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Description
News outlets frequently portray people with disabilities as either helpless victims or objects of motivation. Portrayal of people with disabilities has improved over the years, but there is still room to grow. News outlets tend to make disability the center of the story. A story about a disabled person is primarily about their disability, with their other accomplishments framed by it.
As one example of the victimhood narrative, ABC News used to run a special called My Extreme Affliction as part of 20/20 until 2012. As the name implies, the specials covered people with disabilities, specifically extreme versions. One 2008 episode on Tourette’s syndrome described Tourette’s like it was some sort of demonic possession. The narrator talked about children who were “prisoners in their own bodies” and a family that was at risk of being “torn apart by Tourette’s.” I have Tourette’s syndrome myself, which made ABC’s special especially uncomfortable to watch. When not wringing their metaphorical hands over the “victims” of disability, many news outlets fall into the “supercrip” narrative. They refer to people as “heroes” who “overcome” their disabilities to achieve something that ranges from impressive to utterly mundane. The main emphasis is on the disability rather than the person who has it. These articles then exploit that disability to make readers feel good. As a person with a disability, I am aware that it impacts my life, but it is not the center of my life. The tics from my Tourette’s syndrome made it difficult to speak to people when I was younger, but even then they did not rule me.
Disability coverage, however, is still incredibly important for promoting acceptance and giving people with disabilities a voice. A little over a fifth of adults in the United States have a disability (CDC: 53 million adults in the US live with a disability), so poor coverage means marginalizing or even excluding a large amount of people. Journalists should try to reach their entire audience. The news helps shape public opinion with the stories it features. Therefore, it should provide visibility for people with disabilities in order to increase acceptance. This is a matter of civil rights. People with disabilities deserve fair and accurate representation.
My personal experience with ABC’s Tourette’s special leads me to believe that the media, especially the news, needs to be more responsible in their reporting. Even the name “My Extreme Affliction” paints a poor picture of what to expect. A show that focuses on sensationalist portrayals in pursuit of views further ostracizes people with disabilities. The emphasis should be on a person and not their condition. The National Center for Disability Journalism tells reporters to “Focus on the person you are interviewing, not the disability” (Tips for interviewing people with disabilities). This people-first approach is the way to improve disability coverage: Treat people with disabilities with the same respect as any other minority group.
As one example of the victimhood narrative, ABC News used to run a special called My Extreme Affliction as part of 20/20 until 2012. As the name implies, the specials covered people with disabilities, specifically extreme versions. One 2008 episode on Tourette’s syndrome described Tourette’s like it was some sort of demonic possession. The narrator talked about children who were “prisoners in their own bodies” and a family that was at risk of being “torn apart by Tourette’s.” I have Tourette’s syndrome myself, which made ABC’s special especially uncomfortable to watch. When not wringing their metaphorical hands over the “victims” of disability, many news outlets fall into the “supercrip” narrative. They refer to people as “heroes” who “overcome” their disabilities to achieve something that ranges from impressive to utterly mundane. The main emphasis is on the disability rather than the person who has it. These articles then exploit that disability to make readers feel good. As a person with a disability, I am aware that it impacts my life, but it is not the center of my life. The tics from my Tourette’s syndrome made it difficult to speak to people when I was younger, but even then they did not rule me.
Disability coverage, however, is still incredibly important for promoting acceptance and giving people with disabilities a voice. A little over a fifth of adults in the United States have a disability (CDC: 53 million adults in the US live with a disability), so poor coverage means marginalizing or even excluding a large amount of people. Journalists should try to reach their entire audience. The news helps shape public opinion with the stories it features. Therefore, it should provide visibility for people with disabilities in order to increase acceptance. This is a matter of civil rights. People with disabilities deserve fair and accurate representation.
My personal experience with ABC’s Tourette’s special leads me to believe that the media, especially the news, needs to be more responsible in their reporting. Even the name “My Extreme Affliction” paints a poor picture of what to expect. A show that focuses on sensationalist portrayals in pursuit of views further ostracizes people with disabilities. The emphasis should be on a person and not their condition. The National Center for Disability Journalism tells reporters to “Focus on the person you are interviewing, not the disability” (Tips for interviewing people with disabilities). This people-first approach is the way to improve disability coverage: Treat people with disabilities with the same respect as any other minority group.
ContributorsMackrell, Marguerite (Author) / Gilger, Kristin (Thesis director) / Doig, Steve (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Locals only. An exclusionary phrase used to preserve the unique, lesser known aspects of a destination. Sunny San Diego's city defining local spots are in danger of being washed away by overwhelming tourism. This visual journey acts as a historical marker for the local destinations that exemplify San Diego's diverse culture. The website and book design outlines ten different places that play integral roles in the foundation of the city through photography and written stories. The places were chosen based off of their significance to the San Diego community, whether that be in relation to lifestyle, history or culture. The process for determining each destination was an initial discussion with San Diego natives to determine the top 15 places that are influential in the city. From there, research was conducted on each place to determine which ten places would best fit the visual and storytelling platform of the project. Once the destinations were determined, people representing each place were contacted to gather more information. Each destination had at least one, if not several days of shooting photos in order to gather an array of visuals that would fit properly into the design and goal of the final thesis project. The website design was built almost originally using wix.com. Using the photos and stories from the site, the final project was turned into a digital layout of a book that can be printed. The places that the book and website outline are Kobey’s Swap Meet, Hodad’s, Carlsbad Flower Fields, Sunset Cliffs, Windansea, Torrey Pines Gliderport, Spruce St. Bridge, Julian, Mount Soledad and Presidio Park.
ContributorsHernandez, Nicole Elizabeth (Author) / Dunn, Heather (Thesis director) / Breen, Patrick (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
A Regional Analysis of Police Shootings Through Local Media Coverage studies broadcast reports of officer-involved shootings in the most dangerous cities across the country in order to determine if bias is present while providing readers with a tool they can use to analyze officer-involved shooting stories in their own community. Based on the geographical regions of the United States, the website analyzes the most dangerous city of the region and the most dangerous city in the most dangerous state in the region. For each city, a random broadcast piece is selected from the local media coverage. I then created a list of 10 points journalists should be aware of when reporting on officer-involved shootings. I used this list to break down and analyze how the story fared against my list. In the beginning of this process, I believed that all local media would have a slight bias depending on the region from which they were reporting. In my original hypothesis, I believed that the reports from the West would be against police, reports from the South and Southwest would be pro police, reports from the Midwest would be against police, and reports from the Northeast would be pro police. After analysis, many of the reports did not show any obvious bias. I wanted this project to be a tool readers and viewers could use in order to learn more about officer-involved shootings. With the help of my checklist, viewers would be able to then analyze stories on officer-involved shootings and determine the quality of the reporting. Not only did this project open my eyes to the different reporting styles that could be used to report an officer-involved shooting, it instilled a deeper sense of pride for local journalism. Even through the recent eruptions surrounding officer-involved shootings, the stories I analyzed continue to stick to journalistic ethics and remain unbiased, even in breaking news.
ContributorsIsenberg, Sydney Elizabeth (Author) / Dunn, Heather (Thesis director) / Johnston, Coy (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Herzog History is a retelling of the Holocaust escape of Godofredo Herzog and his family. This thesis project aims to provide a family history for the Herzog family, as well as a Holocaust story that you don't typically see, in a different way than a documentary or book. The creator took a journey with her grandfather to retrace the escape through the cities he and his family lived in. She used her knowledge in videography, editing and website development she gained from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication to create this project. There are many stories of Holocaust survivors, but this one is a personal history that impacts her family. The project comes in the form of a website with photos, journal entries and an interactive map. Website link: https://isabelgreenblatt.wixsite.com/herzoghistory
ContributorsGreenblatt, Isabel Louise (Author) / Dunn, Heather (Thesis director) / Blatt, Rebecca (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
In this research paper I combine statistics from various reports and studies with around 20 different interviews with female journalists to understand how women are faring in national and local television newsrooms in 2019. I explore issues such as the pay gap, sexual assault, the importance of appearance, balancing work and family life and obstacles that women of color uniquely face. I spoke with women from various cultural backgrounds, experience levels, and in different positions within their newsrooms. Through my scholarly research and 19 interviews with women who either currently work at NBC News in New York City and women who currently or recently worked at 12News, the NBC affiliate in Phoenix, I conclude they share similar stories of oppression, sexism and issues. However, women have made more progress in local markets and have more opportunities when compared to the national level. I also explore reasons for why this disparity is happening and why local newsrooms seem to have more women represented through their on-air talent than national newsrooms do. One of the reasons I concluded for this include, how local newsrooms have a better understanding of their audience members thus making them more able to reflect their talent to their diverse audience. Another factor that might play a role in this disparity includes, the historical factor and societal norm of seeing men in higher positions and authoritative roles, such as being an anchor, at the network level. Lastly, the idea of how family and having children impacts women’s careers more than men. This can lead to less women pursuing a job at the network since they must spend time raising a family and have the ability and flexibility to do that easier at the local level. Overall, I focused on the barriers, obstacles and stories these women have had throughout their careers all while looking at it from both a local perspective and a national one.
ContributorsBaietto, Marcella Marie (Author) / Wallace, Julia (Thesis director) / Dunn, Heather (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05