Pressing for Disability Rights

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On Tuesday, November 9^th, the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) and Harvard Law School Project on Disability (HPOD) organized a panel event on the intersection of journalism and disability rights. NCDJ Director Kristin Gilger moderated an engaging panel of practitioners at this critical intersection including Joe Shapiro, NPR News Investigations correspondent; Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Professor Emerita of English and bioethics, Emory University; Eric Garcia, senior Washington correspondent, The Independent; and Amanda Morris, disability reporting fellow, The New York Times.

Panelists drew from their professional and personal experiences in discussing pressing questions, including strategies for navigating the line between journalistic practice and advocacy, preserving the dignity of persons with disabilities while conveying how their disabilities are relevant to the story, increasing the diversity of newsrooms and throughout the industry, and holding journalists accountable for reporting on disability issues ethically and accurately.  

Following the event, panelists and audience members compiled the following stories that they believe reflect good practices that other journalists can keep in mind.

• “Pandemic Isolation has killed thousands of Alzheimer’s patients while families watch from afar”  examines the number of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the isolation associated with dementia has been exacerbated by the pandemic. 
• “What to do about Ahav?” profiles a mother working to take care of her Black, mentally ill son during the pandemic and a time of racial unrest. 
• “People with Developmental Disabilities Were Promised Health. Instead, They Face Delays and Denials,” published by ProPublica, describes how an Arizona state agency has turned away people who seek assistance for developmental disabilities because of paperwork issues.
• “The Quiet Rooms” investigates the practice of isolating school children, many of whom have disabilities, as a punishment.
• “As Hospitals Fear Being Overwhelmed By COVID-19, Do The Disabled Get The Same Access?” chronicles how care was rationed to people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• “In Their Own Words: People With Intellectual Disabilities Talk About Rape” describes instances of sexual assault using only voices of people with intellectual disabilities.
• “Another Struggle for Long Covid Patients: Disability Benefits” details how COVID infections are giving rise to new disabilities that are testing current service and support systems.
• “For Some College Students, Remote Learning Is a Game Changer” describes how some students with disabilities are thriving in remote learning environments and want colleges and universities to continue to make remote options available in the future.
• “Parents of Students With Disabilities Try to Make Up for Lost Year” reports the disparate effects remote learning models on students with disabilities and how many are struggling to make up for learning loss.
• “A Future for People With Disabilities in Outer Space Takes Flight” documents efforts to make exploration of the final frontier more inclusive of and accessible for persons with disabilities.
• “Sidewalk seating is good for restaurants. It’s a challenge for disabled people” points out the barriers that have emerged in popular sidewalk dining arrangements adopted by restaurants during the pandemic.
• “Home care for people with disabilities is massively underfunded. Biden’s Build Back Better bill could change that” details the many ways in which President Biden’s Build Back Better bill would fill critical gaps in services for persons with disabilities.
• “Autistic people are coming into their own as political players” tells the stories of autistic elected officials and how they are seeking to leverage their political will to promote inclusion.
• “Autistic men don’t always understand consent. We need to teach them” describes the unique sexuality challenges that autistic men face and the supports some need to have positive encounters.
• “Breaking Barriers,” a photo gallery capturing moments of Michelle Wu’s successful Boston mayoral campaign, includes captions, audio descriptions, and transcripts to make it accessible for people who are blind, have low vision, deaf, or hard of hearing.
• “Yo También” is a Spanish-language news source for disability topics relevant to the community of Mexicans with disabilities.