DLSU Senior High School Research Congress Conference Proceedings
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Research Advisor (Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial)
Duaqui, Yellowbelle D.
Abstract/Executive Summary
In the Philippines, one of the significant issues in society is the continuous growth of poverty and inequality. In the field of media, poverty porn is a term used to describe any content that exploits the images and narratives of impoverished individuals to gain sympathy, notoriety, and funds for a particular cause. However, there is a lack of research on poverty porn in the social media context, especially in the Philippine landscape. Thus, this study focuses on the portrayal of poverty in social media, specifically in the charity content of Raffy Tulfo in Action YouTube channel. Inductive content analysis was applied to the ten charity episodes released between 2021 and 2024, each with over 200,000 views, to investigate their narrative styles and visual imagery. This analysis was supported by Critical Media theory, which aimed to identify emerging patterns of poverty porn across the episodes, applying concepts of power and ideology, commercialization and commodification, and hegemony. Five key characteristics of poverty porn present in the episodes were identified: sensationalism, savior complex, narrative manipulation, stereotyping, and unexpected advertising. Findings revealed that the channel often portrays people in poverty as passive beneficiaries and reinforces the host’s role as a heroic figure. The emotional appeal and commodification of struggles were intentionally employed to engage the audience and promote the channel’s brand. In conclusion, this study highlights the ethical issues of poverty porn in social media, focusing on the need for a more nuanced portrayal of the poor, upholding their dignity.
Keywords
media portrayal; Philippine media; poverty porn; sensationalism; stereotyping