Homeless Culture and the Media: How the Media Educate Audiences ...

A foundational premise of this work is that the media educate—albeit in an informal fashion. As a writer commented in an article on the website of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning, “Informal education takes place in the information channels that become the principal avenues for learning … once formal schooling is completed. These channels include: mass media, the World Wide Web, museums and public talks.”

Research Statements

The national media and some homeless service providers often present a misleading picture of America’s homeless as otherwise ordinary people whose problems can be “fixed” by a meal and some overnight shelter. This understanding was fostered by my analysis of the print and broadcast media narrative.

The understanding that led to this hypothesis was also reinforced by the limited amount of literature available on how the media portray the homeless. While that is dealt with in the review of the literature, this brief comment explains the hypothesis.

A study by the nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs reported finding an advocacy-type approach by the media to the homeless, one that suggested the need for government assistance to an aggrieved group. Ongoing private sector initiatives were rarely observed. “In addition, while presenting the homeless in a sympathetic light, the media distorted their social characteristics, in ways that understate the difficulty in addressing their needs” (Buck & Toro, 2002, p. 3).

Donors to ministries and other providers for the homeless prefer to think of the homeless as being just like them, so presenting a more accurate picture of the homeless as drunks, alcoholics and schizophrenics who nonetheless still need help, would severely diminish funding for the many ministries that serve the homeless.

There is nothing in the academic literature that provides a clear indication concerning what one might expect to find from this research. However, observation from my ministry, as well as other ministries and providers across the United States, appears to indicate that the thesis statements presented above will be proven.