The Routledge Companion to Media and Poverty PDF
Preview The Routledge Companion to Media and Poverty
THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO MEDIA AND POVERTY Comprehensive and interdisciplinary, this collection explores the complex, and often problematic, ways in which the news media shapes perceptions of poverty. Editor Sandra L. Borden and a diverse collection of scholars and journalists question exactly how the news media can reinforce (or undermine) poverty and privilege. This book is divided into five parts that examine philosophical principles for reporting on poverty, the history and nature of poverty coverage, problematic representations of people experiencing poverty, poverty coverage as part of reporting on public policy and positive possibilities for poverty coverage. Each section provides an introduction to the topic, as well as a broad selection of essays illuminating key issues and a Q&A with a relevant journalist. Topics covered include news coverage of corporate philanthropy, structural bias in reporting, representations of the working poor, the moral de- mands of vulnerability and agency, community empowerment and citizen media. The book’s broad focus considers media and poverty at both the local and global levels with contributors from 16 countries. This is an ideal reference for students and scholars of media, communication and journalism who are studying topics involving the media and social justice, as well as journalists, activists and policy makers working in these areas. Sandra L. Borden (Ph.D., Indiana University) is a professor in the School of Communication at Western Michigan U niversity (United States). She directs the university’s Center for the Study of Ethics in Society and coaches its Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl team. Her work has appeared in several scholarly books and journals, including the Journal of Media Ethics, Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism and Communication Theory. Her books are the award-winning Journalism as Practice: MacIntyre, Virtue Ethics and the Press (2007; 2009), Ethics and Entertainment: Essays on Media Culture and Media Morality (co-edited with Howard Good, 2010), Making Hard Choices in Journalism Ethics (with David Boeyink, 2010) and Ethics and Error in Medicine (co-edited with Fritz Allhoff, 2019). THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO MEDIA AND POVERTY Edited by Sandra L. Borden First published 2022 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Taylor & Francis The right of Sandra L. Borden to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Borden, Sandra L., 1963– editor. Title: The Routledge companion to media and poverty / edited by Sandra L. Borden. Other titles: Companion to media and poverty. Description: New York: Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021011656 (print) | LCCN 2021011657 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367260729 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367776343 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429291333 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Poverty in mass media. | Poverty—Press coverage. | Journalism—Objectivity. | Public welfare in mass media. | Mass media—Social aspects. Classification: LCC P96.P67 R68 2021 (print) | LCC P96.P67 (ebook) | DDC 070.4/493625—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021011656 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021011657 ISBN: 978-0-367-26072-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-77634-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-29133-3 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by codeMantra This book is dedicated to my mom Dora Borden CONTENTS List of figures xii List of tables xiii Foreword xiv Acknowledgments xviii List of contributors xx Introduction: The Problem of Poverty in the News Media 1 Sandra L. Borden PART I Principles: Ethical Frameworks for Covering Poverty 11 1 Communitarian Ethics and Poverty Coverage 13 Clifford G. Christians 2 The Capability Approach and Media Coverage of People in Poverty 23 Gottfried Schweiger 3 Extreme Poverty as Human Rights Violation: Moral Duties and Public Engagement in the Global North 32 Vincent Fang 4 Precarious Photojournalism: The Ethics and Aesthetics of the Unrepresentable 43 Sieglinde Lemke 5 Shared Vulnerability as a Virtuous Frame for Poverty Journalism 54 Sandra L. Borden vii Contents 6 Solidarity in U.S. Journalism: Social Justice Implications of How Journalists Humanize People Experiencing Homelessness 64 Anita Varma 7 Social Empathy + Compassion: Building Blocks for Poverty Coverage 74 Ryan J. Thomas 8 Reporting on the Margins But Not Marginalizing with Dustin Dwyer 84 Dustin Dwyer and Sandra L. Borden PART II Poverty: Socioeconomic Need and Its Causes in the News 93 9 A Very Poor Watchdog: How the Political Economy Continues to Define News Reporting of Poverty in the Digital Era 96 Jairo Lugo-Ocando 10 Framing Poverty: An Historical Overview of Ways of Seeing Poverty 106 Stuart Connor 11 The Social Construction of Poverty in India: Role of News Media 116 Ameeta Motwani 12 A History of Media Coverage of Poverty in the United States Since 1960 127 Melissa L. Newman and David R. Davies 13 Ruin Porn and Virtue Porn: Licensing How We Talk About Perceptions of Urban Decay 136 Fred Vultee 14 Neoliberal Poverty Discourses in Canadian Newspapers 145 Robert Harding 15 Coverage of Poverty in Business News: How Media Represent Public and Private Concern for People Living in Poverty 155 Andrea Pérez 16 Living in a Material World: Celebrity Media Culture and Neoliberal Ideology in the Digital Age 169 Jennifer Lewallen 17 Urban Inequality and Marginalization with Chris Michael 180 Chris Michael and Sandra L. Borden viii Contents PART III “Poor”: News Representations of People Experiencing Poverty 189 18 What about the Actors Involved in News about Poverty? Disrupting Determinist Accounts 192 Isabel Awad 19 The Picture of Poverty: Visual Images and Their Implications 202 Rosalee A. Clawson 20 Settler Colonial Representations of Indigenous Disadvantage 212 Lisa Waller and Kerry McCallum 21 Media Representations of Structural Factors Contributing to Women’s Poverty 223 Orly Benjamin 22 The Cultural Image of the Fat Poor in German News Media 234 Claudia Müller 23 Representations of the Working Poor 244 Christopher R. Martin 24 Representation, Poverty and “Hillbilly Culture” in Appalachia 255 Michael Clay Carey 25 To Cover or Not to Cover? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mainstream Media News Framing of Children in Kenyan Care Homes 266 Agnes Lucy Lando and Lydia Radoli 26 “Not Sending Us Their Best”: Media Framings of Immigrants as the “Parasitic Poor” 277 Jessica Brown 27 News at a Time of Economic Hardship with Judith Matloff 288 Judith Matloff and Sandra L. Borden PART IV Policy: Indirect Coverage of Poverty as Part of Watchdog Journalism 297 28 Keep Calm and Carry On: Challenging a Discourse of Necessity and Forbearance in News Reporting of U.K. “Austerity” Policies 300 Jen Birks ix
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