Popular discourses and images of poverty and welfare in the news media

Abstract

This chapter reports on the state of 'media debate' on poverty and welfare issues, and on the portrayal of the disadvantaged in our society in the Australian news media in the late 1990s. It considers the media’s role in framing public opinion on social issues in ways which affect the climate for establishing political priorities and developing policy. The chapter argues that there was a marginalisation of poverty and welfare issues in newspaper reporting leading up to the 1998 election, and seeks to understand factors which led to this. It sets this marginalisation as a problem that needs to be addressed, and considers the Australian media system as a whole with a view to identifying emerging opportunities for reframing and re-centring media coverage of social issues. The chapter concludes that the work of the media directly impinges on the way the poor and the disadvantaged are treated by governments and by their fellow citizens.