Outside a Trader Joe's grocery in northwest Portland, geared toward middle-class customers in search of gourmet grub, 59-year-old Roger Gates is working his regular six-hour shift on the sidewalk. He's chatting up customers about Street Roots, a nonprofit newspaper founded in 1998 to advocate for the homeless.

In the four years he has sold it, the 'street paper' has grown from a small and scruffy monthly to a professionally edited bimonthly providing insight into everything from city hall politics to the crisis in Darfur. 'We're starting to cover global issues, things going on around the world,' Gates says. 'We're getting better and better all the time.'

It's not the sort of coverage most customers expect when they hand over their pocket change. Street papers typically have been just a few pages long, their all-volunteer staffs unconcerned with aesthetically pleasing layouts, and focused primarily on stories affecting or reflecting the needs of the indigent. Over the past few years, however, more and more papers like Street Roots have chosen to employ professional writers, publish more mainstream coverage, and put more money into design.

'For some street papers, this means a move away from a grassroots, participatory medium and the 'professionalization' of the sector,' says Kevin Howley, associate professor of media studies at DePauw University. It also means a shift to more 'middle-class content' -- local, national, international, and entertainment news that grabs readers' interest.

The Seattle-based publication Real Change, culling data from focus groups, found that being perceived as a 'homeless paper' fosters low expectations among potential readers. To combat that perception, Real Change revamped its layout and began emphasizing topics such as biofuels and immigration. Other papers have tried publishing more frequently, soliciting ads, and expanding their range of coverage.