A Very Poor Watchdog

Abstract

This chapter examines why the mainstream news media seems to have a structural bias when reporting poverty and inequality, a feature that has endured in the digital era. It explores how both the news agenda and media representations of these issues have been defined historically by the political economy that underpins the news media, which is fundamentally market-driven and corporate-controlled. It argues that this structural setting is a central reason why the media is unable to fulfill its normative aspiration of being a watchdog to power when it comes to reporting on poverty. This chapter looks at this paradox — between what journalists say they do and what they actually do in practice — by assessing issues around the professional autonomy of reporters, news cultures and journalistic practices based on class ideology and struggles in relation to the political economy of the news media. In so doing, it argues that the notions of “objectivity” and “impartiality” not only reflect media ownership, but also underline the limited ability of journalists to report on the structural causes of poverty; namely, inequality.