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Newspaper Portrayal of Disability:
Author(s) -
Jones Robert S. P.,
Eayrs Caroline B.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.1996.tb00206.x
Subject(s) - newspaper , learning disability , period (music) , intervention (counseling) , psychology , medicine , gerontology , media studies , psychiatry , sociology , art , aesthetics
Two local newspapers were monitored for a six‐month period and then each received an intervention designed to increase the number of articles which showed people with learning disabilities as active, positive members of local communities and decrease the number of articles which reported fund‐raising events or other ‘special’ activities. Both newspapers were sent a letter reporting the findings of the monitoring exercise plus a copy of National Union of Journalist guidelines on the portrayal of disability. The editor of one newspaper was also visited by a person with learning disabilities who explained how he would like future coverage to proceed. Results of a follow‐up monitoring period snowed that the newspaper which had been visited had positively changed its protrayal of disability issues compared to the other newspaper.