Poor numbers, poor news: the ideology of poverty statistics in the media

The way journalists use statistics when reporting poverty reflects not only common approaches but also ideological choices linked to the wider context of journalism as a social practice. In this chapter, the authors analyse how poverty statistics are used and why they are articulated in the media discourses in the way they are. Looking at the history of these statistics in the news media and the current way they are incorporated in the news, the authors argue that in many cases they obscure rather than enlighten the way the public think about poverty.