Papers by Callum Alexander Scott
Neoliberalism has grown to become the dominant political and economic agenda of our time. Its su... more Neoliberalism has grown to become the dominant political and economic agenda of our time. Its supporters hold influential positions across governments, education, the media and corporate and financial institutions, yet its effects have been largely negative for populations around the world: declining economic growth, together with most social indicators (life expectancy, mortality among infants, children, and adults, literacy, and education); increasing social and economic inequality; skewing of political power in the favour of wealthy interests; and an increase in financial activities leading to more frequent crises in which the costs are socialised. This research endeavoured to examine whether the BBC, an organisation dedicated to serving the public interest with impartial news reporting, could be said to support neoliberal interests. To do this it analysed how BBC2’s Newsnight reported the January 2015 election of the Greek political party Syriza. Syriza’s policies were markedly anti-neoliberal and thus represented a threat to the dominant economic interests of much of Europe, including the British Government. Utilising a mixed methods approach, the analysis found that through a combination of negative framing and the absence of any critical analysis or discussion of neoliberalism, BBC Newsnight’s overall reporting did in fact serve to support neoliberal interests.
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Papers by Callum Alexander Scott