Critic
The Issue
The Otago University Student Association (OUSA) magazine Critic published a piece on Dunedin's homeless population titled "The Bum at the Bottom of the World". Like Minds received several complaints about the tone of the article.
The Response
Dear Mr Skegg,
RE: CRITIC ARTICLE TITLED THE BUM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD
The Mental Health Foundation wish to register our dismay about the article on Dunedin’s homeless, written by Thomas Redford, that appeared in your student magazine CRITIC, Issue 12, 2010.
The piece was brought to our attention by a member of the mental health community in Dunedin who felt that aside from having an overall tone of mockery it was also highly offensive and inaccurate and considered such an article potentially damaging to the reputation of your university.
2009 Statistics New Zealand figures show some 7,000 people “live rough or have no permanent home in New Zealand”. Mr Redford’s suggestion that “many of our town’s homeless find themselves on the street because of unemployment/general bumliness, or because Dunedin offers insufficient care of mental health patients” perpetuates the myths surrounding mental illness. Whilst some homeless people have experience with mental illness, there are a number who choose to live a transient lifestyle with no experience of mental illness whatsoever.
The Foundation partners with the Ministry of Health on the Like Minds campaign, which aims to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. This campaign has been running for the last 12 years and its TV ads have been a very successful aspect of the campaign.
But, the mass media work is only one part of the campaign and regional community based groups run mental health promotion workshops and events throughout the country reinforcing the messages of the campaign.
Research tells us that 47% of New Zealanders will experience mental illness at some point in their lifetime and research on the effectiveness of the Like Minds campaign has found public attitudes to mental illness are continuing to change for the better, media coverage is improving and people with experience of mental illness say attitudes have improved.
High profile personalities have helped encourage Kiwis to talk about mental illness and to better understand and value people who experience mental illness. At the same time a lot of work has been done through advocacy, human rights training and proactive liaison with the media.
All of this good work seems to have passed Mr Redford by, and his article in CRITIC is an illustration of the many prejudices and misconceptions that still exist in certain areas of society. It is extremely disappointing to see that a student publication can be one of these areas and I would like to believe that Mr Redford’s opinions are in no way a reflection the views of your student population.
For a first hand account on how stigma and discrimination can effect someone may I suggest you listen to Listen to mental health promoter Johnny Matteson’s interview he recently did on Radio New Zealand with Mike Gourley, http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/oneinfive/20100523.
I feel the very least your student publication CRITIC can do to address the potential damage done by this article is to publish a formal apology and to provide information to the student population that shows mental health and wellbeing in a positive light.
I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Judi Clements
Chief Executive
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
The Result
Critic apologises for "uncaring, rude, obnoxious, and unnecessary" article - Otago Daily Times
You too can respond to media coverage that you believe is stigmatising or discriminatory. Visit our Media Watch section for a step-by-step guide on how to make a complaint.
