Last night, Channel 4 engaged in yet more Poverty Porn, with the pseudo-reality programme Benefits Britain. The programme followed several 2013 social security claimants as they were put through the 1949 welfare system. As with the other Poverty Porn Programming, the social security system was portrayed as costly, over generous and prone to abuse – and those reliant upon it as feckless and entitled. It is time to bust the myths of Poverty Porn, and demand better from our media.
The UK in 1949
The UK of 1949 might as well be a different planet. The public had voted out the Conservatives and the country was represented by the Labour government of Clement Attlee. Confectionary such as sweets and chocolate were rationed. The gas industry was nationalised in the May. George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty Four was published in June. The world’s first passenger jet made…
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paul8ar 