Representing austerity: Baby Banks and news media

Abstract

Rising levels of hardship since the introduction of austerity have rendered essential items unaffordable for many on low incomes with young children. Baby Banks—organisations freely providing essential items and equipment to those with, or expecting, a baby or young infant—have grown. These organisations have received little academic attention and much of what is known about them comes from news media coverage. News media plays a critical role in raising public awareness, shaping public attitudes, and influencing policy formation. Drawing on 384 news articles, this paper explores the scale and nature of news article coverage of Baby Banks between 2009 and 2022 using sentiment analysis and topic modelling. Through employing these approaches, our research adds quantitative evidence to extant work on news media coverage under austerity. Our results show that the number of articles written about Baby Banks has grown since 2009, with peaks in coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, potentially reflecting the growing need for these organisations. While sentiment towards Baby Banks within news articles has predominantly been positive, since 2019 there has been a rise in negative coverage due to an increase in articles critical of the growing number of people requiring Baby Banks. Alongside discussions of political changes driving rising hardship, prominent underpinning narratives in articles have included charitable appeals for donations, praise for community work, the royal family, and mothers. By focusing on the sentiment and key discussions around Baby Banks, our research extends understandings of media coverage under austerity.