Disability Media Work: Opportunities and Obstacles PDF
Preview Disability Media Work: Opportunities and Obstacles
Disability Media Work KatieEllis Disability Media Work Opportunities and Obstacles KatieEllis DepartmentofInternetStudies CurtinUniversity Perth,Australia ISBN978-1-137-60343-2 ISBN978-1-137-52871-1(eBook) DOI10.1057/978-1-137-52871-1 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016956665 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2016 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher, whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation, reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorin any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhere- afterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesare exemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformation in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishernortheauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespectto thematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Coverillustration:DétaildelaTourEiffel©nemesis2207/Fotolia.co.uk Printedonacid-freepaper ThisPalgravePivotimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisNatureAmericaInc. Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:1NewYorkPlaza,NewYork,NY10004,U.S.A. To mydad P REFACE The idea for this book came in 2013 as I was researching representations ofdisabilityonAustraliantelevisionandthetechnologiesthatpeoplewith disabilities were using to access this media. The majority of disability media-focused research takes either one or both of these approaches – representationoraccessibility.IcommencedanonlinesurveyofAustralian televisionaudienceswithdisability(seeEllis2014a)andhopedtodiscover what impacts, if any, the switch to digital television was having on both representations of disability and the ways people with disability could access television. I wondered whether the increased programming avail- able via an increased number of channels would improve representations andifthedigitalmodeofdeliverywouldresultinanimprovedavailability ofaccessibilityfeaturessuchasaudiodescriptionandcaptions.Predictions thatdigitaltelevisioncouldevenfacilitatetheuseofsignlanguageandlip reading avatars were very exciting – this was something I believed war- ranted further investigation (see Slater et al. 2010). At the same time, I hypothesised that media convergence and television’s transition to the internet could have both positive and negative effects on television audi- ences with disability (see Ellis 2014b; Ellis and Kent 2015). This was a new era of disability media research, a way of critiquing disability in the media beyond the identification of stereotypes such as fear and pity that haddominated the field forsolong. My survey ran for 3 months between September and November2013, justasAustraliawasrunningitsfinalsimulcastperiodairingbothanalogue anddigitaltelevision.Atotalof341peopletookpartinthesurvey–67.4 per cent were female and 32.6 per cent male. The responses were spread vii viii PREFACE across a range of ages and impairment types; however, the majority of respondents were between the ages of 22 and 34 and had mobility impairment. In addition to questions regarding television representation and acces- sibility, the survey addressed emerging digital media and whether people had participated in this form of media themselves. One of the questions asked respondents if they had ever participated in the media themselves, either online, including blogging, or in the mainstream media – 212 people responded to this question. I discovered digital participatory mediawaschangingthelandscapeofdisabilitymediaandtherespondents indicatedtheyengagedmoreoftenwithsocialmediathaninpracticessuch as writing a letter of complaint. Significantly, more people (98) reported that they had commented on social networking sites or blogs relating to disability issues than those relating to non-disability-related social media (76). However, in the context of making media, more had been profiled or interviewed by the mainstream media (42) than had made their own videosorposted toYouTube (7). Inqualitativesectionsofthesurvey,andotherinteractionsviaemailand telephone, I discovered a number of those who had participated in my survey were disappointed in the representation of disability in the media and, further, when they had attempted to engage with the media, and journalists in particular, they experienced broken promises, benevolent prejudiceand,despitetheirownbestintentions,hadwoundupparticipat- ing in what they saw as problematic representations. This was also a concernwhen Iinterviewedmedia workersfor thisbook: Ihavehadreporterscallmeforinterviewsand[I’ve]beenreallyclearabout the importance of language (i.e. not using terms like ‘wheelchair bound’, not reporting the story as inspirational etc.). I have spent time clearly and slowlyexplainingallthistothem.Ihavesentthroughjournalisticguidelines onreportingaboutdisabilityandlanguage–andSTILLhadthemreleasea storyportrayingdisabilityastragicorinspirational!Ithasgottentothepoint nowthatIamverywaryofgivingmytimetojournalists. However,otherjournalistsrecognisedthat,attimes,itisnottheindividual journalist’s fault – newsroom structures or style guides impact the repre- sentation of disability. Others still responded that the media is changing, PREFACE ix andthroughdigitalparticipatorymedia,theyareabletobypassthemedia structure alltogetherandtell theirown stories,a strategy they preferred: IamveryprotectiveaboutmyownstorybecauseIknowIcanwriteitbetter thananyoneelseandanyoneelsewilltellitthroughtheprismoftheirnon- disabledexperienceandI’llmostprobablycomeoutas‘inspirationporn’! Thisbookisaresponsetotheseinsightsandthechangingmediaenviron- ment from which they emanate. The book takes the disability media dis- cussionbeyondrepresentationandaccessbyconsideringtheemployment of people with disability in the media and the continuation of disabling attitudespreventingmorepeoplebeingemployedinthemediaonandoff screen.Throughoutthebook,Iinvestigateboththestructurallimitations that exclude people with disability from participation in the media work- forceandthebiographicalstoriesofsuccessandfailure. REFERENCES Ellis,K.2014a.Digitaltelevisionflexibility:AsurveyofAustralianswithdisability (Report).MediaInternationalAustraliaIncorporatingCultureandPolicy,96. Ellis, K. 2014b. Television’s transition to the internet: Disability accessibility and broadband-basedTVinAustralia.MediaInternationalAustralia,Incorporating Culture&Policy,53–63. Ellis,K.,andM.Kent.2015.Accessibletelevision:Thenewfrontierindisability mediastudiesbringstogetherindustryinnovation,governmentlegislationand online activism. First Monday. http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/ article/view/6170. Slater, J., J.-I. Lindström, and G. Astbrink. 2010. Broadband Solutions for ConsumerswithDisabilities.ACCAN. A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thisbookcouldnothavebeenwrittenwithoutthesupportofanumber of people and institutions. This book is a testament, first of all, to the people with disabilities working in the media from all over the world who agreed to be interviewed and share their experiences with me. Speaking, skyping, emailing and instant messaging you all has been an honour, a privilege and great fun too. To the editors, journalists and academics I spoke to – you give me hope in an inclusive and diverse future. I was the one to learn! IamalsogratefultotheAustralianResearchCouncilfortheprivilege of my Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE 130101712), of which this book is an output. Additional research support provided by CurtinUniversityhasallowedmetogoonawonderfulresearchjourney andtaketheprojectintangents(suchasthis)inwaysIcouldneverhave anticipated.TomycolleaguesintheDepartmentofInternetStudiesand the Critical Disability Studies Research Network at Curtin University – youarethebest,mostengagedgroupofacademicsIhaveevermet.Iam also indebted to the small army of research assistants whose excellent work made this book possible – Melissa Merchant, Paul McLaughlan, ChrisMason,KathrynLockeandNathalieLatter,ithasbeenaprivilege working with you all. Beth Haller, Shawn Burns, and Mark Popovich generouslygaveoftheirtimeandresourcestohelpmetrackdownoutof print publications in this area. I also thank Ceridwen Clocherty for her work preparing the final manuscript right up to the last minute. xi xii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At Palgrave I thank Robyn Curtis, Felicity Plester, Shaun Vigil, Erica Buchman,GlennRamirezandtheanonymousreviewersfortheirexpertise and insights. At home I thank my family – Chris, Stella and Connor – for yourloveandsupportseeingthroughanotherbook.OnsocialmediaIthank the#criparmy–afantastic,supportiveandswitchedoncommunity.
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