Monday, February 18, 2008

Poynter column: Heroes and victims not only choices for media in covering disability

Writing coach Roy Peter Clark of the Poynter Institute recounts the opinion of a disabled friend who questions why "you rarely see a person in a wheelchair in the news who is not framed either as a hero or a victim."

Clark owns up to the problems in news media coverage: "We in the news media, as always, are part of the problem. Until we portray disabled citizens in ways that have nothing to do with their disabilities, we will stand guilty of a great distorting cliche of vision: that the disabled are too vulnerable to be criticized."

You are asked to tell Poynter what you think about news coverage of disabled people, so here's your chance to let a major journalism education organization know the score.