Media and Disability 2003 Abstracts
Media and Disability Interest Group
Promoting Disability-Friendly Campuses To Prospective Students: An Analysis Of University Recruitment Materials • Beth A. Haller, Towson • Estimates are that currently about 9 percent of students on college campuses have some form of disability, up from 3 percent in 1978. This study investigates what universities are and are not providing in their general recruitment materials about disability-related topics as well as what campus disability services materials are providing. The analysis of these materials will illuminate how universities are approaching current recruitment issues related to students with disabilities.
The Trend Toward Hyper-Marginalization: Images of Disability on Prime Time Television • Jennifer Jacobs Henderson, Trinity • In prime time broadcast television, people with disabilities were either nonexistent or hidden behind able-bodied leads. People with disabilities were almost three times more likely to be men than women, and twice as likely to be African American than Caucasian. Forty percent of the disabled characters had been hyper-marginalized -given two traits of minority populations such as blind and African American- and therefore presented in the far margins of both society and discourse.
Running with Ritalin: Magazine Portrayals of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder • Tiffany S. Johnson and Bryan E. Denham, Clemson • This study examines how Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report have portrayed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Magazine text was content analyzed for article length, description of the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sources quoted in the text, treatment methods suggested, and content co1ceivahly leading to a biased understanding of the disorder. The study finds that news magazine coverage has increased dramatically over the past 14 years, with medicinal treatments such as Ritalin most commonly suggested.
Portrayal of people with disabilities in prime-time TV dramas in Japan • Shinichi Saito, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University-Japan and Reiko Ishiyama, Seijo University-Japan • This study examined the depiction of disabled persons in Japanese prime-time TV dramas. The results showed that no more than one percent of the characters analyzed was disabled, indicating that disabled persons were underrepresented. We also found that most of the disabled persons were young; elderly people with disabilities were virtually nonexistent. The analysis revealed that TV dramas rarely depict certain disabilities, such as internal disorders. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Don’t Label Me: The Stigmatizing Portrayal of Mental Illness on U.S. Television • Mija Shin, Seungjo Lee and Annie Lang, Indiana • This paper content analyzed a sample drawn from a week (24 hours for seven days) of television programming from various channels in order to examine how mental illness is currently being portrayed on television. About 13,5 hours or 8 percent of the total programming contained information related to mental illness. The emotional tone of the messages about mental illness was in general very negative and the illness was portrayed as chronic more frequently than curable.
Invisible, Unnoticed or Idolized: Disability Education Coverage in McCall’s and Good Housekeeping • Alexis Walters, Drake • This article examines coverage of disability education in years leading up to and after passage of PL 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. In McCall’s and Good Housekeeping, throughout the period examined, coverage was limited to what Clogston characterized as “supercrips.” Given the failure of mainstream magazines on this issue, it is not surprising that the late years of the 20th century saw a rise in magazines specifically for parents of children with disabilities.
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