The last few days have been tough in Cleveland for homeless people and especially homeless service providers. The media has been surprisingly understanding over the last few days. I was impressed by the article done by Joan Mazzolini in the Plain Dealer on Friday. It was a nice feature on the family of Rita Ciofani-Kercher, and her amazing life. I thought that it was great to hear the words of forgiveness in the article.
"She was very, very interested in the veterans' cause," Barnes said. "She would say that they were not always treated the way they should be." It was this personality that leaves her husband with no doubt about Ciofani-Kercher."The person that did this?" Kercher said. "She would forgive him."
The Plain Dealer followed up with a story about the Community Women's Shelter today from Regina Brett. We hope that this tragedy will lead to increased awareness of the homeless problem locally. Only one local media outlet has focused on the sensational and the tabloid aspects of the story, and they will remain nameless so as not to draw increased attention. The Channel 5 WEWS reporters seemed to understand the shock of the story, and were willing to focus the story on the reactions of friends and co-workers.
The Fox News outlet, WJW Channel 8, took an interesting angle by talking to the family of Raymond Ice. It was not disrespectful or an accusatory type of story. It seemed to be done in a forgiving manner. Overall, the media did a good job, in my opinion, of presenting this in a fair and balanced manner. I hope that this is a first step to healing for the homeless community.
Brian
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