The Rhino’s John Hammer disses the N&R investigation into allegations of abuse and sexual harassment of the homeless at the Interactive Resource Center:
Every newspaper I know anything about receives reams of material from people who we used to call crazy, and now we call mentally ill. They may be convinced that the federal government is following them around and is out to get them, or they may have some beef with a certain government agency that has grown into an obsession.
What we do with that stuff is we graciously accept it, keep the material for a while and then recycle it. It’s what most news outlets do.
What does the News & Record do? It puts the complaints on the front page of the Sunday edition as the first in a three-part series.
Homeless people are for the most part not very reliable sources.
Surely Hammer knows however that the mainstream media evidently find the homeless to be the best sources, considering the fact that they perpetuate the myth of homeless nobility and the magical insight that comes with it. Just look at all the feature stories on the homeless the N&R—or any newspaper— is constantly running.
I’m not saying the allegations against IRC assistant director Will Howard are unfounded. Again, it will be interesting to see reaction from the City Council, considering the fact that the city lends support.
