Benefits Street
Benefits Street is a documentary series on the British television channel Channel 4. It started on 6 January 2014. Five episodes will be shown.[1] It is about some of the people who live on James Turner Street in Birmingham. 90% of the people on the street claim benefits. 4.3 million people watched the first episode. It was Channel 4's most-watched shown in more than a year.[2] It shows some people who claim benefits (claimants) doing crimes.
Criticism
Almost 300 complaints were made to Ofcom after the first episode was shown.[3] Dee Roberts complained that she had been tricked into being on the programme. She said that the people on the programme thought the show was about a working class community, but that instead they had been portrayed as "complete scum".[4] Almost 10,000 people signed a petition asking Channel 4 to show no more episodes of the show.[5] Steve Haywood, a friend of an alcoholic in the programme known as Fungi, said that Channel 4 gave Fungi beer so that he would be on the show.[6]
References
- ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a543116/benefits-street-essential-documentary-or-poverty-porn.html?rss
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/alex-yeates/benefits-street_b_4564688.html
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25653477
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535791/Who-live-street-like-Drug-abuse-vandalism-arson-violence-anti-social-behaviour-just-average-day-Benefits-Street.html
- ↑ http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/09/petition-calling-on-channel-4-to-scrap-benefits-street-gets-10000-signatures-4256225/
- ↑ http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/359748/Residents-of-Benefits-Street-accuse-Channel-4-of-bribing-them-with-booze-and-burgers