The Etownian >> Opinion
Bad reporting unfairly typifies
Thursday April 15 2010
It’s unfortunate how many homeless people there are in America, and it is disappointing to me how a local homeless man was depicted in the March 25 edition of the Etownian. Having just spent a week in Los Angeles with 23 Elizabethtown College students during spring break working with the homeless population, we learned that although some homeless people are responsible for their current situation, many are on the streets because life threw them a curveball they could do nothing about.
We also learned that no matter what their circumstances, the homeless deserve our respect, not ridicule, just by virtue of their humanity.
I feel that the article written about Mr. Armstrong was disrespectful and showed prejudice toward the homeless in general. Homeless people are members of society, too, and unless you know their story, there is no justification in characterizing Mr. Armstrong the way the article did. What is Mr. Armstrong’s story? How does he care for his diabetes? Where does he sleep at night? We don’t know — because the article reported next to nothing about him.
I am disappointed that the Etownian chose to characterize Mr. Armstrong in this way, and also that due to a timing issue, was unable to write about our spring break service trip to LA — a week that taught us the importance of respecting the homeless.
The Etownian >> Opinion