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In the past, I have written to you about the Bangor Daily News’ headlining practice, and I have another gripe. On March 20, a story by Kathleen O’Brien was headlined “Homeless camp threatens Bangor inn’s transition to affordable housing.” When people open the story, they might be surprised to find that it is not the homeless encampment that threatens the “transition to affordable housing.”
Instead, it is paperwork. According to O’Brien, who quotes Jason Bird of Penquis, the organization still plans to close on the sale it agreed to in 2021. There is no mention of the sale being jeopardized by the homeless encampment.
The BDN does great work. The headlines, however, sometimes mislead or appear to be flat out fear mongering. This is another case of this. I hope the newspaper will be mindful of its headline practices in the future and offer a correction/apology. The threat to property and life are not unhoused people. Unhoused people are the ones constantly under threat.
Brian Pitman
Orono
