How Malthusian ideology crept into the newsroom: British tabloids and the coverage of the ‘underclass’

ABSTRACT

This article argues that Malthusianism as a series of discursive regimes, developed in the Victorian-era, serves in times of austerity to reproduce an elite understanding of social exclusion in which those in a state of poverty are to blame for their own situation. It highlights that Malthusianism is present in the public discourse, becoming an underlining feature in news coverage of the so-called ‘underclass’. Our findings broadly contradict the normative claim that journalism ‘speaks truth to power’, and suggest instead that overall as a political practice, journalism tends to reproduce and reinforce hegemonic discourses of power. The piece is based on critical discourse analysis, which has been applied to a significant sample of news articles published by tabloid newspapers in Britain which focussed on the concept of the ‘underclass’. By looking at the evidence, the authors argue that the ‘underclass’ is a concept used by some journalists to cast people living in poverty as ‘undeserving’ of public and state support. In so doing, these journalists help create a narrative which supports cuts in welfare provisions and additional punitive measures against some of the most vulnerable members of society.

KEYWORDS:

• poverty
• journalism
• underclass
• critical discourse analysis
• Britain
• newspaper discourse

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Steven Harkins http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6116-0460

Jairo Lugo-Ocando http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9533-2088

Notes on Contributors

Steven Harkins is an ESRC funded Ph.D. student in the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield. His research examines British print journalism representations of poverty, he has also written for the British Medical Journal, Critical Studies on Terrorism and London School of Economics Review of Books. E-mail: [email protected]

Jairo Lugo-Ocando, Ph.D. (Sussex), is an Associate Professor of Journalism Studies in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK. He worked as a journalist, correspondent and news editor for several news media in Latin America and the USA. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the National University of Singapore and an associated professor of the doctoral programme in Communications at the University of Malaga (Spain). His most recent book Blaming the victim: How global journalism fails those in poverty (Pluto Press, 2015) deals with how the international media reports poverty. E-mail: [email protected]

Notes

1. Fraser Nelson, A Triple Blight that Curses us All, The News of the World, 26 August 2007.

2. 1st, Benefits of work, Daily Mail, 27 May 2008.

3. Iain Duncan Smith, Where gangs are the only family, Daily Mail, 24 August 2007.

4. Lorraine Kelly, Knife ads can't cut it, The Sun, 31 May 2008.

5. News, Kid crime kings rise, The Sun, 10 February 2010.

6. Bob Roberts, We'll give Migrants Amnesty, The Mirror, 19 September 2007.

7. Martyn Brown, At last, a return to classroom discipline, The Express, 2 September 2011.

8. Amanda Platell, The joker who's brought back spite and envy, Daily Mail, 29 November 2008.

9. Kelvin Mackenzie, Ramsay is my telly nightmare, The Sun, 22 November 2007.

10. Stephen Glover, The Left claim ‘chav’ is a term of class hatred. Nonsense. It's today's tragic underclass they should be fighting for, Daily Mail, 17 July 2008.

11. Leading Article, Dignity in torment, The News of the World, 20 January 2008.

12. Jon Gaunt, Karen's in a class of her own, The Sun, 18 April 2008.

13. Richard Littlejohn, Land of the rising scum, Daily Mail, 14 November 2008.

14. Jon Gaunt, Karen's in a class of her own, The Sun, 18 April 2008.

15. Editorial, Betrayed again, The Sun, 5 December 2008.

16. Jon Gaunt, More Shannons in Benefits R Us hell, The Sun, 5 December 2008.

17. Kelvin Mackenzie, STOP TEEN YOB ABUSE, The Sun, 5 February 2009.

18. Editorial, Holding baby, The Sun, 14 February 2009.

19. Jon Gaunt, Chaos?, I can show you chaos, The Sun, 22 May 2009.

20. Jon Gaunt, Chuck it in, Mandy, The Sun, 13 March 2009.

21. Fergus Shanahan, Slobs AND nobs are cheating taxpayers, The Sun, 4 August 2009.

22. Fergus Shanahan, Slobs AND nobs are cheating taxpayers, The Sun, 4 August 2009.

23. News Front Page, Labour's lost it, The Sun, 30 September 2009.

24. Jon Gaunt, EU boss..I can't Blair it, The Sun, 2 October 2009.

25. Lorraine Kelly, They weighed 92st and were held as examples of a feckless underclass who lay in front of the TV stuffing their faces with deep-fried lard, The Sun, 6 January 2010.

26. News, Kid crime kings rise, The Sun, 10 February 2010.

27. Martell Maxwell, Brandon mum still to blame, The Sun, 11 March 2009.

28. Carol Malone, Baby P: They're ALL guilty, The News of the World, 16 November 2008.

29. Anna Smith, No glamour in a ned's life, The News of the World, 23 January 2011.

30. Fraser Nelson, A Triple Blight that Curses us All, The News of the World, 26 August 2007.

31. David Blunkett, Boldness only way to Victory, The Sun, 9 January 2008.

32. Editorial, Cut ‘em off, The Sun, 31 July 2009.

33. News Front Page, Labour's lost it, The Sun, 30 September 2009.

34. Jane Moore, Give poor kids their future back, Gordon, The Sun, 16 April 2008.

35. Jon Gaunt, Chaos?, I can show you chaos, The Sun, 22 May 2009.

36. Julia Hartley-Brewer, Let's be fair on welfare, Sunday Express, 14 December 2008.

37. Fergus Shanahan, Slobs AND nobs are cheating taxpayers, The Sun, 4 August 2009.

38. Patrick O'Flynn, Why our European Union membership spells doom for welfare reform, The Express, 19 June 2010.

39. Patrick O'Flynn, Why our European Union membership spells doom for welfare reform, The Express, 19 June 2010.

40. Education Correspondent, White and Male?, Go to the bottom of the class, Daily Mail, 8 June 2008.

41. 1st, Is Labour's legacy a welfare underclass, Daily Mail, 7 February 2008.

42. Karen Matthews was convicted of ‘false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice’ after being part of a conspiracy to kidnap her own daughter in February 2008, the case was widely reported in the media.

43. Graeme Wilson, The shambles of our shameless, The Sun, 7 October 2010.

44. Leader, Brown's bid for middle class support is doomed, The Express, 18 January 2010.

45. Leader, Middle Britain looses again, The Express, 14 January 2009.

46. Editorial, Betrayed again, The Sun, 5 December 2008.

47. Jon Gaunt, Karen's in a class of her own, The Sun, 18 April 2008.

48. Jon Gaunt, Karen's in a class of her own, The Sun, 18 April 2008.

49. Fraser Nelson, A Triple Blight that Curses us All, The News of the World, 26 August 2007.

50. Jason Beattie, I Predict a Riot; Union leader rages at government assaults on pensions and the NHS, Daily Mirror, 10 September 2011.

51. Julia Hartley-Brewer, Spongers are soaking up our hard earned billions, Sunday Express, 30 August 2009.

52. Sun Says: Leading Article, Just the job, The Sun, 9 November 2007.

53. Sun Says: Leading Article, Just the job, The Sun, 9 November 2007.

54. Richard Waghorne, The CPA should crack open the champagne and close its doors, Daily Mail, 5 September 2007.