LOOK AT THE HOMELESS

A Style Guide for Journalists:

EAPN (European Anti Poverty Network)

In Europe (1990)

www.eapn.eu

In Spain (2004): 19 Regional

Networks and 16 National NGOs

Why did we think this guide was

necessary?

• It was a request of our members dealing with

homelessness.

• Negative events related to homelessness in the media:

• Criminalizing speech

• Lack of understanding of homelessness phenomena

• Dissemination of stereotypes through the media that

perpetuates the stigma

• The violation of basic rights in media reporting

• The mass media has a fundamental responsibility for

assisting the social integration of the homeless.

• Create a useful and easy reading guide for journalists.

• The objective is not necessarily that the media gives a

“positive” images of the homeless but to offer quality

information.

Terminology and use of images

• Explain why we advocate for the term homeless

• Avoid technical language that distances the reader from reality.

• The images of homeless people used by the media do not reflect the multiple facets of their lives. In most cases, these images are stereotypical and tend to present the homeless as isolated, inactive or unkempt individuals.

• Often, the homeless do not wish to appear in the media, and therefore they should be given the possibility of images in which they cannot be recognised, thus respecting their right to privacy.

Some data

Data against prejudices

Prejudice: “they live on the street because they want to”

Data: On average, homeless people experience 7 or 8 traumatic events that completely alter their previous lives. The situations most frequently experienced before 18 years old are the lack of money and the death of a member of the family unit, both around 40%.

P: “they are just men, old people.”

D: One in six homeless people is a woman, a figure that is constantly rising. The average age of the homeless is 38 years old and there are increasing numbers of young homeless people.

P: “uneducated and uncultured”

D: Two out of three homeless people have a secondary school education and 13% have been to university.

P: “all alcoholics or drug addicts”

D: 30% of homeless people declare themselves to be teetotal and to have never taken drugs.

Some data

P: “lazy and dirty.”

D: 11.8% of homeless people work. Of those that are unemployed, half are looking for work. In practically all areas, public washing facilities either do not exist or are insufficient compared to the number of homeless. Only 10-15% of the homeless beg.

P: “they receive a lot of benefits”

D: 60% of homeless people consider that they received little or no help from social services. Less than half of homeless people have used public shelters. Almost 90% of resources are spent on basic needs, not on social integration policies.

P: “it’s a way of life like any other”

D: Since they became homeless, 42% have been insulted or threatened, 40% have been robbed, and 3.5%, mostly women, have been sexually assaulted. Different studies show that being homeless greatly reduces life expectancy.

Data taken from the Survey on the homeless carried out by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística in December 2005.

Some examples

Some examples

Some examples

Some examples

Photographer Discovers a ‘Family’ of Homeless Men and Women

Living in West Harlem

Some examples

Rober Amado

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robitoamado/sets/721576278830

36960

/

How the process was?

• Demand of one of our NGO.

• Creation of an interdisciplinary group:

• Social workers and psychologists working directly with homeless

• EAPN workers

• NGO Press officers

• Journalist from the media, interested in the topic and that writes about social issues.

• Next step: participation of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion

• Creation of a frame document that organise the guide.

• Several meetings to create the index.

• Work in small groups the develop the text and afterwards sharing points of view and agreeing on the content in the big group.

• Final editing, review the language and the contents.

To take into account in the process

• Language has to be simple and direct.

• It is a guide for journalist not for NGO’s.

• Easy to consult (the journalist doesn’t have to read the

whole guide).

• Give info pills: easy to read and understand.

• In Spain, the crisis of the media has lead to a lack of

specialist journalists.

• Knowing what you can ask for: the solution is always in

the middle

Was the guide successful?

• We haven’t followed up the impact of the guide yet

• Some of the new media have more conciusness.

• Traditional media are more static and difficult to make

them to change.

• We have identified journalists that could be our allies,

with a similar way of approach to homelessness

• The guide was reedited (we had a big demand)

• Other similar guides have been issued: age, poverty and

employment

What might be the next step for EAPN-

Spain

• Include homeless in the process.

• Advocate for the homeless as a (necessary) source of

information.

• Our intentions is to create Journalist Guides covering all

social exclusion fields.

Contact me:

• Jonás Candalija

• Communications and Press Officer EAPN Spain

• +34 91 786 04 11 / +34 649 237 845

• jonas.candalija@eapn.es

• www.eapn.es