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It’s Time to Make the Media Disabled
For those hoping this is an essay about how mainstream media is the “enemy of the people” — you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
This is about a new mentoring program and community of professionals that will help disabled people become integral members of the media. Because it’s time for a change — it’s time disabled people are given a seat at every table in the media industry.
Disable the Media has the goal of doing just that.
Media has the incredible power to influence our vision of the world around us, for better or worse. A simple local news story can transform the view of our community. An article on BuzzFeed can awaken a new passion for social justice or be a glimpse into a culture we could never understand.
And yet, with all that power, there’s still little representation of disabled people on-screen. We (disabled people) account for less than 3% of characters on television, and there’s still not great numbers on how we’re represented across the media industry as a whole.
“The portrayals of disabled people as tragic victims or inspirational heroes in television, movies, and books often misrepresent the lived disability experience, and are a source of ongoing tensions about who is allowed to speak and to what end.” — Michelle Nario-Redmond
The lack of disabled representation across the media has perpetuated ableism in our society. We are treated as though we are not as capable, are often ignored unless we are…