Covering Disability Issues
When most reporters think of diversity, they think of ethnicity, race, and sexual
orientation. Usually they overlook the largest minority, which accounts for
about 20 percent of the U.S. population: People with physical and mental disabilities.
Whether you are writing about voting trends, unemployment statistics or the
economics of aging, there is a disability angle to uncover. When the school
district builds a new elementary school or when the downtown hotel renovates,
for example, ask if the buildings comply with federal law. Are they accessible
to people with disabilities? In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy,
most reporters missed stories about the failure of building evacuation plans
to include wheelchair users. In the 1994 California earthquake, journalists
didn’t report that disaster relief centers used inaccessible shelters and
turned away deaf people due to lack of interpreters.
Disability sources by topic
Here are some organizations that offer resources and perspectives
on disability. For specific contacts, consult the SPJ
Rainbow Sourcebook.
Too often, journalists see disability solely as a medical story or an inspirational
feature story. These misrepresent the disability experience as uniquely tragic
or pitiful, instead of a part of everyday life. Disability advocates want reporters
to consider how society itself creates disability, through architectural, occupational,
educational, communicational, and attitudinal barriers to people who are physically different. They say society is what is broken and needs to be fixed, not individuals with disabilities. How can reporters
do a better job?
Improve sourcing. Seek out people with disabilities as sources, not just
as subjects. Many disability organizations, such as the Disability Rights Education
and Defense Fund in Berkeley, Calif., Not Dead Yet in Chicago, and the American
Association of People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C., can discuss topics
at the national level. Many federal offices focus on disabilities, and each
state has an independent living center that can suggest sources in the community.
In addition, independent organizations represent almost every type of disability,
ranging from the United Cerebral Palsy Association to the National Association
of the Deaf.
Examine your biases. If you feel you don’t understand the disability
experience, try covering disability issues more, rather than less. Focus on
society's barriers and pertinent disability issues, such as the number of inaccessible
voting places during election season or the desire of some blind individuals
to have a Braille ballot so they can vote in privacy like everyone else. Start
by becoming aware of your own feelings when interacting with a disabled person.
Often able-bodied people bury fears about someday coping with a physical or
mental disability themselves. This can lead to stories about tragic figures
and inspirational “Supercrips,” who supposedly deserve kudos for getting
on with daily living. Both are inaccurate. “Being told that you're inspirational
when you're doing something ordinary is an assault on your self-concept,”
explained HolLynn D'Lil, a wheelchair-user, in Mainstream magazine.
Check terms. Language is a hot button for people with disabilities because
commonly used terms often do not represent their experiences. Wheelchair-users,
for example, explain that they are not “bound” or “confined”;
in fact, wheelchairs allow people mobility and independence. Journalists need
not look much farther than The AP Stylebook for some guidance. For more in-depth
help, use the online style guide created by The National Center on Disability and Journalism in San Francisco.
Know your history. People with disabilities have been pressing for civil
rights since the 1960s. Journalists should know about the society-altering pieces
of legislation that have resulted so far. The three most important laws include
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act of 1975 (IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The
Rehabilitation Act, first enforced in the 1980s, prohibits disability-based
discrimination in federal employment, federally funded programs and services,
by federal contractors, and in electronic and information technology used by
federal agencies. IDEA guarantees free and public education to U.S. children
and young people with disabilities.
The ADA expanded on the Rehab Act. The U.S. Department of Justice summarizes
it this way: “The ADA prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity
for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services,
public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.” It also
mandates telecommunications devices for the deaf and phone relay services. Except
for some small businesses and organizations who do not have the financial resources
to comply, the ADA applies to most of U.S. society.
The ADA is an ongoing civil rights, government, business, legal, education
and even sports story. Many business groups and organizations did not want to
comply with its requirements. For example, the Professional Golfers Association
unsuccessfully tried to block Casey Martin’s use of a golf cart from the
PGA tour by claiming walking is integral to golf. Many of the stories about
the case were models of balanced disability coverage because reporters sought
out perspectives from both the PGA and Martin. That’s all that people with
disabilities ask: That they be included as news sources so they can tell their
side of the story.
To the right is a sampling of disability sources from the SPJ Diversity Toolbox. For
more, please go to the SPJ Rainbow Sourcebook and Diversity Toolbox, an online
database of qualified experts on key news topics from populations who have been
historically underrepresented in the news: people of color, women, gays and
lesbians, and people with disabilities. This valuable tool makes it easy for
journalists to improve news accuracy and quality by broadening the perspectives
and voices in their coverage (http://www.spj.org/rainbowsourcebook). The Diversity
Toolbox provides a comprehensive set of links to resources and institutions
on the web. Accompanying essays offer principles and strategies for improving
stories from conception on through to reporting and writing.
Beth Haller is associate professor of journalism at Towson University.
Diversity Committee On both chapter and national levels, SPJ provides an open forum for the discussion of diversity issues in journalism. This committee's purpose is to promote a broader voice in newsrooms across the country and expand the depth and quality of news reports through better sourcing. Its ongoing project is the compilation of experts — primarily women, gays and lesbians, people of color and people with disabilities — through the Society's Diversity Source Book. The Society's relevance to its member is based on inclusiveness.
Society of Professional Journalists
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