How We See the Homeless > Comments > "Review of How We See the Homeless"
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Commenter Profile
- Minhal Baig
- Username: MinhalB
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Joined PRX: Jun 27, 2007
Piece Information
- "How We See the Homeless"
- Summary: Blunt reporter Zoe High takes to the streets to unravel some of the prevailing perceptions of the homeless, and spotlights one organization in Portland, Maine that's trying to turn them around.
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Review of How We See the Homeless
Minhal Baig
Posted on December 31, 2007 at 02:01 PM
Zoe High's investigation of the perceptions of the homeless is an interesting undertaking on a unique subject.
The narration at the beginning of the piece seems a bit forced. The usage of a vox pop in order to gather the public's opinion of the homeless was key in setting up the rest of the segment. Many of the people in the vox pop stated that homeless people could not find jobs, though some did state that homeless people didn't want jobs. High immediately follows the vox pop with the conclusion that most people believed the homeless were too lazy to get jobs or did not want them. However, this is not an accurate conclusion to gather from the preceding vox pop, considering that a minority of those interviewed stated that homeless were lazy.
The rest of the segment centered on interviewing a former homeless person. High definitely could have included more tape from Steven, as he seemed to know a lot about homeless and why they were without jobs. In a longer segment, including interviews from experts, such as sociologists, would be key.
The segment seemed a bit rushed, but the editing seemed excellent. I definitely felt as if the segment could have elaborated a bit more on why homeless people did not have jobs, besides the one reason, substance abuse, that was mentioned by Steven.
Great editing and narrating!