'Shameless Mlck', Lhe !

"#$% '"#$ and Lhe

rlghL wlng ldeologlcal assaulL on Lhe
welfare sLaLe

addy Poey
hoeyp[edgehlll.ac.uk
Aprll
2013
ollucally mouvaLed medla culL of
'()"*+$+,,' Mlck hllpou
shows Lhe pervaslveness of evll born ouL of welfare
dependency."
lled Lhe lld on Lhe bleak and oen groLesque world of Lhe
welfare beneL scroungers - of whom Lhere are noL dozens,
noL hundreds, buL Lens of Lhousands ln our counLry."
Shameless Mlck was medla culL ln hlmself, creaLed by
frequenL sLorles and 1v shows
!"#$% '#--.-
l1v/ !eremy kyle - (buL noL Anne Wlddlcombe)
lL's all abouL class, sLupld
1he reason vlcky ollard caughL Lhe publlc lmaglnauon
ls LhaL she embodles wlLh such fearful accuracy of several
of Lhe greaL scourges of conLemporary 8rlLaln: aggresslve
all-female gangs of embluered, hormonal, drunken
Leenagers, gymsllp mums who choose Lo geL pregnanL as
a career opuon, pasLy faced, lard guued slappers who'll
drop Lhelr knlckers ln a bllnk of an eye. Lhese people do
exlsL and are every blL as rlpe and as [usL a LargeL for
soclal saure as were, say, Lhe raddled worklng-class
drunks senL up by PogarLh ln Cln Lane."
!ames uellngpole, /)+ 0#*+,, 13 Aprll, 2006,
Why ()"*+$+,, 8rlLaln?
()"*+$+,, 8rlLaln becomes !"#$% '"#$ shorLhand for Lhe
declencles of modern 8rlLaln 'grlpped by welfare
dependency' ln 2008
Shannon Mauhews ln Aprll 2008
leckless faLhers, drug abuse, Leenage pregnancles name
any conLemporary soclal lll and ()"*+$+,, shows lL, noL as
a vlslon of a llvlng hell, buL as a Lwo-ngers-up Lo auLhorlLy
scally romp ln whlch Lhe moral of Lhe sLory ls Lhe morals
don'L really mauer.
Shannon Mauhews famlly: could come from CenLral
Casung for Shameless 8rlLaln."
Alllson earson, 'Shameless 8rlLaln lsn'L a comedy - lL's a
Lragedy", !"#$% '"#$. 9 Aprll, 2008.
()"*+$+,, 8rlLaln: 8roken 8rlLaln
Cheuoes of worklessness, as many as 84 of people
on welfare."
uevasLaung reporLs palnL a Lerrlfylng plcLure of Lhe
Lrue exLenL of '()"*+$+,, 8rlLaln', ln whlch mllllons
grow up ln a culLure of dependency where work does
noL pay. 1he governmenL wlll. lay ouL new plans Lo
Lackle Lhls welfare dependency launchlng a crackdown
on beneL scroungers.
"1he shock|ng report by the r|ght-w|ng th|nk-tank
Centre for o||cy Stud|es."
uanlel Marun, '8rlLaln ls branded Lhe [obless caplLal of
Lurope', !"#$% '"#$, 11 CcLober, 2010
8lghL wlng Lhlnk Lanks and
compasslonaLe conservausm
We have managed Lo creaLe a block of people ln
8rlLaln who do noL add anyLhlng Lo Lhe greaLness
of Lhls counLry." !"#$ $&'()"* &+#,$ -#.$ /0.1
laln uuncan SmlLh, /)+ (12, 12 AugusL 2010
Labour had also announced bllLz on beneL
scroungers" ln rlghL wlng press ln 2008
1he paper whose Lone and agenda ls closesL Lo 1960s/70s-
sLyle moral panlc ls probably Lhe !"#$% '"#$. uurlng Lhe
1haLcher years, Lhe !"#$% '"#$ pracused and perfecLed Lhe
characLerlsucs of hegemony, ln a way LhaL was ln uncanny
harmony wlLh 1haLcherlsm."
(Mc8obble, 1hornLon, 1993: 369)

Moral volce of Lhe new mlddle class and old lower
mlddle class
lLs own sLyle of ln-house morallLy (lbld)
!"#$% '"#$: volce of common sense
()"*+$+,, 8rlLaln: 8roken 8rlLaln
()"*+$+,, 8rlLaln ad[uncL elemenL of ually
Mall's auack on Lhe legacy of falled le
pro[ecL:
Macro |ssues: ulmlnlshed soverelgnLy: Lu
M|cro |ssues: MuluculLurallsm & lmmlgrauon
8eneLs v Welfare, Welfare SLaLe
non selecuve educauon
ollcles of le wlng MarxlsL lnLelllgenLsla
ApoLheosls ln auack on 8alph Mlllband
ollucal & economlc background
neo-con and neo-llberal pro[ecLs LhaL began wlLh
8eagan and 1haLcher
1rlumph of conservauve Amerlca, ConLracL wlLh
Amerlca, deslgned by newL Clngrlch
Among oLher Lhlngs, reappralsed deserv|ng and
undeserv|ng poor
aved Lhe way for economlc llberallzauon of Lhe
'welfare' secLor
1he 8lg SocleLy
hllpou: medla power/ medla
ldeology
CpporLunlsL use of eplsodes of crlmlnallLy or
soclal Lurmoll Lo advance ldeologlcal agenda
Pow?
non-ubllc Servlce 8roadcasung secLor
domlnaLed by rlghL wlng volces
Murdoch/ uMC/ 1elegraph sull domlnanL onllne
envlronmenL, desplLe decllnes ln prlnL clrculauons
CrowLh of lnuence of Lhe commenLarlaL/ blogoLarlaL:
?oung, uellngpole, Mckenzle, hllllps, SLarkey
Medlauon & medlauzauon
olluclans respond by appeallng Lo Lhe crowded,
cenLre rlghL ground - ukl eecL?
Medlauon & medlauzauon: when medla ls cenLral,
domlnanL force ln ow of lnformauon beLween
pollucs and publlc
Medlauzauon/ medla loglc: sLorles packaged Lo L
medla agenda
e.g. Pazel 8lears
Why ()"*+$+,,?
Lasy encapsulauon of
worklng/ underclass llfe few
mlddle classes have any
experlence of
kevln Magulre: uewsbury of
Shannon Mauhews or uerby
of Mlck hllpou ls as allen as
kandahar ls for mlddle/
meLropollLan class
Lven Lhe ()"*+$+,,
reference was losL on Mall
readers: Marun plece had Lo
explaln whaL ()"*+$+,, was
roblems of uslng ()"*+$+,,
Creeber (2009) polnLs Lo Lhe problems of press
uslng ()"*+$+,, as quasl-reallsuc
'Anu-soclal reallsm' - klcks agalnsL Lhe reallsm of
lLs creaLor aul Abbou's oLher work and LhaL of
hls conLemporarles, !lmmy McCovern
lrank Callagher should noL be seen as elLher a
rellable narraLor or auLhenuc
Conunually hlghllghLs 'a lack of auLhorlal 'LruLh'.'
ln Lhls case, lL ls noL enurely ln Lhe manner of
PogarLh's soclal saures
Worklng class and hegemony
uemonlzauon of worklng class, especlally when
erroneously predlcaLed, represenLs Lhe class
dlslocauon of Lhose produclng MSM producLs -
MSM ls lncreaslngly mlddle class ln complexlon
!ournallsm, ls lncreaslngly domlnaLed by a
prlvaLely-schooled, Cxbrldge-educaLed ellLe
and. lL ls becomlng dlmculL for Lhose from oLher
backgrounds Lo geL a fooLhold, accordlng Lo Lhe
educauonal charlLy LhaL carrled ouL Lhe survey."
Cwen Clbson, Lhe 31"-4#"2, 13 !une, 2006
eople ralsed on beneLs never really
make lL all Lhe way Lo here - Lo London.
1o Lhls London - Medla London. 1o Lhe
place where power ls. 1hose glro
cheques, and Lhe soclal clrcles, don'L
sLreLch Lhls far. 1hose people don'L geL
Lo commlsslon documenLarles, or make
dramas, or wrlLe columns or books
abouL Lhelr llves, speak on 5+6,2#7)/ or
Lell [okes on 8"9+ : 3./ 5+6, ;.- <.1.
1hey do noL geL Lo speak. ?ou [usL see
Lhem ln crowd shoLs lnsLead, as a mass
shouung on Lhe Lerraces or queulng ln
Lhe 8oxlng day sales aL nexL."
CalLlln Moran, Lhe 0#*+,, 21 !anuary,
2014
1he LruLh ls Lhe hllpous say
noLhlng abouL anyone, excepL
for Lhemselves, [usL as serlal
murderer C Parold Shlpman
sald noLhlng abouL mlddle class
professlonals."
Cwen !ones, Lhe :24+=+24+2/,
3 Aprll 2013
aul Abbou: lL's soclal raclsm
ulumaLely ln a ume when raclsm and homophobla
are ouLwardly unacepLable, shameless has become
an accepLable means of demonlzlng less forLunaLe.
Shameless ls one of Lhose words LhaL's sull
accepLable. ?ou can'L say plkey, hoody has had lLs
day. Shameless ls noL oenslve. lL's a lazy plece of
referenclng by Lhe Ms Lo refer Lo Lhe underclass."