A lot people in the housing community, for better or worse, are worked up over Anna Griffin’s ongoing series on homelessness in The Oregonian. Get used to it. A new story will come out every Friday for the next six weeks.
Wait, does this mean I’m promoting The Oregonian’s series in Street Roots? I suppose I am.
Trying to capture the issue of homelessness in a meaningful way is no easy task for a reporter. The homeless crisis in America is dense and complex. From the disinvestment of federal funds over the past 30 years to local communities having to carry the water to the day-to-day realities of people living outdoors and how it affects the larger community — it’s more than a handful to try to capture in a meaningful way. Everyone has an opinion and an angle. Nobody who dedicates his or her life to this work wants to hear a story about how a specific plan has failed, or one that is framed in a way that may hurt a specific cause or agenda, especially when resources are involved and the political will to end the problem is genuine.
Writing a column and being the director of Street Roots — a newspaper that has been covering the issue of homelessness and poverty for years — I certainly understand the pressure that comes with trying to present these complex issues publicly in a way that’s engaging, real and, most importantly, offers actual meaning. Depending on how you choose to frame a particular issue or topic may be the difference between the public becoming more engaged or simply not caring at all.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned most about the issue of homelessness and housing in Portland. Most people don’t care about bureaucratic details or what insiders think about a specific topic. What people care about is finding out how they as a community can help. Whether you’re an average citizen, a government official, law enforcement or part of the business community — nobody wants to see thousands of people suffering in our doorways and under bridges.
We all may have a different reason for ultimately coming to that realization — be it from a place of experience or compassion, economics or one’s own self-interests. In the end, does it matter whether we can all agree that we need more resources to offer individuals and families housing in the region? I don’t think so. What matters is capturing that collective sense of wanting to do something about the issue and then building the political will to carry it forward.
If the result of The Oregonian’s reporting is getting mad and trashing The Oregonian instead of pivoting to seize the moment, then we’ve already failed. Believe me, I get it. It’s easy to get caught up in bashing The Oregonian — and it might be even more tempting if the reports are followed with editorials condemning government action. Saying that, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Like it or not, good reporting should always challenge our assumptions and help us understand the problem at a deeper level. Does this mean Anna Griffin and The Oregonian will get every single thing right in the series? Probably not, but that’s not the point. Who among us does?
Having The Oregonian cover this issue gives housing advocates and government leaders an amazing opportunity to turn this conversation into action items that do something big to tackle the problem. How about we sieze the moment?
