Christmas is coming...

So let's wheel out the homeless people. It takes The Simpsons to highlight the media's seasonal attitude to the issue of homelessness

In a classic episode of The Simpsons, 'Bart versus Thanksgiving', the programme contains what I consider to be a defining moment of self-reflection on how some of the mass media deal with the ever-present issue of homelessness.

Bart Simpson has run away from home and having sold a pint of his blood for $12 at a Plasma Centre, he ends up at a local Rescue Mission soup kitchen. His family only realises where he is when they see him on the perennial Thanksgiving news report being broadcast live from the soup kitchen. The Springfield news station – Channel 6 (kwz) – has, once again, sent their news anchorman Kent Brockman to cover the annual 'event' of the Thanksgiving homeless story. What follows is an interesting parody on the media's treatment of homelessness.

In his report, Brockman says: "Oh, we have lots of names for these people. Bums, deadbeats and losers, scums of the earth. We'd like to sweep these people into the gutter, or if they are already in the gutter, to some other out-of-the-way place. Oh, we have our reasons. They're depressing, they wear ragged clothes they're (he makes a quotation sign with his fingers) "crazy", they smell bad." He is interrupted by a homeless man who says "Hey, listen, man…" Brockman continues however by whispering "Wait, I'm going somewhere with this…Kent Brockman's Emmy-winning news report from a soup kitchen." He then interviews Bart Simpson who claims to have been homeless for nearly five years. Brockman packs away his things and says, "This reporter smells another local Emmy."

This episode of The Simpsons struck a chord with me because it reminded me of the uncritical, uneven and episodic nature of a great deal of media coverage of homelessness which, as a phenomenon, if not a story, exists beyond Thanksgiving, Christmas or budget time. A recurring trope within Irish media coverage is that of packaging homelessness as a Christmas story.

The issues of homelessness and poverty and social exclusion more generally raise important questions about the social role of the mass media. The mainstream media have immense power to shape public attitudes, beliefs and opinions about those who have least in society. Consider, for a moment the recent coverage of Travellers in the wake of the Nally case or the negative framing by some sections of the media of immigrants as "spongers", "bogus", "maternity tourists" or the recipients of "free cars" or "luxury accommodation". The media industry has the power to prioritise certain kinds of issues over others as matters of "immediate public concern". Compare, for example, the amount of airtime and print space given to the property boom and its attendant "housing crisis" with the ongoing problems associated with being homeless or being out of home.

It is worthwhile considering how homelessness is packaged by the media. Many media professionals resort to explaining what is admittedly a complex issue through a "human interest" frame, whereby homelessness is explained in terms of an individual's personal circumstances or difficulties. While this may make for compelling listening, reading or viewing, this kind of coverage fails to ask the harder questions such as why we – the state and society generally – have failed to protect and provide for our more vulnerable citizens, especially at a time of unprecedented wealth and tax-take.

In the next few weeks, media professionals will cover homelessness in the lead up to Christmas day. Some of this coverage will undoubtedly be replete with references to the original Christmas story which in itself was a story of being unwanted, being poor and being out of home. Wouldn't it be interesting if this coverage posed the question as to why, in this day and age, we have homelessness at all?

Eoin Devereux is a senior lecturer in Sociology at University of Limerick. An earlier version of this piece was first published in Cornerstone – the magazine of the Homeless Agency

More: www.homelessagency.ie