Garth Foster
2004-04-10 02:29:31 UTC
Canberra Times 8 April printed another tear jerker on homelessness.
What is the point of this garbage does the editor set it as an essay
topic for every new reporter just out of journalism school?
First of all why werent the homeless people depicted in the article
identified. Why was there photo taken from behind? Well Ive worked
that out. Homelessness is some thing to be ashamed of. If your
genuinely homeless in the ACT your very likely either a crim or a
looney. Course most people who are classified as homeless arent
genuine cases. As the article said "of the 1229 people classed as
homeless . . . the vast majority were relying on family and friends
for accommodation".
Lets consider the 2 cases they interviewed - Steve 17 & Raz 19.
CT - Steve, who has lived in a refuge on the south side of Canberra
for the last 13 months, considers himself lucky to have a place to
stay after moving around several times since family trouble drove him
out of his parents' South Coast home.
COMMENT - So what was the family trouble? Did his family kick him out
because he was a lazy bum or what? Was he perhaps the cause of the
"family trouble"?
CT - Raz has lived in three refuges and only recently secured a public
housing unit. She has been forced to live with drug addicts and
criminals in the past and her mother has recently become homeless.
COMMENT - Ah. Forced to live with addicts and criminals. That only
happens in jails or looney bins. But whats the relevance of the bit
about her mother? And what of her father? Uncles & aunts?
CT - Steve knows what it's like to be without any shelter, having
slept rough in long grass in Tuggeranong, and says society makes life
very difficult for young people. He is not surprised that more young
people are finding themselves homeless. "Society is just f ----- up
... You do one thing wrong, and then that's it, you're out," he said.
COMMENT - Ah. He apears to be antisocial. And are we to understand he
has a criminal past?
In my opinion readers would appreciate a more forthright approach by
journalists writing about the homeless - perhaps a few blunt questions
to the vermin they find on the streets rather than just an invitation
to winge about what society has done to them. Plus if these people get
to tell there story to the paper I want to see there faces in the
picture. That way if theyve dished up a load of bullshit people who
know the true story can phone up the newspaper & spill the beans.
What is the point of this garbage does the editor set it as an essay
topic for every new reporter just out of journalism school?
First of all why werent the homeless people depicted in the article
identified. Why was there photo taken from behind? Well Ive worked
that out. Homelessness is some thing to be ashamed of. If your
genuinely homeless in the ACT your very likely either a crim or a
looney. Course most people who are classified as homeless arent
genuine cases. As the article said "of the 1229 people classed as
homeless . . . the vast majority were relying on family and friends
for accommodation".
Lets consider the 2 cases they interviewed - Steve 17 & Raz 19.
CT - Steve, who has lived in a refuge on the south side of Canberra
for the last 13 months, considers himself lucky to have a place to
stay after moving around several times since family trouble drove him
out of his parents' South Coast home.
COMMENT - So what was the family trouble? Did his family kick him out
because he was a lazy bum or what? Was he perhaps the cause of the
"family trouble"?
CT - Raz has lived in three refuges and only recently secured a public
housing unit. She has been forced to live with drug addicts and
criminals in the past and her mother has recently become homeless.
COMMENT - Ah. Forced to live with addicts and criminals. That only
happens in jails or looney bins. But whats the relevance of the bit
about her mother? And what of her father? Uncles & aunts?
CT - Steve knows what it's like to be without any shelter, having
slept rough in long grass in Tuggeranong, and says society makes life
very difficult for young people. He is not surprised that more young
people are finding themselves homeless. "Society is just f ----- up
... You do one thing wrong, and then that's it, you're out," he said.
COMMENT - Ah. He apears to be antisocial. And are we to understand he
has a criminal past?
In my opinion readers would appreciate a more forthright approach by
journalists writing about the homeless - perhaps a few blunt questions
to the vermin they find on the streets rather than just an invitation
to winge about what society has done to them. Plus if these people get
to tell there story to the paper I want to see there faces in the
picture. That way if theyve dished up a load of bullshit people who
know the true story can phone up the newspaper & spill the beans.