one night count (of homeless persons), seattle
by admin
A homeless person sleeps in an entryway Jan. 31, 2010. The One Night Count found 85 such individuals in the University District early friday morning.
photos from a (slow learner)
Published: February 4, 2010
Filed Under: Blog
Comments
Dear John -
You’ve taken a striking picture, and we’re glad that you participated in covering the One Night Count.
However, this picture and the caption violate our Coalition’s explicit media guidelines which request that journalists not identify the specific location of any person or group of people. We have these rules because the reality is that it is DANGEROUS for people to reveal this information, and it jeopardizes the integrity of the count and the compromises the trustworthiness of the counters to do so. Please remove the identifier from this image on your web site, and please discuss with your editor how to handle this issue in the archives of the UW Daily. We take these violations very seriously, and ask you to do the same. Please call with any questions.
(206) 357.3148. Thank you.
Alison,
I have made the caption here less specific. The shot itself was not from the count but from Jan. 31 a few days later. We are not governed by your media policies or rules, especially when the photos were taken while not accompanying the count itself. However, I acknowledge your point and the ethical considerations even if I do not appreciate the approach you used here.