There are between 7,000 and 10,000 people living without shelter in San Francisco. Many of them live in tents on the streets, victims of drug abuse, mental illness or the rapid rise of the cost of living in the city.
For residents familiar with the crisis, news coverage can seem like background noise, which is why several San Francisco-based outlets are banding together to cover the issue, wall-to-wall, for one day in June.
Audrey Cooper of the San Francisco Chronicle and Holly Kernan of Here & Now contributor KQED were part of the team that launched the initiative. They speak with Here & Now‘s Robin Young about the crisis, the planned coverage and the possible solutions.
“Why are jails now the center of our social service system for the mentally ill? Does that really make sense?”
— Holly Kernan, KQED News Executive Editor, talks about our role in this upcoming coverage:
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2016/05/24/san-francisco-homeless-coverage
Guests
- Audrey Cooper, editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle. She tweets @audreycoopersf.
- Holly Kernan, executive editor for news at KQED. She tweets @KQEDKernan.