The new face of homelessness? Examining media representations of women’s homelessness in five Australian news sources

Lyons, Georgia; Smedley, Charlotte

doi:10.1080/10530789.2019.1709269

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…As our above discussion of media effects theories demonstrates, it has been long argued that the media is able to shape public debate on social issues by selecting which issues are to be given prominence and how those issues are framed (Buck et al, 2004; Bunis et al, 1996; Crisis, 2017; Gurran & Phibbs, 2015; Mao et al, 2012; Nichols et al, 2018). Homelessness is one such social issue that has received considerable attention by media analysts over the past couple of decades (Best, 2010; Calder et al, 2011; Hodgetts et al, 2005; Hrast, 2008; Huckin, 2002; Lyons & Smedley, 2021; Richter et al, 2011; Zufferey, 2014). In particular, analysts have been largely concerned with how the media represents homelessness as a social issue, and how the media represents people who experience homelessness.…”

Section: Media Representations Of Homelessnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there has been limited scholarly attention paid to media representations of responses to homelessness in general (e.g. Schneider et al, 2010 in Canada, Hrast (2008) in Slovenia), and even fewer in Australia (Lyons & Smedley, 2021), these studies have focused primarily on the types of responses that are portrayed in the media. As a result, little is currently known about how these responses to homelessness are portrayed, or whether the same power dynamics evident in media portrayals of homelessness and the people who experience it are evident through this lens.…”

Section: Media Representations Of Homelessnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fulfilling and desperately needed: Australian media representations of responses to homelessness

Reeves

Clarke

Kuskoff

et al. 2022

Aust J Social Issues

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Homelessness is a significant social issue that continues to confront Australian society, despite burgeoning public and policy responses to the issue. Existing scholarship demonstrates the important role the media can play in shaping such responses by framing homelessness – and the people who experience it – in particular ways. However, to date there has been limited focus on how the media represents social responses to homelessness, or how such representations might influence public perceptions of the appropriateness of current responses. Drawing on analysis of four years of media articles (2016–2019), this article examines how the print media frames responses to homelessness in Brisbane, Australia. Our findings demonstrate that the media largely frames current responses as fulfilling and enjoyable for volunteers, and as desperately needed by people who experience homelessness. In representing the issue in this way, the media highlights the unequal power dynamics between those experiencing homelessness and those responding to homelessness. Rather than challenging this problematic power hierarchy, however, the media reifies it through its celebration of temporary and inadequate homelessness responses. We argue that such framing has the potential to promote public and policy support for responses that do little to address the underlying causes of the issue.

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