The role of the media in reflecting and shaping public opinion on poverty is to be examined by experts from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Researchers are being given £59,802 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as part of a wider programme of work to better understand attitudes to poverty in the UK.

The six-month project also aims to develop more inclusive and informed debate about UK poverty.

It will involve analysis of the content of 150 media sources, tracking coverage of eight poverty news stories, examining the presentation of poverty in fictional media (such as soap operas) and reality television.

The results of interviews with eight key contacts responsible for producing media accounts of poverty and 12 focus groups to explore how the UK public responds to media representations of poverty will also be used.

John McKendrick, director of the Scottish Poverty Information Unit, said: “While we commend the UK Government and Scottish Executive for their ambitions to eradicate child poverty within a generation and to tackle social exclusion in the UK, we believe that full public support is required to underpin any anti-poverty strategy.

“Our work aims to understand the pivotal role of the media in reflecting and shaping public ideas of poverty in contemporary UK.”