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It’s Time to Make the Media Disabled

Kristen Parisi
Media Disabled
Published in
3 min readSep 17, 2020

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…

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Media Disabled
Media Disabled

Published in Media Disabled

Media Disabled is created by Kristen Parisi, examining how disabled people are portrayed and represented across the media landscape and ableism within the industry.

Kristen Parisi
Kristen Parisi

Written by Kristen Parisi

Award-Winning Writer, Disability Specialist & Media Expert. I write about entertainment, politics, travel and some oversharing. KristenParisi.net

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