News coverage of poverty and people living in poverty during political turmoil in the United States and United Kingdom

Abstract

Politicians have often suggested that people experiencing poverty need to be encouraged to work, to stop relying on ‘government handouts’ and to become self-sufficient. News coverage of poverty has often repeated those claims, helping perpetuate stereotypes of poverty that stigmatizes the experience, making it difficult for people to seek help and also making spending cuts, like those the UK government announced in late 2022, seem necessary and inevitable. This research examines the coverage of poverty in four US and UK newspapers to understand how the issue was framed during a politically tumultuous time in the two countries. It found that rather than challenging stereotype, news coverage often perpetuated it, even when attempting to include the voices of people experiencing poverty in stories.