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.)
