[Media-watch] Goldenballs

[Neil Scott]

I very rarely write to this list, but enjoy the informative posts.  
Something that caught my eye this week was on the BBC.  "Goldenballs: The 
Secret History of Pawn."

The reason it literally caught my eye was because two very vulnerable people 
I know happened to appear on it.  I am a teacher in Govan and two parents 
from families living in abject poverty featured in the programme using the 
"facilities".  

The programme itself, as far as I could see was an advert for Pawn shops as 
we were shown around the premises and it was treated as a twee curiosity 
-an almost harmless little anomaly in our 21st century world.  There was no 
investigation as to why Pawn shops are on the up.  There was no 
investigation into the lives of the people who use them.  It showed that 
Pawn shops in Partick and the one beside  Central Stn (can't remember the 
name of the street - Argyll St?) and two in more affluent areas - Byres Road 
in the West End and one in Edinburgh.  We were shown around by the owner - 
and then a shop assistant was interviewed.  The shop owner told us that the 
Byres Road shop had separate entrances for Pawners and buyer - the two 
shouldn't meet.  There was no investigation as to why this should be the 
case.  If these things were such a valuable service why would people be 
embarrassed?  One of the customers (of the Partick shop) who was interviewed 
said she thought Pawn shops were great as when she got tired of jewelry she 
could pawn it.  She was someone who was "caught in the headlights".  

A more socially aware Producer/ Director would have asked simple questions 
as to why these people pawned and why these places have become popular again 
in Glasgow.   Instead of a jolly jape, this subject should have been treated 
as an indicator of our societal problems.  And if the surface had have been 
slightly rubbed, two of the participants could have quite succinctly by 
their very existence, shown that in actual fact this service is nothing but 
another exploitation of the very poorest and most vulnerable of Scottish 
society.

The producer was Mhairi McNeill (room 3160)and the director was Becky Brazil 
(room 3191).
The full address of the BBC is: 
BBC Scotland 
Broadcasting House 
Queen Margaret Drive 
Glasgow 
G12 8DG 

Neil Scott
Glasgow
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