I heard from many readers after I wrote last Sunday about The Times's coverage of poverty. I've rarely received more feedback on a column, and I appreciate the many thoughtful comments and e-mails.
A number of those who wrote noted that last year was the 50th anniversary of the publication of Michael Harrington's landmark book, “The Other America,†which was so influential in helping to raise awareness and create political action. And many urged The Times to play a leading role in taking on this pervasive problem with sustained coverage and a sense of urgency.
Michael Jonathan Grinfeld, an associate professor at the University of Missouri's journalism school, offered this provocative view:
I remember a time when “the war on poverty†was a more central issue challenging the American conscience than the recent “wars†we've fought. Each election cycle, I bemoan the fact that politicians focus on the “middle class,†while avoiding altogether the social, economic, political and psychological barriers that keep those suffering in poverty out of the public consciousness. It's a failure of our watchdog role as journalists that we let this happen.
Several readers offered more information, and I'd like to share some of it here:
1. Max Rose of Durham, N.C., wrote to inform me of a journal article that he and Frank R. Baumgartner, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published this year. It used the last 50 years of poverty coverage in The Times as its primary data. One finding was that, in the late 1960s, The Times wrote frequently - as often as three times a day - about poverty, “but after the War on Poverty, that coverage dipped rapidly.†In the past 40 years, it has continued a slow decline.
The study also found a huge shift, Mr. Rose said, from a focus on structural and economic problems to a focus on the personal characteristics of low-income people. There is, he wrote, “the potential for The Times to be a leader in changing the amount and the way we talk about poverty.â€
2. A representative of The Nation, Caitlin Graf, wrote to point out the magazine's weekly feature by Greg Kaufmann, “This Week in Poverty.†The inaugural post, “This Week in Poverty: TANF Is Broken,†about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, gives a sense of the feature's intended purpose - posted on Friday mornings, it is part of The Nation's “continuing coverage of an issue editor Katrina vanden Heuvel calls ‘the shame of our nation.'â€
The blog, Ms. Graf says, keeps track of statistics that are too often ignored; provides updates on legislative efforts at the national, state and local levels; reports on the efforts of community activists; summarizes studies and proposals offered by antipoverty experts and organizations; highlights must-read articles, successful programs and opportunities for action; and busts myths.
3. While I was writing mostly about news coverage, I should have noted that, on the opinion side of The Times, two regular online features address economic inequality. They are “The Great Divide,†which is new, and “Fixes,†which has been around for several years. Both are well worth readers' time and are strong contributions to The Times's overall efforts on this subject.
