A practical guide for journalists on how to include persons with disabilities
by missjenn | October 21, 2012 at 7:58 PM
Persons with disabilities are usually portrayed as “‘objects’ of protection, treatment and assistance rather than subjects of rights" (page 4), especially in media where they usually do not have a voice of their own.
"A disability is a condition caused by accident, trauma, genetics or disease which may limit a person’s mobility, hearing, vision, speech or mental function." (page 3)
This handbook addresses disability as a human rights issue in that many people are disabled as a result of human rights violation (i.e. war, lack of food and water, environmental hazards). For example, in Angola at least 100,000 people are disabled due to landmines. (page 3)
This handbook also provide training materials (i.e. terminology guide, good and bad press examples) for journalists to help shape the public image of persons with disabilities so that persons with disabilities are not portrayed as subjects of human rights, but as holders of these rights. The demographic focus in this handbook is the estimated 60-80 million people with disabilities in Africa, where they are often excluded from civil and economic rights.
Handbook can be accessed via original link and PDF attachment.
