Over the weekend, SBS pulled a promotional ad for its upcoming documentary series Struggle Street, after complaints from those it depicted in it that the three-part series amounts to little more than “poverty porn.”
A documentary crew spent six months following a number of locals from the Mt Druitt area in Western Sydney, but after seeing the first episode, those involved have complained that their stories have been misrepresented and mocked.
Blacktown Mayor Stephen Bali appeared on Triple M this morning to vent his anger, saying that he’s “absolutely furious” at the producers of the series, who have “gone out of their way” to paint Mt Druitt in a negative light.
He told the breakfast team:
“This is unethical – they enticed these people into the show, they followed them around for six to eight months, and of course, you’re going to have some moments that you wouldn’t want on national TV, we all would, but they put the worst out there. They destroy these people’s characters in week one, and then they say, ‘trust me, we’ll rebuild them in week two and three and show how wonderful they are.”
He’ll be meeting with the documentary makers and SBS later today, and amongst other things, will address the allegation that some participants in the documentary were paid in fast food.
Depending on how that meeting goes, though, things could get even more hectic.
Tomorrow morning at 9am, Blacktown Council garbage trucks will blockade SBS headquarters on the lower North Shore, and Bali has thrown his full support behind the move.
“The trucks show what we think of the show,” he said bluntly. “It’s garbage.”
Struggle Street‘s first episode is due to air on SBS this Wednesday May 6 at 8.30pm. We’ll keep following the story as it develops.
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