Journalism diversity is about more than who is hired to work in the newsroom, it’s about telling stories that reflect the complexity of our diverse society.
This article is based on an extract from the UNESCO’s Disability Equality in the Media report, which concludes that the best way to improve disability coverage is terms of diversity of output is to adopt a human rights-based approach. The manual was released under the Creative Commons BY-SA licence. Media Helping Media has studied the report and extracted the following.
The human rights based approach
According to UNESCO, all too often, people with disabilities are excluded from the news agenda. When they are included, coverage frequently relies on tired stereotypes: treating people as objects of pity, as inspirational exceptions, or as people whose entire identity is defined by their impairment. This results in weak, shallow reporting that misses the mark for your audience.
Instead of viewing disability through the lens of charity or medical treatment, the UNESCO report recommends that journalists must frame people with disabilities as active citizens with rights, opinions, and a vital place in public life.
Journalism diversity is about more than who is hired to work in the newsroom. It’s about telling stories that reflect the complexity of our diverse society.
Why coverage so often falls short
UNESCO says people with disabilities are often left out of the news agenda altogether. When they do appear, the coverage tends to follow one of two patterns.
The first treats disability as something to be pitied or fixed. The second presents disabled people as inspirational simply because they are disabled. The manual says this second type often takes the form of a story in which the public does something kind, and the main purpose is to make non-disabled readers feel good. UNESCO calls such stories exploitative.
Both patterns share a flaw. They treat disabled people as one group with one identity, so the individual disappears. The result is weak, shallow reporting that misses the mark for your audience.
The UNESCO manual describes four ways of thinking about disability, which it calls models:
- Medical: disability is a condition to be treated or corrected.
- Charity: disabled people are victims who need care and pity, not equal rights.
- Social: barriers in the environment, attitudes and communication are what limit people, so the environment has to change.
- Human rights-based: disabled people have the same rights as everyone else, and disability is part of human diversity.
UNESCO urges news organisations to frame stories around the social and human rights models. In practice, that means showing disabled people as active citizens who make their own decisions and claim their rights. It also means asking who is responsible for removing the barriers, and holding them to account.
Instead of viewing disability through the lens of charity or medical treatment, the UNESCO report recommends that journalists must frame people with disabilities as active citizens with rights, opinions, and a vital place in public life.
The report recommends that for a media organisation to improve editorial coverage, news managers should consider the following steps.
Five steps for news managers
1. Integrate disability into mainstream output
Do not limit disability coverage to special interest slots. Ensure disabled sources and experts are consulted in political, economic, sports and cultural reporting.
Disabled people are affected by every issue in the news, from elections to transport to the economy. A story on public spending that never speaks to a disabled person has a gap in it. The manual suggests several routes:
- Include disabled voices in programmes that are not about disability.
- Appoint a reporter or team to a disability beat.
- Weave disability into storylines across genres, including sport and culture.
Think about intersections too. Disability overlaps with gender, age, race and poverty. The manual warns that ignoring this leads to a simplistic picture that audiences will not recognise. It adds that girls and women with disabilities are more likely to face multiple forms of discrimination, so their stories need particular care.
2. Master your language
Avoid words that imply helplessness or superhero status. Always ask: “Does this language respect the person’s dignity and individual agency?”
The manual gives concrete examples. It advises against “suffers from”, “afflicted with”, “confined to a wheelchair” and “wheelchair-bound”. It also advises against “able-bodied” and “normal”. Plainer alternatives include “person with a disability” and “wheelchair user”.
It also says there is no single right answer:
- People-first language (“a person with a disability”) is the usual approach.
- Some communities prefer identity-first language. Many deaf people, for example, prefer “deaf person”.
- Preferences differ between individuals, and terms change over time.
- Plain language that your whole audience will understand is best.
The simplest rule is to ask the person how they want to be described. Keep a style guide and update it. Take extra care when translating, because a word may carry a different meaning in another language.
3. Professionalise your interviewing
Treat disabled sources with the same standard of rigour as any other expert. Prepare for reasonable adjustments, listen carefully, and never talk down to your subject.
A little preparation covers most of what you need:
- Ask in advance about location, timing and format. The person may want step-free access, a quiet room, extra time or a written exchange.
- Check they are comfortable talking about their disability. If they are not, do not press.
- Speak to the interviewee, not to a carer or interpreter, and position yourself and the camera at eye level.
- With a sign language interpreter, address the deaf person directly. Use the sign language they actually use.
- Ask how they would like to be described and shown on camera.
Think about pictures as well as words. The manual warns against zooming in on a wheelchair or hearing aid until the person disappears from the shot. It warns equally against cutting out every sign of disability.
4. Check your framing
If your story frames disability as a personal tragedy or burden, pause. Redirect your focus toward the environmental or societal barriers that prevent participation.
The manual offers several tests for any draft:
- Is the disability relevant to the story at all? If not, leave it out.
- Does the story show the whole person, including their work, skills and achievements?
- If you mention a diagnosis, is it needed? Privacy matters. Where it is relevant, explain it in terms of how barriers affect daily life, not just as a medical label.
- Does the story assume that every disabled person feels disadvantaged? Not everyone does.
5. Audit your coverage
Editors should conduct regular reviews to identify patterns of under-representation. Having a diverse team is the most effective way to spot these blind spots early.
The manual lists five things to look for, from good practice to poor:
- Sensitive reporting, which is the aim.
- Offensive language.
- Negative portrayal.
- Under-representation, including tokenism, where a disabled person is included only to make a story look balanced.
- Complete absence.
Record what you find and set measurable targets. Give audiences a way to respond, and ask disabled readers and viewers for feedback through surveys or focus groups. The manual also recommends consulting organisations that represent disabled people. Our companion article looks at how to build a newsroom team that can see these gaps.
Beyond the everyday story
Crisis coverage
In an emergency, disabled people can be the last to get reliable information. The manual notes that life-saving content is usually aimed at the general population. Evacuation plans, accessible shelters and supplies may not reach them. Leaving them out can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Include their perspectives from the start. Report practical details such as where to find shelter, food and medical help, and repeat them for people who missed the first broadcast. Hold the authorities to account for how they treat disabled people. The manual also notes that radio often keeps working when other infrastructure fails.
Investigations
Disability deserves the same scrutiny as any other public interest subject. The manual suggests investigating how well governments meet their obligations, including the periodic reports that states submit under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Freedom of information requests, spending records and court documents are all useful sources.
It also flags a problem with the numbers. Official statistics often under-count disabled people, so check where your data comes from and avoid unrepresentative surveys. Where possible, let disabled people tell their own stories as primary sources, and keep the focus on them, not on a carer or interpreter who speaks alongside them.
Getting started
You do not need a new policy to begin. Next time you plan a story on housing, transport, work or health, ask whether a disabled source could add to it. Then review a week of your output. Count how many disabled people appeared, in what roles, and how they were described.
The report recommends that for a media organisation to improve editorial coverage, news managers should consider the following steps:
- Integrate disability into mainstream output: Do not limit disability coverage to special interest slots. Ensure disabled sources and experts are consulted in political, economic, sports, and cultural reporting.
- Master your language: Avoid words that imply helplessness or superhero status. Always ask: “Does this language respect the person’s dignity and individual agency?”
- Professionalise your interviewing: Treat disabled sources with the same standard of rigour as any other expert. Prepare for reasonable adjustments, listen carefully, and never talk down to your subject.
- Check your framing: If your story frames disability as a personal tragedy or burden, pause. Redirect your focus toward the environmental or societal barriers that prevent participation.
- Audit your coverage: Editors should conduct regular reviews to identify patterns of under-representation. Having a diverse team is the most effective way to spot these blind spots early.
