4. The media today : immediate and sensational

The media do not always enjoy a good reputation among the street workers. First of all, the media seem to be more interested nowadays in what is sensational and immediate rather than by fundamental actions, often based on the long term, such as street work.

The media are more and more commercial. Journalists have less and less time to investigate and prepare their articles or broadcasts as, competition is very strong. Urgency is becoming the rule.

Fears felt by the street workers of risking to be manipulated are therefore well founded. But it is possible to by-pass the problem, at least partly.

To begin with, avoid the media especially interested by news items, preferably with blood shed, by gossips, scandals of all kinds that tend to flatter our lower instincts. One should avoid those like the pest.

But many other, more "serious" media exist which try to understand, to inform their public and which can dedicate more deep going reports on a theme such as street work. One has to identify them, same as the various journalists who belong to these media. This particular weekly regularly opens its columns to social themes, this particular journalist has already covered a subject on street children.

First of all it will be a question of spending a certain time to discover your potential targets in your local environment. Which dailies, which televisions and radio broadcasts, etc. ?

But it will be necessary to take into account at least one imperative : the journalists need a hook, a story worth telling, an event on which to comment which will serve as starter to a paper or a broadcast.

To convince a journalist to write a paper on street work will be more easy if you announce, for instance, that the park in the centre of the city will be transformed, during a week-end, in a vast public library in open air for the children and that this will give him the opportunity

to meet youngsters and street workers. Even if a journalist finds your action interesting, it will be difficult for him to write a report on the matter if you don’t five him some interesting information for this readers, things to film, people to interview.

Distinguish the media

It is essential to be able to tell the "media" apart : what possible analogy is there between the popular M6 channel and Lien Social ? Between Paris Match and the committed periodical Politis ? Between Les dernières nouvelles d’Alsace and France Inter ? Between the satirical weekly Charly Hebdo and Travail Social actualités ? How does one go about to make the big media understand that certain subjects cannot be treated the way they do it? How can one explain to the managers of television channels that A. Kechiche, author of the social film on life in the districts L’Esquive, was nearly prevented from filming in the chosen district, since the population had such a bad image of cameras, and to what point and obstinacy the inhabitants felt themselves betrayed by the journalists ? Even if all the media do not deserve to be put in the same basket, we have to fight head-on the fact that, much too often, they satisfy themselves to exhibit what is spectacular, what is dramatic, the search of a culprit and of a farfetched simplification. Consequently, I think social workers should know how to refuse certain media coverage, far more destructive than beneficial. Remind once more that this action’s parameter is the long term… However and all the same, social work unrecognised and threatened as it is, should very obviously turn more resolutely towards press coverage of its action… Not so easy …

Joel Plantet — Lien Social, France

Watch out where the media are concerned ?

Certain distrust is due to the stereotypes inflicted on the media ( they are all corrupt, middle class conventional, etc). It took me six months before certain associations working with homeless people opened their door for me, but I understand their reluctance, for certain mass media got in touch with them before I did and caused a lot of damage with their sensationalist view.But, please, let’s not throw away what is worthwhile with what is bad. Curiously, this negative attitude towards journalists proceeds more from street workers than from the youngsters.

Pierre Schonbrodt, Télé Brussels, Belgium

Also show what is successful

The press could come in the districts to film or write about examples or things, that work, know success. One has to show them they can film other things than cars on fire!

Vincent Landat — former street worker and journalist in Social annonces, France

Street workers are afraid of us

Educators are afraid of journalists because they think they are going to misrepresent the information given or retain only what is sensational, leaving out what is important for the street worker. But we have succeeded in creating a climate of confidence between us and the social associations, so that we often speak to each other, they explain their situation, the problems they have to face and we do our best to relay them in order to urge the government authorities to take some adequate measures.

Issa Dior Sall, station head of SUDFM, Mbour, Senegal

In our work, we meet people who are faced with extremely precarious living conditions (prostitution, drug addiction…). These unusual people do sometimes attract greedy journalists looking for showy topics to present in an article or in a TV program. It is thus sometimes necessary to ask for a right of inspection on the report before it is published. It often makes it possible for us to prevent distortions or overstatements that have a commercial scope.

Michèle Villain, ICAR Project, Liège, Belgium