McCafferty (2011) documents the
manner in which housing policies have contributed to the creation of segregated
and marginalised social spaces in Irelands third city, Limerick. In recognising
the significance of the mass media’s role in shaping public perceptions about
social problems this paper examines the manner in which
media constructions also contribute to this process (Devereux, Haynes and Power
2011; 2013).
Drawing
upon a quantitative content analysis of print media
coverage appearing in 4 national and local newspapers between 1/3/2009 and
31/03/2011, we analyse the representation of two of Ireland’s
most deprived urban public housing estates and identify the
key frames used in explaining these estates to its residents and the wider
public at a time when the largest regeneration project in the history of the
Irish State was occuring.
The paper argues that
for the most part, media coverage is stigmatising, focusing almost entirely on
issues like crime, which in the process ensures an invisibility
/ lack of awareness of the impact of public policy on place-making and everyday
life for these two communities. We argue that these depictions can be best
understood within the context of commercial realities, which progressively
impact upon media production (Hesmondhalgh 2006; Cottle 2007; Devereux, Haynes and Power 2012). Our
paper concludes
by examining debates regarding the potential to
counter problematic (mis)-representations,
which present difficulties for the communities
themselves and for the Limerick Regeneration project, in terms of economically
and socially regenerating estates which have been constructed as ‘no-go areas’.