Changing the narrative on homelessness and poverty

INSP partners with Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) to provoke discussion on how people experiencing homelessness and poverty are represented in the media.

The negative stereotypes surrounding people experiencing homelessness and poverty often come from how they are portrayed in the media.

Reporting in the media about issues surrounding homelessness and poverty is sometimes at a distance from people who have direct experience of poverty themselves. A recent study from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) also shows that the majority of journalists in the UK come from high-income backgrounds, which begs the question, how can get the narrative right on homelessness and poverty?

The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) is partnering with the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) to deliver a special online event on ‘Changing the narrative on homelessness and poverty.’

Open to all, this event will be focusing on how to best represent those experiencing homelessness and poverty, by allowing them a platform to tell their stories themselves. It will be led by CEO of the INSP and RSA Fellow, Mike Findlay-Agnew, providing context and evidence for the lack of lived experience in media.

The event will also showcase some of the journalistic work of the INSP’s news service, explaining how it shares lived experience stories to street papers globally.

Mike Findlay-Agnew, CEO of INSP, explains: “I feel passionately that we need to address both the under-representation and misrepresentation of people experiencing homeless and poverty in the media, particularly during a year where we are seeing multiple elections worldwide and there is a need for more direct experience of homelessness and poverty to be heard by decision makers.

“Representing the direct experience of people in poverty lies at the heart of the journalistic ethos of the street paper movement. Our member newspapers and magazines often lead with first person narratives, and street paper organisations themselves are often staffed by people with direct experience.

“I am hoping for a lively discussion on how we can get the narrative right on homelessness and poverty.”

The online event will take place on the 14th of August 2024, at 6pm GMT, and is open to all with an interest in the topic. You can sign up for free via the RSA website.