Newsrooms (still) Need Training on How to Cover People with Disabilities
News media has a major disability problem. From the way people with disabilities are covered, to the amount of coverage the disabled population gets compared to other minorities, the problems are glaring for people like me who experience disability discrimination on a daily basis. I’m a paraplegic and have talked about this endlessly over the course of my career, but sadly I don’t see many newsrooms changing.
Newsrooms are powerful societal forces. This is oftentimes fantastic, as great newsrooms are responsible for helping spread the #MeToo movement and helping us become educated on people and things we aren’t exposed to in our daily life.
However this is also the danger newsrooms across the country present. Because of the aforementioned way people with disabilities are most frequently presented in the news, society still either ignores us, questions us/the validity of our disability, or pities us.
What’s the problem?
Let’s be real: there are several problems. For the sake of some brevity and my own sanity, I’m only going to focus on one major problem for the sake of this essay.
The biggest issue I see constantly (and has been discussed by scholars like Beth Haller), is the way people with disabilities are portrayed in news. We are presented as people to feel sorry for, to expect us to not live normal lives, or to be inspirations for able-bodied people. THEN, if you’re a disabled person who’s not a textbook inspiration, there’s something wrong with you. ←This isn’t something explicitly happens but is a negative by-product of the coverage.
This type of coverage is not only incorrect on the disabled experience, but it negatively impacts the mental health of millions of people with disabilities across the country.
I want to give a couple examples, because seeing is believing. Unluckily for me, there’s an abundance to choose from.
The most egregious examples are when the public relations teams of major corporations use stories of their disabled customers to make their company look good. I’ve watched countless newsrooms play into this, from ABC, CNN, and national morning shows, to local news stations. These stories rarely allow the disabled person speak for themselves, and the story is controlled by the PR person behind it. Or, when the person with a disability is able to represent themselves, it’s frequently accompanied by a story of “overcoming” their disability…as if it’s something about them that should be fixed.
My top example comes from local DC news station, Fox 5 about a little boy who’s family couldn’t afford a walker for him, so Home Depot employees built him one. The video is meant to be a heart-warming and inspirational video about what people will do for each other, completely ignoring the bigger story about how fucked up the American healthcare system is. What’s worse, is this story was picked up by CBS News, CNN and others before any talk about the real problem was inserted.
This Type of Coverage is Harmful
I’m not going to sit here and claim to speak for all disabled people, because just like any other minority population, everyone is different. I will note that I have spoken to countless others with disabilities who feel the same frustration that I feel.
I originally intended for this post to be a bit more scholarly, but I’m so upset and frustrated at this point. As news directors, reporters, journalism teachers, and PR people, you need to understand what it does.
It feels like shit. And in turn, can make other people treat us like shit. While it doesn’t come from a bad place, I no longer accept the accidentally ignorant excuse. I am beyond sick and tired of watching TV and the inspirational stories of people with disabilities who have “overcome the odds” to do XYZ or who, “doesn’t let their disability stop them.”
No. You stop it, media.
Why does the news and society in general, expect less from us? Why is it that you (able-bodied people) only pay attention to us when we’re warming your hearts? Or when we’ve “beat” our disability.
I’ll give you a good example while I’m here on my soapbox because at this point, I’m a little fed up: every year during Disability Awareness Month, I pitch a multitude of reporters trying to get them to cover the month in some way shape or form. I figure it’s timely, important, historical, and they cover other things like Pride Month, Black History Month, Women’s Month, etc.
Every year I’m told, “sorry, we don’t cover that” or “our readers don’t have an appetite for that.”
Yeah, because you spent the last 100+ years making the disabled community out to be people who may as well be ignored and who are miracles if they have lives that are even close to what you deem as normal. How about we get treated like other civil rights movements? There are a lot of people with disabilities who have had huge impacts on the world (FDR, anyone?) and yet people don’t speak out for our community during the one month we’re supposed to get equal recognition.
Another quick example: while I was having a recent media interview, the reporter said to me no less than three times, “wow, what an inspiration.” I corrected her and said, “no, I’m just someone who’s trying to do their part in getting voices heard.” My message clearly did not resonate.
The truth of the matter is, the only thing I’ve truly overcome in my life (aside from grief), is the ability to push against what society feels I should be capable of. Sadly the media continues to do people with disabilities and able-bodied people alike a disservice by us invisible unless using us is beneficial for its own agenda. They’re helping to continue the stigma of disability and to make us, our lives and abilities, less than others.
And everyone is at fault almost equally. Tech media has a particular problem where they almost never cover stories that discuss how the tech world impacts people with disability. The same idea goes for politics reporters covering the presidential election (we’re only brought up as fodder on the left for trump attacking the disabled reporter), podcasts, broadcast outlets, newspapers, etc.
Who’s Doing it Right?
I don’t want to be a total downer, and I don’t mean to be so worked up throughout this piece. There are a couple outlets who have made major strides in recent times that should be used as examples of how to do things right. Teen Vogue, Vice, Vox, and parts of the NBC News teams are doing a great job of covering people with disabilities.
These outlets are using a few effective strategies to ensure their coverage is quality. First and foremost, they’re employing freelance writers with disabilities to tell our own stories, experiences and how issues like abortion, immigration and police violence impact our community. We understand our community better than anyone else, so we know where to find each other and the issues that are impacting us.
What Vice is doing that’s interesting, is their use of storytelling via video, and using multiple voices. Sometimes it makes sense to focus only on one person, but in having a range of people, I think it also helps viewers to understand the spectrum of disability, and how the disabled experience is unique with each person.
But it can’t stop there.
I would like to also point you to Jordan Klepper’s recent episode on Native Americans. While the topic is different, the people in the piece describe being ignored by the media, and being represented in ways that heighten negative stereotypes. In my opinion, this piece should be used in journalism classes about the importance of representation, and of understanding a community’s true plight before writing a piece that will impact them.
How Can Newsrooms Change?
First, every single newsroom should have an expert or person with a disability come in and speak to reporters about representation, proper terminology, and compassion. I don’t care how small your newsroom is, the long-term impacts will be invaluable.
Second, if you are a larger media company, have a consultant that you check in with regularly and get their opinion on a story before running with it. No offense, but their perception will be better than yours and can help you avoid glaring mistakes like the Home Depot piece.
Three, EMPLOYEE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES!!!! This probably seems like “duh” statement, but I’ve been working in the media industry for years now, and have never come across another person with a physical disability in my profession. It’s infuriating and isolating, and is frequently blatantly obvious there isn’t anyone on the staff with a disability.
Look, it’s like any type of diversity: it’s a good thing to have diversity in your newsroom. Your coverage will come across to your readers/viewers/listeners better, and chances are, your impact will be better.
Finally, if you are seriously convincing yourself that none of the above is possible (which, I call bullshit on), at the very least, educate yourself and your staff. I’ll make it easy for you. Read one of the following books: Representing Disability in an Ableist World; Disability in the Media (2018); Disability Media Studies
Final Thought
If I could leave you with one parting thought it’s this: please change the way you view and approach people with disabilities. It breaks my heart and hurts my life. Literally. The way newsrooms have done things for years negatively impacted the way I viewed myself as a disabled person. I could go on for hours about the nuances of this topic, the additional problems within the industry, etc. etc. but I hope you learned something.
You have the power to change things which is an incredible gift.
