Best Practices for News Media
GADIM understands the free speech and business constraints that news media face, but there are ways for journalists, editors, and news directors to produce more accurate coverage of persons with disabilities and disability issues. Our first recommendation for best practices is to read Article 8 of the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
GADIM has also created our own news network to promote authentic disability stories – by disabled journalists & allies.
For additional reading: How to Talk about Disability
Why is this important?
News media stories significantly affect how the general public understands disability issues. The International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, explains in its publication, “Reporting on disability: Guidelines for the media” (2015), “How people with disabilities are portrayed and the frequency with which they appear in the media has enormous impact on how they are regarded in society. Portraying people with disabilities with dignity and respect in the media can help promote more inclusive and tolerant societies and stimulate a climate of non-discrimination and equal opportunity.”
Accuracy in the News’ Representation of Disability
Because nondisabled people control the news media, most content reflects the beliefs of nondisabled people about disability. Every aspect of news media coverage contributes to how society perceives disability; therefore, it must be accurate.
News and feature stories should avoid perpetuating myths and negative stereotypes about disability. News media content should not objectify disabled people as a way to make audiences feel pity or inspiration.
“There are two extremes,” says Gary Arnold, president of Little People of America in an article about “Reporting on Disability with Sensitivity” (2016). “One extreme is portraying people with disabilities as people who are helpless and deserving of pity. That reinforces the stigma of disability as something that is bad and that would need to be changed. On the other extreme, you have the overly heroic portrayal of disability, where the person is portrayed as a superhero for doing things that a non-disabled person does on an everyday basis.”
For additional reading: New Mobility magazine, Emily Ladau, “Beyond Inspiration: A New Narrative”
Treating Disabled People as Sources, not Subjects
People who work in the news media need to examine their own misunderstanding of or even biases about disability. “Sometimes reporters – as a reflection of society in general – will write about the poor, or people with a disability, or people with some kind of challenge, with a hint of condescension. You have to clear your head of prejudices,” says The New York Times’ Dan Barry, who wrote an award-winning multimedia report called “The Boys in the Bunkhouse.”
When Barry began his reporting, he discovered no journalist had ever spoken to the disabled men who were part of a $240 million lawsuit seeking damages for their exploitation for 35 years. Barry said in a Neiman Reports article (2016) that “there was ‘no trick or special approach’ to his reporting; he just talked to the men and asked them to tell their stories.” The article adds, “That approach – treating people with disabilities as sources, not just subjects – is what advocates want more of.”
For additional reading: Easterseals, “Interviewing People with Disabilities”
Hiring Disabled People to Work at News Organizations
As the news media creates content about disability, GADIM recommends that news organizations hire more disabled employees, disabled freelancers, disabled video production teams, and disabled consultants. GADIM can recommend consultants with disabilities who can read news content, watch planned videos, etc. GADIM believes all consultants should be paid for their work.
A Note about Diversity
News media content should seek to reflect the diversity across individual experiences of disability and tell the stories of people with physical, sensory, cognitive, and intellectual disabilities. People whose disabilities affect their appearance should be included, as well as those people whose disabilities are hidden or not apparent.
Disability intersects with other factors. People of all genders/sexuality, races/ethnicities, ages, and in all geographic locations experience disability. Too often news media content only features interviews with cisgender white males with physical disabilities.
Resources for the News Media by Region
From Africa
From Australia
- ABC Network (Australia), “Reporting and Portraying Disability in ABC Content” (2024)
- Media Diversity Australia, “Disability Reporting Handbook” (2024)
From the Phillipines
From the UK
From the USA
- American Foundation for the Blind, “Resources for Reporters Writing About Blindness and Vision Loss”
From International Sources
- International Journalists’ Network, “How to make digital news more accessible to audiences with disabilities”
- Disability:IN, “Disability Etiquette – A Starting Guide”
- Global Investigative Journalism Network, “Guide to Investigating Disability Issues” (2023)
- Mykola Bilokonsky, “How to Talk about Autism Respectfully”
- National Center on Disability and Journalism, “NCDJ resources for journalists & content creators”
- The Carter Center, “Journalism Resource Guide on Behavioral Health” (2024)
- The Open Notebook, Julia Rehmeyer, “How to Report with Accuracy and Sensitivity on Contested Illnesses” (2021)
- The Open Notebook, Marion Renault, “Eradicating Ableist Language Yields More Accurate and More Humane Journalism” (2023)