Homelessness is an important topic in modern society. According to data from Our World in Data, around 550,000 people experienced homeless, which means that 1 in 1,670 Americans may be homeless. Under this circumstance, journalists tend to pay attention to this specific group of people in media coverage. Admittedly, journalists do a good job of covering this topic, capturing the attention of more and more people in this society. However, there still needs to be an improvement in nowadays media coverage featuring homeless people.
First, there are still stereotypes towards homeless people in news stories. For instance, homeless people appear in lots of crime stories. What is more, they are often described as insane and dangerous in news stories. There are different kinds of homeless people. In other words, different factors are leading to one’s homelessness. The description of homeless people in some of the media coverage may strengthen the bias of the public towards homeless people, making people believe that homeless people are all lazy or mentally ill. According to National Law Center on Homeless and Poverty, major cities across the country report that the top causes of homelessness among unaccompanied individuals were (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, (4) mental illness and the lack of needed services and (5) substance abuse and the lack of needed services. In particular, for women, domestic violence is a huge cause of homelessness. Homeless people wander on streets for a variety of reasons. Most of them are driven into a corner and have nowhere to go. Journalists should avoid stereotyping homeless people by appropriately presenting different causes of homelessness to the target audience. When interviewing homeless people, journalists need to show empathy towards them. Instead of asking what’s wrong with them, a responsible journalist would rather ask what happen to them.
Second, it is the journalists’ responsibility to offer an accurate picture of homelessness to the public. To help homeless people, one of the most important solutions can be providing shelters for them. In terms of related data, one thing I find interesting is that actual rates of unsheltered homelessness can be higher than the predicted rates in some states, according to the Council of Economic Advisors. Therefore, journalists need to unravel such data in the news articles, making people have an accurate understanding of the situation of unsheltered people.
What is more, journalists need to focus on solutions, not just problems. As an article from San Francisco Public Press said, solutions-based reporting can hold people accountable for solving the problem to the best of their capabilities. More and more media coverage featuring ways to help homeless people can put stress on relevant organizations, which can make staff in local organizations and help centers more willing to offer substantial support to homeless people. In related articles, journalists need to show different ways to help the homeless. They can include the nearest spots for donations to the homeless, which can make people realize the importance of lending a hand.
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