Homeless deserve dignity
Photo raises ethical issues for longtime advocate Cathy Crowe
There is probably no one as qualified to speak to the matter of the dignity of Toronto’s homeless people as “street nurse” Cathy Crowe.
Crowe has worked with the homeless of Toronto for almost three decades. She is co-founder of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee that declared homelessness a national disaster in 1998.
This longtime activist is the author of Dying for a Home and the subject of the documentary Street Nurse, which explores the plight of the homeless. She is also a former recipient of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation’s Economic Justice Award.
Certainly, Crowe knows whereof she speaks. So when she emailed me this week in “protest” over a photo published in the Star to accompany an Opinion article “Proper housing is a crucial health and wellness issue,” written by physicians Danyaal Raza and Ritika Goel, I took her concerns seriously.
The photo showed two men sprawled on the ground, seemingly asleep, outside a building at Bay and Front Sts.
Beside one of the young men, whose face is half visible, is an empty cup and a cardboard sign on which are scrawled the words “Anything helps, Thank you, Good Karma,” alongside a smiley face.
This photo was taken in 2014 as a “weather shot” during an early spring warm wave, but, as far as I can tell, was never published in the Star.
It was selected for publication this week as a generic image of “homelessness” to illustrate the physicians’ op-ed arguing that secure and affordable housing is crucial to maintaining and improving health and well-being.
Crowe, who has made presentations to Star staff in the past about “the use of language and images that stereotype or encourage discrimination toward people who are homeless,” expressed much dismay about this photo, telling me this is not what she would have expected from the Toronto Star, given its longtime commitment to social justice for all and the dignity of the disadvantaged.
“It shows two people on the ground, in horrible shape, clearly not having been able to give consent for photography,” Crowe said. “The photo suggests they are ‘wasted’ or, as I see it, perhaps at the end of a shortened lifespan. In fact, given the high death rate that the Star is writing about, you don’t actually know if these individuals are still alive.
“Where are the journalistic ethics in this?” Editorial page editor Andrew Phillips, who is responsible for the Star’s Opinion pages, takes issue with Crowe’s suggestion that these homeless men may not even be alive now: “Obviously we wouldn’t use the photo if we had reason to think those in it were dead. There’s nothing to suggest that’s the case.”
To be clear, it is perfectly legal in Ontario to take pictures of people lying in the streets. Anyone, not just the media, can photograph people in public places without seeking consent.
But, to my mind, this is less a question of the law than of ethical considerations appropriate to a progressive news organization that has always advocated for the humanity and dignity of the less fortunate among us.
While I believe the Star must show you the reality of poverty and homelessness on our streets, the human dignity of those involved matters. I see much merit in Crowe’s plea for the Star to consider “the development of a protocol for use of images showing vulnerability that require consent.”
While obtaining consent to take such photos may not be feasible, past versions of the Star’s standards guide stipulated that the Star should give careful consideration before publishing any images “that would serve to label individuals, especially children, as poor. Such portrayals can have a stigmatizing effect.”
I don’t know when that fell away but it would seem to be a principle worth considering in selecting images of the homeless and other vulnerable people for publication when the subject might be identifiable and has not consented to be photographed.
While this picture emerged in a Star photo archive search for images of “homelessness and housing,” opinion page editor Scott Colby told me he gave thought to its use.
“The article talks about the health of people living in shelters or on the street,” he said. “The reason I chose the photo is because it was a couple years old, so I suspect the people depicted have probably moved on. I can honestly say I didn’t think they would be dead or necessarily ‘wasted.’ Half a face is seen and I doubt that person would be recognizable to our readers.
“Finally, I see these scenes all the time in Toronto. I feel the photo illustrates that in a powerful and real way that can be seen every day.”
These are sensible arguments. However, I am aligned here with Crowe and one of the authors of the article who found the photo “jarring” and requested it be changed online. That’s now been done.
“These things are of course not done by ill intention and I know we all greatly appreciate the work the Star has done in this domain,” Goel said. “Just worth thinking about how we can avoid such images that may further marginalize folks who are already quite marginalized.”
Indeed, these are matters well worth thinking about at the Star. publiced@thestar.ca