Poverty and Participation in the Media

Workshops

The basis of this project is a series of three, two day workshops run by Spectacle, during which participants filmed one another in discussion and individual interviews.

Within the parameters of the projects themes, the direction the discussions took was left largely to those who attended, giving real scope to raise and debate the issues which most concern people.

The first product of these workshops, a 7 minute edit of participant interviews, will be screened at the BBC College of Journalism. Click play below to watch the video here.

Find out more about the Poverty and Participating in the Media (7min edit) here. Full interviews of each of the participants can be found in our extras section.

The workshops took place across London in the first week of August 2008

Specific details of the times, dates and locations can be found on the Spectacle Blog, or Facebook pages.

Pepys Estate, Rotherhithe

Prior to the first workshop the estate had been featured in The Tower, broadcast on BBC 1 as well as a Mail article implying students from Bacon’s college, where Jade Goody went to school, are all inept, ill-informed and lacking in worthwhile aspirations. The latter was raised by one of the younger participants, who, as a pupil at the school, felt that this was an unfair and unhelpful representation.

Workshop 1: Deptford, 2nd and 3rd August 2008

Marsh Farm, Luton

The group tended towards more generalised discussion about the sort of views that pervade the media and how the judgements made reflect the reality from the perspective of the participants. Marsh Farm has been the subject of constant denigration - A black hole for NDC funding and unworthy recipient of taxpayer’s money, as recently stated on Face the Facts.

Spectacle have worked closely with the community for several years, documenting the work of the Exodus Collective, active on the estate during the 90's. A clip of the film Exodus Movement of Jah People, is viewable on our website using this link.

Workshop 2: Luton, 5th and 6th August 2008

Stockwell

Within months of the first workshop Channel 4 broadcast Rich Kid, Poor Kid, part of the Cutting Edge series. The film’s premise lay in the wealth inequality within one street, with extreme rendering of the differing lives and perspectives of the subjects. Participant’s local knowledge exposes misrepresentation of geographical fact and personal experience and avoidance of information that fails to reinforce the stereotype.

Workshop 3: Stockwell, 7th and 8th of August

In this section...

• Project
• Workshops
• New Media
• Blog
• Links
• Resources
• Events
• Extras
• About
• Credits
• PROJECT CLIP - Community Division and Cohesion: Media Contribution
• PROJECT CLIP - Social Change: Media Potential
• PROJECT CLIP - Stigma and Stereotypes: Role of the Media
• PROJECT CLIP - Media Portrayal of Poverty
• PROJECT CLIP - Media Portrayal of Wealth: Pressure to Purchase
• PROJECT CLIP - Crime In Poorer Communities
• PROJECT CLIP - Education: Views From the Community
• PROJECT CLIP - Documentaries: Potential and Pitfalls - The Case of The Tower
• PROJECT CLIP - Documentaries: Potential and Pitfalls - The Case of Rich Kid, Poor Kid
• PROJECT CLIP - Rich Kid Poor Kid - Perspective of the Producer
• EXTRA CLIP - Abusive Elements In The Media
• EXTRA CLIP - Is It Possible To Escape Poverty?
• EXTRA CLIP - The Varying Forms Of Poverty
• EXTRA CLIP - The Poverty Trap
• EXTRA CLIP- Documentaries: Potential and Pitfalls - The Secret Millionaire
• Screening Event - Fred Robinson
• Screening Event - Teresa Hanley
• Screening Event - Fred Robinson and Mark Saunders
• Screening Event - Eileen Devaney
• Screening Event - Jheni Arboine
• Screening Event - Jessica Leech
• Screening Event - Glenn Jenkins
• Screening Event - Mark Saunders