Media Discourse of Poverty and Social Exclusion

Kleut, Jelena and Valić Nedeljković, Dubravka and Pralica, Dejan and Barović, Vladimir and Drašković, Brankica and Prodanović, Dragana and Milinkov, Smiljana and Mesaroš Lajko, Elida and Gajić, Zlatomir and Živaljević, Vukašin (2012) Media Discourse of Poverty and Social Exclusion. [Study]

Study description

The research project was carried out in two phases (2010/2011 – 2011/2012). In the first phase the research intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of media representations and mediated articulations of social inequalities in Serbian society. The relevance of the research lies in the specific challenge faced by the Serbian society in which ideological and identity debates concentrated around ex-Yugoslav wars and war crimes, cooperation with ICTY, Kosovo issue and EU accession overshadow other crucial societal issues or lead to their formulation following ideological matrix inherited from the recent past. In the country in which 7.9% of the population lives under the absolute poverty line and in which more than half of the population experiences some form of deprivation, the question of social cohesion, social ex/inclusion and poverty represents one such issue. The research project draws on the view that mass media have the potential to act either as facilitators of dialogue leading to social change or, in the opposite direction, as a key force for preservation of the status quo. In contemporary societies, the concept of poverty is being replaced by the concept of social exclusion – a complex, multidimensional issue that includes not only economic deprivation but also limitations in access to labour market, educational and health services. Exclusion in this sense is strongly related to lack of participation and representation, which in modern times is achieved primarily through mass media. For that reason, on the overall objective of the research is to deconstruct Serbian media discourse about poverty. In the second phase the aim of this research was to provide a comprehensive analysis and comparison of mass media representations of poverty, on one hand, and citizens’ discourses about social inequalities in Serbian society, on the other hand. Poverty and a more complex, multidimensional problem of social exclusion are one of the key aspects of the country’s on-going transitional processes. After the initial success in reduction of poverty in Serbia, the absolute poverty rate increased from 6.1% in 2008 to 6.9% in 2009. The upward trend of absolute poverty persisted throughout 2010 when, based on the preliminary semiannual reports of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, an absolute poverty rate of 8.8% was recorded. In the previous step research focused on the question of dominant mass media representations. The smaller segment of the research that was directed towards deconstruction of citizens’ discourse has indicated that there is a discrepancy between mass media discourse and citizen’s discourses. The main objective of this research was to follow this preliminary finding and provide in-depth analysis of citizens’ discourses about poverty and social exclusion articulated in response to on-line news items on news sites and on internet forums. Citizen’s discourses are viewed as the key not only for understanding mass media texts, but also as a key for understanding popular attitudes about the problem, proposed solutions and immediate actions that are taken.

Keywords:	media, discourse, poverty, journalists, social exclusion
Depositing User:	Jelena Banovic
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2019 12:39
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2019 12:39
URI:	http://dcs.ien.bg.ac.rs/id/eprint/47
Additional details Additional details Alternative title: Medijski diskurs o siromaštvu i socijalnoj isključenosti Creators: Creators Email Kleut, Jelena UNSPECIFIED Valić Nedeljković, Dubravka UNSPECIFIED Pralica, Dejan UNSPECIFIED Barović, Vladimir UNSPECIFIED Drašković, Brankica UNSPECIFIED Prodanović, Dragana UNSPECIFIED Milinkov, Smiljana UNSPECIFIED Mesaroš Lajko, Elida UNSPECIFIED Gajić, Zlatomir UNSPECIFIED Živaljević, Vukašin UNSPECIFIED Type of data: qualitative data Study period: From To 2010 2012 Temporal coverage: From To 2010 2012 Date: 18 August 2012 Geographic coverage: Serbia Study method: First, mass media texts were viewed normally as mirrors of reality for lower classes, with the main objective of assessing the fit between reality and news coverage. Method research included both qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Unique code sheet instrument with separate categories was used in order to account for the specificities of radio, press and television. Basic categories of social exclusion types and socially excluded groups were formed in such a way that they correspond to the system of gathering and classifying data on the poor in Serbia (An Overview of the Current State of Social Inclusion 2010). Another perspective, constructivist in its view, is that poverty is not exterior in relation to communication; rather it is constituted in communicating. Aiming to analyse media stories on poverty, the method of critical discourse analysis was used within the second perspective, as well as the procedures that represent a hermeneutical process of continuous movement between parts of the text and its whole. It also addresses movement between the text and the context in which it exists (Wodak and Meyer, 2009). The focus group with journalists and editors was conducted to supplement the findings obtained through the analysis of media content. Resource language: Serbian Metadata language: Serbian Publisher: UK Data Archive Copyright holders: RRPP Contact email address: dnvalic@gmail.com Last Modified: 22 Oct 2019 12:39