counter-public spheres working in interaction with, and as alternatives to, dominant media spheres.