Blog [with]tv

Civil Rights & Media Justice

This post below ("Media is a civil rights issue") was originally published on the freepress blog under Media Issues.  Without a doubt, "people with disabilities" is one of the "other" disenfranchised communities mentioned in the article, and a very significant one at that.  This is a very relevant topic to [with]tv. Check out this link for the National Conference on Media Reform  (June 2008) for additional information.

The National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) is the largest and highest-profile gathering of media reform advocates in the nation.

The NCMR brings together thousands of activists, media makers, educators, journalists, scholars, policymakers and engaged citizens to meet, tell their stories, share tactics, listen to great speakers and build the movement for better media in America.

Media is a civil rights issue.

People of color, women, youth, and other disenfranchised communities have long been shut out of our country’s media.

They own few of our television and radio stations, newspapers and major Internet sites. They produce little of what’s seen and heard in mainstream media. They're not represented and often don't see coverage of their issues on the public airwaves. What’s more, how the media portrays communities of color can have harmful and punitive consequences.

The denial of media justice is unacceptable in our democracy, where women comprise 51 percent of the population and “minorities” are fast becoming a majority of the population.

At Free Press, we believe that if we want better media, we need to change the media policies that shape the system.

We’re working to foster public policies that promote media diversity, strengthen laws and regulations to support minority ownership, eliminate institutional biases in media content, and ensure fair and accurate representation for all communities.

Achieving media justice means making media more inclusive and accountable, not just to media conglomerates and shareholders, but to all Americans. It means taking back our public airwaves and transforming our media from a closed market owned and run by the few into a public resource that benefits everyone.

Free Press believes the fights for social justice and media reform are closely intertwined. If we hope to have a more diverse and inclusive society and a vibrant democracy, we must include the state of the media among the most pressing civil rights issues of our time.

(Description of graphic above: a color "cartoon" of an audience of people of all shapes, sizes, color and gender, all sitting with their backs to us. They are viewing four video screens, two stacked on top of the other two.  Each of the screens depicts a white male, each wearing a business suit, delivering the "news".  Clearly the audience is very diverse.  The journalists are anything but.)

Great Coverage of Marlee Matlin on Dancing with the Stars by Fookem and Bug (Week 2)

Here again you will find excellent coverage of Marlee Matlin's performance on Dancing with the Stars, complete with video and transcript.

"A Different Perspective" Radio Show

CONTACT: [email protected]

As mentioned in this earlier post, on March 31, 2008 a one-hour, weekly Internet Talk Radio Program entitled A Different Perspective will premier on Webtalkradio.   

A Different Perspective will be hosted by Howard Renensland, CEO of [with]tv: "a television channel of, by, and for people with disabilities...and everyone else" and PWdBC, a 501 c 3 dedicated to training people with a disability for careers in film and television.

To quote Mr. Renensland, “My experience of the past 23 years raising and advocating for my daughter with disabilities has convinced me that the single most debilitating factor limiting people with disabilities is not their disability, but rather their image as portrayed in mainstream media and the factors that contribute to that stereotypical image. [with]tv will alter this situation by fully employing people with disabilities in a mainstream media company where they, people with disabilities, will control the medium and the message.”

A Different Perspective will present an entertaining discussion of current issues from the perspective of people with disabilities. Howard will, with the assistance of guests and [with]tv volunteer reporters from the disability community, provide this perspective intended for all listeners – not just those with a disability. The ongoing progress of [with]tv, PWdBC, and the work of the volunteers turning this vision into a reality will be discussed as well.

Inquiries regarding advertising and corporate sponsorship are welcome. A volunteer staff is seeking audio commercial placement along with advertising and corporate sponsors for A Different Perspective, [with]tv, and PWdBC.  More information can be found on on Blog [with]tv and on our web site or contact us at [email protected]

Congratulations, Scott Rains of the Rolling Rains Report!

The Rolling Rains Report Featured Entrant in the National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers Geotourism Challenge

Cross-posted on the Rolling Rains Report

The proposal to open three Centers of Excellence in Inclusive Tourism that is being considered by Echoing Green Foundation and publicy discussed at Ashoka's Changemakers' Geotourism Challenge has generated 80 comments from around the world.

The Rolling Rains Report Featured Entrant in the National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers Geotourism Challenge

Global competition will uncover most innovative projects that support better tourism

[San Jose, CA, USA] – The National Geographic Society and Ashoka’s Changemakers have introduced the first Geotourism Challenge to identify and showcase innovators in tourism development, management, and marketing.

The one-of-a-kind online collaborative competition is designed to raise awareness about how tourism can help sustain, enhance and preserve local culture and environment.

The Rolling Rains Report is a featured entrant. The Rolling Rains Report is an experiment in achieving social inclusion. As a daily online publication it provides research and educational material emphasizing the quality of tourist experience of a group who has historically been denied access to tourism - people with disabilities.

At the Geotourism Challenge an expanded project is proposed. The Centers of Excellence in Inclusive Tourism Project will bring to scale sustainable inclusive tourism development projects piloted in Asia and the Americas. The project goal is to make the tourism industry an authentic partner in the aspirations, rights, and culture of the disability community by establishing local collaboratives, directed by people with disabilities, to provide tourism product creation, infrastructure design, and destination development services to the tourism and hospitality industry. 

Here is a great clip - and a transcript (!) of Marlee Matlin's appearance on Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars - * Marlee Matlin*: This is a great link to Marlee's premier performance on Dancing with the Stars.  It's found on the blog: Fookem and Bug

and Kyron wrote this thoughtful post (What Marlee Matlin taught me...) on her blog The Special Parent

LINKS:

Marlee and partner dance on Ellen
Marlee Matlin on Ellen
Praises

Braille Gets a Boost

[with]tv would like to thank David Dahl, Boston Globe Regional Editor, for informing us of the following article: A boost for Braille by Ralph Ranalli.

Contributions and ideas for articles are always welcome and appreciated via [email protected] 

[with]tv Launches New Radio Program for People with Disabilities...and everyone else!

A Different Perspective – Press Release

Coming Soon: a one-hour, weekly Internet Talk Radio Program entitled A Different Perspective set to premier on Webtalkradio.

A Different Perspective will be hosted by Howard Renensland, CEO of [with]tv: "a television channel of, by, and for people with disabilities...and everyone else" and PWdBC, a 501 c 3 dedicated to training people with a disability for careers in film and television.

To quote Mr. Renensland, “My experience of the past 23 years raising and advocating for my daughter with disabilities has convinced me that the single most debilitating factor limiting people with disabilities is not their disability, but rather their image as portrayed in mainstream media and the factors that contribute to that stereotypical image. [with]tv will alter this situation by fully employing people with disabilities in a mainstream media company where they, people with disabilities, will control the medium and the message.”

A Different Perspective will present an entertaining discussion of current issues from the perspective of people with disabilities. Howard will, with the assistance of guests and [with]tv volunteer reporters from the disability community, provide this perspective intended for all listeners – not just those with a disability. The ongoing progress of [with]tv, PWdBC, and the work of the volunteers turning this vision into a reality will be discussed as well.

Inquiries regarding advertising and corporate sponsorship are welcome. A volunteer staff is seeking audio commercial placement along with advertising and corporate sponsors for A Different Perspective, [with]tv, and PWdBC.  More information can be found on on Blog [with]tv and on our web site.

Actors Raising Awareness About Disability

Making Music

Student with Cerebral Palsy Plays Music

Submitted by Karen M. Stallings

Joe Padula’s mouth opens wide as the chorus “I’ll be there for you!’’ echoes around the auditorium. The sound fades and Joe breaks into a broad smile. The recorded voice isn’t his, but he made it happen with a nod of his head, and that’s enough.

Padula can’t speak and can barely move because of cerebral palsy. But as a member of a group that calls itself  Headbangers, he can still sing and make music. Computer software developed by group leader John Adams allows the group to sound notes and vocals with whatever movement they can best make: a squeeze of the hand, tap of the finger or a bang of the head – hence, the group’s self-mocking name.

The group-which started in 1993 at the Brayton School, a state school run specifically for children and young adults with disabilities blends the sounds into tunes ranging from Japanese folks songs to classical to rock. But it’s all about more than the music.

For students ages 7 to 22 whose disabilities often deny them a way to fully express themselves in words, the music can give them a voice they’ve never had. “They’re locked inside them selves until they’re given the opportunity to let them show what they can do,’’ said Suzanne Hanser, head of the music therapy program at Berklee College of Music, which uses Adams’ software in training. “Music can get inside. It cuts to the soul.’’ The group started in 1993, when Adams, a Berklee graduate, took his music skills and his computer program to Brayton in Canton. Adams’ program, called Super Switch Ensemble, allows the students to play 128 instruments, along with various beats, vocals and chords, by hitting a switch set up to take advantage of what –ever movement they can control. Adams conducts the group by pointing at each Headbanger when it’s time for his or her part. For instance, Padula has a switch placed near his head on both sides – one used to move up the music scale on Adams’ signal, the other to move down.

Mike Moreau, who uses an electronic board to play notes, explains why he enjoys the headbangers. He pulls out a keyboard and screen he uses to communicate and taps three letters: “F-U-N.’’      

Why We Need TV and Movies That Include People with Disabilities: Part 104

So there I was today on NPR’s “On Point” program with two terrific blind professionals and I was feeling like the school kid who has to use the bathroom and can’t wait any longer to announce the matter. I needed to say that the reason blind people are so woefully unemployed and the reason that the public marvels at the accomplishments of exemplary blind professionals like Gordon Gund or David A. Paterson is that the film and TV industries continue to make blindness look horrible.  Who wouldn’t imagine, after seeing that dreadful movie “At First Sight” (with Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino) that being blind isn’t a minimal life? That movie came out at the same time as my memoir “Planet of the Blind” and it reinforced every cliché about blindness that I was trying to conquer. If the human resources professionals saw a prime time television show in which a blind person confidently uses state of the art assistive technology—heck, even showing the non-disabled characters a thing or two about the gizmos, well that would be as big a step toward changing the climate of unemployment for the blind as our well intentioned celebration of Governor Paterson’s oath of office. Let’s face it: the public thinks that blind people are scarcely able to navigate their living rooms. How could they possibly serve as good employees? That Ph.D. or Master’s degree must be some kind of a trick. That’s it! The “brainiac” blind woman or man is probably “faking it” just like those guys you see  begging for money with the phony sunglasses. Yep! That’s gotta be it! How do I know this at (insert company name here)? Because I just saw Disney’s film version of Mr. Magoo. Now there’s a blind guy for you! Ha! I laughed til  I dropped my popcorn on my plaid shorts. Boy Oh Boy  was that ever a good movie!

In case anybody’s wondering, I was once interviewed by a producer of ABC’s television program “20/20”about the possibility of an interview associated with the publication of “Planet of the Blind”. What did I do to ruin the deal? I mentioned that ABC is owned by Disney and that the new film of Mr. Magoo was a disgrace. They were very nice as they showed me to the door.

S.K.   

Professor Stephen Kuusisto
Department of English
The University of Iowa
308 EPB
Iowa City, IA 52242

Links:

Remembering Mr. Magoo

Cross-posted on Planet of the Blind