Phony Bologna
Reporting on communities you don't belong to
Calling someone a phony is an understated insult. It questions a person’s integrity and labels them a fraud. As I begin my career in journalism, I fear the word even more.
Now working with the community of people with physical disabilities as a person without a disability, I’m hypersensitive to the insult. It would be one thing to be called a phony by an outsider, but being called a phony by someone within the community I’m hoping to work with is my nightmare.
To avoid the damnation of being called a phony journalist, I always ask myself, “how do I accurately represent the experience of a community I do not belong to?”
I ran through this question when covering the “ADA Transit Deserts” of the New York City subway system. The NYC trains service 122 neighborhoods; 62 of those neighborhoods do not have a single accessible station. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Transit Deserts strands about 640,000 New Yorkers. I discovered I live in one. So, I documented my commute to school, using only accessible stations, in an Instagram story.
When mapping out my route, the p-word came to mind. How do I accurately represent the experience of someone with accessibility needs when I don’t experience issues with accessibility?
Social Journalism, or Public-Powered Journalism, recommends including the community in the reporting process. Working with the community reveals insight into issues outsiders don’t consider. Maybe part of my route isn’t as accessible for the community as it was for me? Something such as a cracked sidewalk or crowded elevator can prolong the trip for someone with accessibility needs in a way I can’t account for. Bringing community members along for the reporting allows them to shape the piece as it’s happening.
For my ADA Transit Deserts story, however, I was unable to bring a community member along. Time constraints and limited availability aside, it is difficult to coordinate a trip through the subway with my sources from the community of disabled people because of how inaccessible the system is. One person’s trip would also differ from another community member’s because of how varied the experience of disabled people is; it’s the largest minority group in the world. I can not always rely on them to be there to disapprove my phoniness.
Fortunately, Rong Xiaoqing, a reporter for the Chinese language Sing Tao Daily in New York, spoke with my class of CUNY Newmark journalism students about community and ethnic media. I asked her how journalists can best represent the experience of communities they do not belong to. “We’re actors and actresses getting into a role,” she said. Journalists must first immerse themselves in a community to understand how they experience the community’s issues. Reporters should then, “write from that third-person perspective,” suggested Rong.
I grew up across the street from the Viscardi Center, a non-profit dedicated to “educating, employing, and empowering children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities,” almost my entire life. I worked as a teaching assistant at the Henry Viscardi School, a K-12 school for students with severe disabilities within the center. I have many friends and sources with disabilities who share their stories with me. Although I may not identify as part of the community of people with disabilities, nor experience their issues with inadequate accessibility, I do belong to the community of people fighting for disability-awareness and should write from that perspective.
I decide to include a vlog in my ADA Transit Desert story, explaining the perspective of this video. “As I walk to class, I wanted to clarify that I personally do not have issues with mobility,” I said, “and that this experience would be completely different for someone within the community of people with accessibility needs.” The clarification was necessary because I did not want viewers to misinterpret my experience for the community’s experience. My commute was difficult, nonetheless, but not as difficult as it may be for someone with a disability.
Identifying your perspective does not limit or take away from your reporting, it makes it transparent and trustworthy. Including your community throughout the reporting process and writing from your third-person perspective will help you represent the community accurately. Rong says, “the worst thing is to pretend.”
And for the record, I ain’t no phony.
