Speaking with: Deb Warr on “poverty porn”

original In May 2015 the mayor of the City of Blacktown, Stephen Bali, denounced the SBS documentary series Struggle Street – produced in the Blacktown suburb of Mount Druitt – labelling it as “public funded poverty porn” and staging a creative protest which saw a dozen garbage trucks blockade the broadcaster’s head offices. The second series of Struggle Street will be filmed in Queensland and Victoria in 2016, and there has already been significant backlash to the announced plans. While poverty porn is a term used to describe media that appears to exploit impoverished communities and individuals for entertainment, supporters of shows such as Struggle Street argue that the genre can generate sympathy, engagement and ultimately have a positive effect on the community. Dallas Rogers spoke with Deb Warr, Associate Professor from the McCaughey Centre for Community Wellbeing at the University of Melbourne, about the role the media plays in creating narratives around poverty and the importance of varied methods of engagement with impoverished communities. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Additional audio: ABC Lateline SBS accused of ‘poverty porn’ over documentary series Newsnight Is Channel 4’s Benefits Street ‘poverty porn’? Four Corners Growing Up Poor Benefits Street S01E01 Welcome to James Turner Street Benefits Street Theme Tune The Sydney Morning Herald Mt Druitt community leaders hurt after Struggle Street documentary Music from: Free Music Archive Headlights/Mountain Road by Blue Dot Sessions Free Music Archive Wisteria by Blue Dot Sessions Free Music Archive Werdenfelser Trompeten Landler by Strassmeir Dachaur Bauernkapelle Free Music Archive Paper Napkin by Blue Dot Sessions Dallas Rogers receives funding from the Community Broadcasting Foundation to produce short academic interviews for SoundMinds Radio (http://www.soundminds.com.au/author/dallas/). Segments of this interview were played on community radio in January 2016