Homelessness

8 Unwrapping Holiday Bias: Analyzing Seasonal Awareness Disparities in Local News Coverage of Homeless & Shelters in the Niagara Region (Clemence, Pozzobon, Tilk)

By Shelley Clemence, Jacob Pozzobon, & Neil Tilk.

While media representation is quiet through the months following the Christmas season in December, the homeless crisis is not silent. In the month of December, our research reflects that the media temporarily finds their voice for the homeless situation, publishing articles that speak about the crisis and the organizations that are attempting to enact a change for the individuals that are left without a roof, and most of the time a bathroom. Given that one in ten Canadians are living in precarious housing, where a change in their employment or an illness could see them homeless, this issue should be a constant talking point of newspapers and media.

When readers are provided articles about concerns faced by the individuals in their community, there is an importance given to these written words. Publications on the issue of homelessness provide more information to the readers, including how to support organizations that help individuals facing these crises, through donations or speaking with government representatives to ensure the crisis is addressed through funding or initiatives. When these concerns are not emphasized in the local media, as is the case in the months following December, the general public could easily go on about their days without a second thought of how they could impact life-altering change for those facing homelessness.

In our research we analyzed 18 articles from The Niagara Falls Review, comparing those published in January 2023 to those from December 2023. The keywords “homeless” and “shelter” appeared in 14 articles in December compared to 4 in January. Our research highlights that articles are framed in a way that lacks the required sense of urgency that individuals facing homelessness deserve. And those articles have an almost twenty percent chance of being an opinion piece, similar to Dear Editor; easily overlooked as unimportant by the daily reader. When the media chooses to address an important issue, impacting a huge population, with a token pat on the head acknowledgment, they are effectively being complicit in the homeless crisis. Why do media, and specifically newspapers, choose to disengage in a life or death conversation2 immediately after the ‘holiday season’? This crisis has been used for political gain and failure, and is still in the conversations of their readership and communities, as highlighted by the ongoing protests in municipalities. Rather than reporting on this crisis and supporting the conversation required by the communities the media represents, we are metaphorically reading the sound of crickets.

Research Report

by: Shelley Clemence, Jacob Pozzobon, & Neil Tilk

 

Homelessness is a critical social epidemic in Ontario with short-term urgency which is particularly amplified during the harsh Canadian winters due to life-threatening risks posed by a lack of shelter in extreme temperatures. The ‘holiday’ season, falling in December, has proven the annual peak of engagement with charitable institutions and efforts, addressing the urgent needs of those living in cold places; however, the following months often experience extreme contraction in donations despite the life-threatening weather persisting. This study aims to analyze the potential discrepancy in local news coverage of homelessness and relief efforts between December 2023 and January 2023 to illustrate the tendency to engage in “holiday bias” among local news outlets. By articulating the existence and details within this issue, we can uncover an important untapped area of advocacy, for issues surrounding homelessness and the promotion of more equally distributed charitable action.

Literature Review

The core theories in communication research, Agenda-Setting and Framing Theory, provide an influential comprehensive base to construct an approach to the understanding of mass media perceptions, constructions of stigma, and its role in facilitating the prominence of choice topics in their communities. The use of Agenda-Setting in the application to the frequency of mentioning certain topics or initiatives as an indication to the attention and support they will receive was integrated centrally due to the power of its simplicity. As the theory states a relationship between the frequency and prominence, with outlets bearing the responsibility of occupying the crucial curative role, analyzing discrepancy is a natural following step taken by researchers who integrate its sentiment into their own works (McCombs & Shaw 1972, p.181). Framing theory took precedence in the formulation, selection, and articulation of what are characterized as “Reverence” and “Stigma” frames for the sake of our study. Describing the strategies and methods used by media content outlets in order to shape, sway, or distort the interpretation of the information presented, the collaboration of this theory alongside the previous, seamlessly positions perception, image, and understanding as core overarching properties of the study, (Entman 1993, p.55). It was this concept along with attitudinal barriers/facilitators which made up an effective approach to analyzing representation and framing as a reflection to the people and institutions represented, redefining the results as a proven implicating factor to engagement with services like shelters and non-profit/supportive organizations, based on media perception. These attitudinal forces examined, applied directly to what is outlined as “stigma/shame” and “pride/self-reliance” subcategories which are described to have restricting or facilitating impacts on the specific demographic of youth homeless (Ha et al. 2015, pp.28-30). The connection to framing and representation from this article are simple and effective in the application to further implications or recommendations following the study, due to the connection to larger studies which take on media impacts on certain demographics.
Building upon both of these work’s sentiments, Erving Goffman’s 1963 book provided chapters which took on the dynamics of stigmatized individuals operating within society at large, seeking to explain how these stigmas are managed and integrated within the persona or identity of impacted individuals. In particular, chapter five’s discussion of the “spoiled identity” informed the articulation of many stigma frames in contrast to the concepts of self-presentation, normalcy, and deviance (Goffman 1986, p.143) . In highlighting the struggles and the often inescapable stereotypes faced by disenfranchised or marginalized demographics, the lack of agency in constructing these personas emphasizes the requirement of these outlets that construct the narrative to be held accountable.
Examining the specificity of the national context, local news takes on a trusted role within the community as a source of generally truthful or relevant information to the public, which allows for its selection as a subject of content analysis relevant to current gaps in scholarly study (Calder et al. 2011, p.9). The role of certain moral assessments were central to the analysis of Canadian news narrative where interactions with certain thematized categories of discourse in relation to homelessness stereotypes determined the implicit sentiment that dominated the article. Another distinction which was taken and integrated, was the common use of neo-liberal, individualist frames asserted to the homeless in order to defer the responsibility away from institutions or society at large.
In all, the collaboration of these studies and their resulting implications construct a comprehensive understanding of news media’s relationship with the homeless, the unique qualities of the Canadian national context in which the Niagara region exists within, as well as a connection to the use of services available based on media representation. News sources as a trusted primary source of current information regarding the locality’s homeless population have strong influence on the public’s view of their values, identity, and services available to them. In order to analyze how Niagara’s news sources handle this power, the research question:“How does news coverage of homelessness and homeless shelters in the Niagara region last year differ between Holiday month (December) and the Post-Holiday month (January)?” encapsulates the interplay between frequency and representation present within our analysis of local news content informed and built upon the use of key scholarly work both present within the study of communication and media at large, but its impacts on our demographic specifically.

Methods

The Niagara Falls Review was selected for the source of analysis due to the precedence of the outlet historically within the region and the resulting sample size. The keywords utilized in order to yield results relevant to the subject matter include articles which contain mention of both homeless and shelter with all applicable endings to the word. These simple search terms allowed for a breadth of topics united in addressing the demographic and services offered while maintaining a desired quantity of results. Most prominently, another restriction included the relegation of results to only the months of January and December of 2023. Although in reality they are eleven months apart, the isolated contents of their results maintain relevancy and use within the analysis. A search of the University affiliated Newsbank database, which included all articles published by the newspaper in the year, yielded twenty-three results. Those excluded were categorized as year-end quizzes pertaining to popular stories published over the entire year with little to no discussion of the relevant topics and two duplicate articles. The structure of this study resembles a quantified descriptive content analysis. Since the information reviewed and analyzed exists within the public domain, there was no necessity for privacy, ethical, or formal considerations or review by any other officiating or governing body.
Each individual article of the population underwent a coding process for demographic and temporal details (article title, article time period, weekday published), mention of a list of topics in relation to both individualized homelessness services (overnight shelters, warming centers, youth shelters, women’s shelters, others), community or institutional efforts and initiatives related to homelessness (non-profit organizations, outreach programs, affordable re-housing, housing-first initiatives, others), and interaction with frames attributed to the categorized themes of reverence (perseverance, safe, advocacy, raise of profile/awareness, client-centered) and stigma (alarming increase, reliance/dependence, affordable, fleeing). The codebook utilized in this research report, underwent peer testing within a controlled environment preceding its use to categorize the articles reviewed. In this pre-testing exercise, there was no reported discrepancy between coders. Three separate coders completed the process for an equal portion of the articles individually with discussion among members in order to establish unified conceptualization and maximize reliability.

Results

The sample size initially consisted of twenty-three articles published in The Niagara Falls Review in January 2023 and December 2023. After reviewing the article results within these search parameters, we chose to omit five articles based on duplication and relevance. The key words homeless and shelter appeared in four articles in January and fourteen articles in December. There were a total of twenty-eight mentions of emergency shelters, warming centers, youth shelters, women’s shelters and others. We found fourteen articles that contained the keywords published in that newspaper were in December 2023. Eleven of the articles were published in Friday and Saturday issues. Non profit organizations were mentioned in twelve articles. There were nine mentions of outreach programs. That is nearly one organization or non-profit mentioned in each article. With one hundred and twenty-four mentions of coded categories in the articles reviewed, this indicates there were multiple categories and keywords in some articles. The articles contained ten occasions of client centered strategies along with eleven instances where articles were attempting to raise awareness. Nine articles identified affordability in the text. Only four of the eighteen reviewed articles were in reference to services or initiatives focussed on the homeless situation. The articles contained eleven instances where a client centered approach was indicated, indicating homelessness is very much an individual problem that needs to be addressed on a case by case basis.

Discussion

On any night, thirty-five thousand people in Canada face homelessness, (Kopec & Pue, 2023). In 2016, “the estimated homeless population of Canada was two hundred and thirty-five thousand”, (Evans, Stout, Collins, & McDowell, 2023). One in ten Canadians live in a ‘core housing need’, meaning they live in precarious housing, whether for cost or suitability. Economic shifts and employment changes, combined with increased costs of housing and groceries and general goods, in addition to unforeseen personal happenstances such as physical illness, have created the perfect conditions to increase the number of people facing homelessness, (Dej, Ecker, & Martino, 2023). As a concern which has an increasing number of individuals currently, or could be shortly facing, homelessness would be expected as a topic of top interest for publications such as The Niagara Falls Review.
There is a clear disparity in media coverage during the Christian ‘holiday’ month in December, with a definitive loss of publication interest in January. The Niagara Falls Review publishes a print six days of the week; assuming no print on Christmas day; we would expect twenty-five publications in December and twenty-six publications in January. Despite this almost identical opportunity for works to be published and bring attention to the homeless plight in each month, the paper only designated space in eighteen distinct stories, and only four of those unique stories published in January. This thirty percent media coverage of homelessness over the two months reviewed, highlights the Agenda-Setting theory’s importance in our research. The Niagara Falls Review community is only being provided a thirty percent chance of encountering the topic of homelessness and shelters, when reading their daily paper. When the newspaper chooses to show the concern of homelessness less often in the months following the ‘giving season’, they are impacting the opportunity to create interest in the public for charitable organizations and institutions that support those facing homelessness.
The Niagara Falls Review, substantially utilizes reverence framing in their published works that reference shelters or homelessness, with an almost fifty percent increase of terms focussed on the reverence framing over stigma framing. The substantial use of reverence framing by The Niagara Falls Review perpetuates a decreased sense of urgency on the matter of homelessness. This lack of urgency in the publications by The Niagara Falls Review, combined with the lack of publications entirely, following the ‘holiday season’ could exacerbate the issue of homelessness. This could potentially lead to impacting donations and the lack of the publics requiring their elected officials to make change for the vulnerable population facing homelessness.

Limitations

This study focused on only two key terms, homeless and shelter, this narrow scope of search terms may fail to include all potential articles writing about the homeless and may overlook emerging concerns or less commonly discussed situations. We examined only one newspaper publication over two months in the same year. We decided to utilize two months from the same year (January and December) rather than using articles from immediate consecutive months. The research did not include magazine articles or social media accounts. The research did not consider media from websites supported by nonprofit organizations or community outreach programs. The research did not include any texts from government agencies. More examination of other daily publications and an increase in the scope of media could yield different results. Additionally, the findings may not be generalizable beyond the selected newspaper publication. While the study identifies associations between media representations and texts it cannot establish causality. Our analysis cannot consider the full spectrum of communication strategies employed by this publication.The coding reliability was tested on a very small scale, with only six coders reviewing the codebook, and though they generated identical answers, a more expansive coder review may highlight weakness in the codebook. We would expect the perfect inter-coder reliability to decrease when the number of coders increases.This research faced a very restricted time constraint, given more time, with reviewing many additional articles and media, we may have more detailed results with a variation in tone and conclusion.

Implications, Recommendations, & Conclusion

This research on the media representation of homelessness in the Niagara Falls’ daily newspaper makes several significant contributions to research, theory, and practice. This research contributes to the field, by providing empirical evidence on how homeless issues are represented in Niagara Falls during specific times of the year. Homelessness and shelter were words found in every article of our selection since they were keywords in the search parameter. As well, the code book mentioned several correlated considerations which created multiple mentions of flagged criterion within the articles in our sample. This produced more keyword mentions than the number of articlesThere were only a few mentions of the correlation between dependency and homelessness seven out of eighteen of the articles. Only three articles included the mention that homeless people were fleeing some sort of abuse. Overall, the lack of the terminology reflecting alarming increases in homelessness and shelter use which amounted to seven out of eighteen articles, imply it is business as usual for outreach and housing programs in Niagara. Not surprisingly with inflation rates increasing over the past several years, affordability of housing was suggested to be an issue in fifteen articles, an eighty-eight percent occurrence.The publication highlights the terms used for homeless and shelter, implying they cater more to the individual readers on Friday and Saturday and business interests during the week. This may indicate a relationship between the timing of the articles and the search for additional private funding, volunteer and charitable contributions.There were more than three times the appearance of our keywords homelessness and shelters in December as opposed to January of that same year. This suggests a more aggressive approach by nonprofits to get this newspaper and other publications to run these stories. With the articles reviewed and the terminology coded and discussed, we would argue an article is required with a headline reading something like: “They are still homeless in January and February”. 

References

Scholarly Sources Reviewed:

Calder, M. J., Hansard, A., Richter, S., Burns, K. K., & Mao, Y. (2011). Framing Homelessness for the Canadian Public: The News Media and Homelessness. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 20(2), pp. 1–19.

Casavant, L. (1999). Definition of Homelessness (PRB99-1E.) Publications.gc.ca.

https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection-R/LoPBdP/modules/prb99-1-homelessness/d efinition-e.htm.

Buck-McFadyen, E. (2023). A comparison of three rural emergency homeless shelters: exploring the experiences and lessons learned in small town Ontario. Journal of Social Distress and Homeless, pp. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2023.2276592.

Brushett, K. (2007). Where will the People Go: Toronto’s Emergency Housing Program and the Limits of Canadian Social Housing Policy, pp. 1944-1957. Journal of Urban History, 33(3), pp.375–399. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144206297148.

Dej, E., Ecker, J., & Martino, N. (2023). Barriers to accessing social housing programs in Canada.

Housing Studies, pp. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2023.2266396.

DesBaillets, D., & Hamill, S. E. (2022). Coming in from the Cold: Canada’s National Housing

Strategy, Homelessness, and the Right to Housing in a Transnational Perspective. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 37(2), pp.273–293. https://doi.org/10.1017/cls.2021.40.

Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), pp.51–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x.

Evans, J., Stout, M., Collins, D., & McDowell, K. (2023). The reticent state? Interpreting emergency responses to homelessness in Alberta, Canada. Housing Studies, 38(9), pp. 1681-1694

Goffman, E. (1986). The management of spoiled identity. In E. Goffman (Ed.), Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (pp. 140–147). Touchstone Books.

Ha, Y., Narendorf, S. C., Santa Maria, D., & Bezette-Flores, N. (2015). Barriers and facilitators to shelter utilization among homeless young adults. Evaluation and Program Planning, 53, pp.25–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2015.07.001.

Kopec, A., & Pue, K. (2023). Do Service-Providing Nonprofits Contribute to Democratic Inclusion? Analyzing Democracy Promotion by Canadian Homeless Shelters. Canadian Journal of

Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, 14(1), pp. 1-29. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjnser615.

Laws, G. (1992). Emergency Shelter Networks in an Urban Area: Serving the Homeless in Metropolitan Toronto. Urban Geography, 13(2), pp. 99–126.

https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.13.2.99.

Mcleod, J. M., Scheufele, D. A., & Moy, P. (1999). Community, Communication, and Participation:

The Role of Mass Media and Interpersonal Discussion in Local Political Participation.

Political Communication, 16(3), pp. 315–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/105846099198659.

McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), pp. 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990.

Pan, Z., & Kosicki, G. M. (1993). Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse. Political Communication, 10(1), pp. 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.1993.9962963.

Scheufele, D. A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), pp.

103–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1999.tb02784.x.

Smith-Carrier, T., Hall, J., Belanger, L., Hyman, I., Oudshoorn, A., B, J., & Lindstrom, A. (2023). A WISH to be Housed: Exploring the Winter Interim Solution to Homelessness (WISH) Temporary Accommodation Model in London, Canada. Community Mental Health Journal, 59(2), pp. 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01009-6.

Appendix 1

Definitions.

Holiday Bias: Refers to a perceived phenomenon in which societal attitudes, policies, resources, or attention tend to be more favorable of generosity and supporting others during the winter holiday season, often resulting in the neglect of ongoing issues during the rest of the year.

The Holiday Season: Refers to the yearly time period which contains holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, and more. For this study, this term is used for the month of December.

The Post-Holiday Season: Refers to the time period immediately following New Year’s, characterized by decreases in charitable giving, volunteering, and attention to homelessness. For this study, this term is used for the month of January.

Homelessness: Catering to the national context in specific, the Parliamentary Research Branch uses the description “A person with no fixed address, stable, safe and healthy housing for the next 60 days, an extremely low income, adversely discriminated against in access to services, with problems of mental health, alcohol and drug abuse or social disorganization, and not a member of any stable group” (Casavant 1999). This definition was found effective in encapsulating all three levels of homeless and methodological issues which arise when defining such a diverse demographic.

Emergency/Overnight Shelter: Describes a facility or organization designed to temporarily accommodate housing and basic resources for those experiencing poverty and homelessness during immediate crisis situations (Laws 1992, p.100). These services include but are not limited to temporary shelter, meals, hygiene facilities, heating, and counseling.

Warming Center: Describes temporary facilities enacted during times of extreme cold weather to provide shelter, warmth, and basic necessities to those who are most exposed to the cold, most prominently those experiencing homelessness. A key distinguishing factor from emergency sheltering is the conditional availability and inability for sleeping accommodation.

Attitudinal Barriers: An attitude, belief, prejudice, or conception that hinders a certain perspective in a particular group (Ha et al 2015, p.30). For the purposes of this study, we are focusing on the attitudinal barriers that homeless people would experience regarding utilizing a shelter due to stereotypes or preconceptions generated by news discourse. Though closely associated with Stigma framing, this concept is dispersed among the different categories within the frame as the projected impact that each section would carry.

Attitudinal Facilitators: An attitude, belief, prejudice, or conception that promotes a certain perspective in a particular group (Ha et al 2015, p.30). For the purposes of this study, we are focusing on the attitudinal facilitators that homeless people would experience regarding utilizing a shelter due to stereotypes or preconceptions generated by news discourse. Though closely associated with Reverence graming, this concept is dispersed among the different categories within the frame as the projected impact that each section would carry.

Reverence Framing: A perspective displayed in rhetoric which emphasizes the respect, admiration, support, or positive regard toward the portrayal of a given topic. In this case, this means representation of homelessness, homeless individuals, and efforts in pursuit of support in a dignified or empathetic manner, encouraging further action or positive attention.

Stigma Framing: A perspective displayed in rhetoric which emphasizes prejudices, misconceptions, disregard, or negative stereotypes associated with a given topic. In this case, this means portrayal of homelessness, homeless individuals, and efforts in pursuit of support in a derogatory or dehumanizing manner, discouraging further action while perpetuating social and political exclusion.

Appendix 2

Codebook 

CODE DEFINITIONS & CATEGORIES:
1. Demographic and Temporal Details: Category: Description:
1a. Article Title Unique title given to each article.
1b. Time Period 1  = Holiday Period (December 2023)

2  = Post-Holiday Period (January 2023)

1c. Day of the Week 1 = Monday 2 = Tuesday

3  = Wednesday

4  = Thursday

5  = Friday

6  = Saturday

7  = Sunday

2. Representation of Services/Provisions addressing

Homelessness:

Theme:

0  = Not present in the article.

1  = Present in article.

Description:
2a. Emergency/Overnight

Shelters

Describes short-term accommodations generally available to all people experiencing homelessness. Can provide individual instances of a place to sleep, a meal, or basic necessities.
2b. Warming Centers Describes temporary facilities enacted during times of extreme cold weather to provide shelter, warmth, and basic necessities to those who are most exposed to the cold, most prominently those experiencing homelessness. A key distinguishing factor from emergency sheltering is the conditional availability and inability for sleeping accommodation.
2c. Youth Shelters Emergency/Overnight shelters specifically dedicated to supporting children and youth experiencing homelessness. Includes specific catering to the needs of younger people and can often be associated with outreach programs.

*(Mutually exclusive to Emergency/Overnight shelters)

*(NOT mutually exclusive to outreach programs)

2d. Women’s Shelters Emergency/Overnight shelters specifically dedicated to supporting women experiencing homelessness. Can often include specific servicing of domestic disputes or violence.

*(Mutually exclusive to Emergency/Overnight shelters)

2e. Other Those representations that reflect addressing homeless people, but are not captured in the previous points.

 

3. Representation of Initiatives/Programs addressing

Homelessness:

Theme:

0  = Not present in the article.

1  = Present in article.

Description:
3a. Non-Profit Organizations: Describes an entity that operates for purposes of serving the public interest or addressing a particular social, cultural, educational, environmental, or charitable cause; in this case, homelessness support.
3b. Outreach Programs: Describe initiatives designed to actively engage and connect with the homeless community to provide information, resources, support, or services that address their specific needs, promote awareness, and facilitate incremental change in individual situations.
3c. Affordable Re-Housing Programs: Refer to programs or efforts aimed at providing safe, stable, and affordable housing options for those experiencing homelessness or struggling with housing affordability. Often involve partnerships between government agencies, non-profit organizations, and community groups to develop and implement strategies that increase access to affordable housing, prevent homelessness, and support individuals and families in transitioning to permanent housing solutions.
3d. Housing-First Initiatives: Display the common rhetoric of prioritizing the immediate supply of housing as a primary means of addressing homelessness. The Housing First model operates on the principle that stable housing is a fundamental human right and that people are better able to address other challenges, such as substance abuse, mental health issues, or unemployment, once they are housed.
3e. Other Those representations that reflect addressing homelessness initiatives or programs, but are not captured in the previous points.
4. Reverence Framing: Theme:

0  = Not present in article.

1  = Present in article.

Description:
4a. Perseverance: Persistent despite difficulty or time required to complete.
4b. Safe Commitment to overcome challenges, pursuing stability and strength in the face of uncertainty.
4c. Advocacy Implies a need to combat stigma or prejudice.
4d. Raises the profile and/or awareness Implies combating the stigma by increasing awareness.
4e. Client centered organization Implies a focus on reducing stigma and providing support tailored to individual needs.
5. Stigma Framing: Theme:

0  = Not present in article.

1  = Present in article.

Description:
5a. Alarming increases Suggests the negative connotation and stigma associated with an increase in people relying on services.
5b.

Rely/Reliance/Dependant/Depen dency

Suggests dependency and a lack of ability or lack of character.
5c. Affordable Noting the otherness of the residence to those that are ‘regular’.
5d. Fleeing Potential to interpret as societal prejudice or negative attitudes towards individuals who are fleeing, such as assumptions about their motives, character, or worth.

 

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