Contact: Zorita Koenig
Tel/Fax: 904-379-1146
Email:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Reducing Disabling Imagery in the American Media.
It would be very nice if one could affirm that in the 21 st century disability discrimination does not exist but it is known it still does. Stereotypes assumptions about disable people are based on superstition, myths and beliefs; they are inherent to our culture and persist partially because they are constantly reproduced through the communication media: books, films, television, newspapers and advertising. Moreover, in the same way those racist or sexists attitudes are acquired through the “normal” learning process, so too are negative assumptions about disabled people.
A growing number of professionals and policy makers believe that it is not impairment, which prevents people from achieving a reasonable lifestyle, but restrictive environments and disabling barriers. “Disability”, therefore, represents a complex system of social constrains imposed on people with impairments by our discriminatory society; to be a disabled person means to be discriminated against. The problem is worse for black people, and women with impairments.
Disabled people in America have little or no say in how they are represented on television, in the press or in advertising.
Although the media alone cannot be held accountable for these negative images, its impact cannot be overlooked. It is known that level of the influence the mass media has on our perceptions of the world is huge.
A survey shows that 50% of Americans watch TV. The average American can go 33 days without TV but 37 % could barely manage two days without it. 36% of Americans turn on the TV within 15 minutes of getting home. 7% watch TV for 11 hours at a time. Rush Limbaugh has 14.5 million weekly listeners. In January 2005 FOX became available to 85 million households in USA .
Americans believe: “media make news rather than just report it.”
This campaign might be seen as a step in the right direction and it can achieve relatively a lot in terms of empowering disabled people. It is clear that the denial of the status of disabled persons and disabled culture obstructs the need for change.
Who are these disabled people? The statistic says for example, there are between 220.000 and 285.000 people with Spinal Cord Injury in the US . The #1 cause for Spinal Cord Injury is car accident. Car accidents happen each and every day. For a better understanding read the recent Zorita’s published book “Out of the system ” ( www.outofthesystem.com ) and see how vulnerable the human beings are and how our lives can change for ever just in a matter of seconds. And then, if that happens what do we do about it ?.
This initiative calls for more involvement of the media in changing disabling imagery and help gaining more accurate representation of physically challenged people in the American mass media.
If you’d like more information about this topic, or schedule an interview with Zorita K., pls. call: 904-379-1146 or email to Zorita K. at:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
