How does the Media Affect our Perceptions of Poverty and Welfare?

Abstract

This research discusses the affect the media can have on our perceptions of poverty and welfare. Previous literature on this subject suggests that the elite controls the media as to protect their own interests, and that in countries with a large inequality gap like the UK there is a higher chance of more negatively framed stories against welfare and those in poverty. Through an analysis on three Scottish papers, this research aims to discover whether there is a bias in the media perpetuated by placing blame on the individual through demonising language, negative framing and unbalanced arguments. Critical discourse analysis is utilised to analyse the newspapers, allowing more of a detailed insight to be taken away from the research. Results imply that newspapers print stories which tend to correlate with their political views, and that poverty is rarely mentioned apart from when it is used to sensationalise a story. With some sections of society being disconnected from poverty, the media can offer an insight into this world; however, when framed negatively, this is likely to have an influence on how you understand the issue of poverty and thus how you treat these individuals.