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Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart & the D.C. Snipers: What was the Common Thread?

Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 5/21/2006

What do Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart and the D.C. Snipers have in common?

Homelessness, as connected to criminal activity.

Prior to her death, the media reported, Peterson took walks in a park frequented by the homeless. Smart was abducted by a self-proclaimed homeless “prophet,” and the D.C. snipers stayed in a homeless shelter.

A recent comprehensive study of the way the media portray the homeless suggests that criminal activity and homeless people are now being connected by the mass media.. Just two decades ago, the homeless were presented in the media in a compassionate, sympathetic way in contrast to the current trend which finds the media depicting the homeless, in a majority of cases, as being involved in criminal activity such as murder, kidnaping and child abuse.

Joy Junction Homeless Shelter Founder and Director Jeremy Reynalds’ new book has been described by publishers Cambria Press as “one of the most penetrating analyses of homelessness ever conducted in the USA.”

Titled “Homeless Culture and the Media,” it’s a groundbreaking look at the way the media depict the homeless.

The book explores how the homeless are portrayed by the media and, consequently, how public perceptions of the homeless are shaped. By analyzing how the media informally educate their audiences, interviewing homeless people and journalists, and conducting content analysis of news stories, Reynalds uncovered the reality that the issue of homelessness is not a media priority because it does not provide the requisite ratings boost.

The book also debunks the myth that the solution to a homeless person’s problem is a meal and an overnight stay, illuminating how much farther the distance to becoming a “regular” person is.

The University of New Mexico’s Dr. Bob Gassaway said, “Dr. Reynalds' study broadens our understanding of the troubles of the homeless and helps us see what we don't know. Reading his study gives us new understanding of the beggar on the street corner and the stumbling drunk looking for shelter in an alley or under a bridge. It tells us about a piece of America few of us understand or worry very much about.”

Biola University’s Dr. Don Douglas added, “Dr. Reynalds probes a dimension of life in modern America that is seldom addressed and begs for additional understanding and attention. His study focuses on the phenomenon of homelessness in our consciousness through the interpretative reporting of our daily news media.”