Viewpoint: Article doesn’t fully reflect homeless camp proposal

Clint Whittle-Frazier

I watched the full video of the City Council meeting where Kristen Jordan introduced a proposal to have rotating homeless camps on city property in different wards. I highly encourage everyone to listen to the recording to hear her full proposal.

The original headline posted the day after her proposal put allowing homeless camps in city parks in the title. As of today, the headline has been updated to “Homeless Camps in City Neighborhoods,” which is way more accurate.

However, the damage has already been done.

We all are familiar with the term click-bait. Yes, city parks are included as a part of city property, and Jordan did clarify that it was included. However, when readers see this article, it’s planting the image of a lot of city parks being turned into homeless encampments. This was not the main point of Kristen Jordan’s proposal. Let’s appreciate that she’s actually trying to help our unhoused neighbors in Missoula.

The article posted on September 11 is odd to me, because it seems to only serve the purpose of putting a stain on one council member. By singling out one member of City Council, who is only trying to clarify misinformation about the intent of her proposal, is misleading, and frankly, appears biased.

By focusing on one aspect of the proposal, that city owned land does include parks, it misconstrues the meaning of Jordan’s overall intention. In this highly polarized time, why further the division? Why have a misleading headline that will only serve to outrage readers?