The Cutaway to the Toilet: Towards a Visual Grammar of Spatial Stigma in Factual Welfare Television

Editing techniques used in Factual Welfare Television (FWT) the UK undermine narratives of hardship and structural inequality representations living places welfare claimants. This research identifies affects a televisual syntax – or ‘visual grammar’ spatial stigma FWT. Using original data generated study Channel 5’s documentary series On Benefits (2015–2019), we conduct visual grammar analysis to argue that cutaway editing, which inserts camera shots toilets, canine excrement, fly-tipping into programmes, undermines potentially sympathetic poverty communicated via narrator voiceovers, and/or verbal testimonies participants. Our findings show editing is significant feature production oppositional articulated narrative. The concludes FWT generates disgust towards benefits claimants, productive powerful stigma.