ABSTRACT
Severe cuts to public spending in the United Kingdom were ushered in from 2010 by a Conservative-led coalition government that used the 2008 financial crisis to advance a political agenda to roll back much of the social democratic welfare state. The cuts were framed strategically as “austerity,” a term chosen to evoke to postwar necessity and a much-marketed “keep calm and carry on” spirit of public forbearance. This was reflected in media coverage and initially in public opinion polls and only weakly challenged by the Labour opposition. However, an antiausterity narrative did emerge via activist and left-wing tabloid campaigning, and, by 2017, was picked up by a more radical Labour leadership.
This chapter traces media reporting across this period from three angles: media representation of the antiausterity movement that challenged the policy proposals from 2010, the news media coverage of one specific policy enacted by the Welfare Reform Act as it came into force in 2013 and reporting of the 2017 and 2019 snap election campaigns. It will argue that a progressive challenge to austerity did emerge in news reporting, but remained limited by dominant assumptions about and public attitudes toward those in poverty, and did little to empower them.
