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From Pen to Print: Tracing the Evolution of Poverty Narratives in The Times Over Centuries

The study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the role of media in shaping and reflecting the public dialogue around poverty. We learn from history and yield any policy implication for future.

Abstract : Poverty has long been reckoned as one of the most important social and public issues. We propose to trace the evolution of poverty narratives in a longstanding newspaper publication - The Times from 1785 to 2012, using the University Newspaper Archive (available at https://go-gale-com.bris.idm.oclc.org/ps/start.do?p=TTDA&u=univbri ). Conducting such a long-run analysis on media data yields several advantages:

  1. The long sample period can cover many different major events over time, such as the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, post-war periods, and the recent global Financial Crisis, each of which may have influenced the narrative in different ways.
  2. The political climate can greatly influence how poverty is discussed in the media. Different governments and political ideologies concerning poverty are likely to be reflected in the newspapers.
Authors Professor Adrian Bell