Disabilities in the media

I didn't pay a lot of attention to how people with disabilities were portrayed in the media until I started this class a month ago. It just so happened that I saw a report not too long ago about young children that had a crippling disease and how they were sent to this wonderful camp over the summer. These children were not much different from many other children their age in terms of their mental status, but they were treated as if they were incapable of understanding as well their peers. I don't want to say that they were belittled, but they were just in a very cushy environment with very positive people constantly telling them how great they were.

I think the thing that bothered me the most is that I never see any other type of reporting on people with disabilities. They are always in a victim-like position, which is understandable as a disability is not something anybody can help. However, people with disabilites are not incapable of living rather normal lives. They often want to be treated like you would treat anybody.

Either way, there is a very sensitive tone taken when reporting on people with disabilities. You VERY rarely see them in any other light. The other thing is when they report on someone with a disability and how they are living a normal life. The fact that there has to be a report on them telling people that they live a normal life actually prevents them from blending in with society.

My Thoughts on the Jena 6 Controversy

I felt out of the loop when I discovered the Jena 6 issue on the news just about a month ago. I was watching CNN and heard this really deeply disturbing story about a racial feud going on in a small town in Louisiana. Once I got the whole story, I was pretty upset at what's going on. I feel that the charges against the 6 students are completely outrageous and uncalled for. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be punished for the injuries they caused to the white student (if in fact they are the ones who committed that crime), but conspiracy to commit murder? Teenagers beat up teenagers every single day, but rarely are any charged with this serious of a crime.



Aside from the attack on that student, I was rather upset at the fact that there are still so many problems with racism in our nation. However, the media is handling it well, as I've seen all sides of the story being reported. Although I have noticed that I've seen mostly black reporters in Jena giving the newest bit of information. I suppose that's just stray away from any time of discrimination in an area where tensions are very thick at the moment.

News Coverage Entry

I like to consider myself very knowledgeable of current events. Each morning I watch the news as I get ready. For roughly one hour I watch the local news as I'm getting ready, then I change to national news as I'm wrapping up the morning and heading to work. I do this every work day, but I typically watch the national news during the weekend to keep up with what's going on. Of all the channels that are out there, I watch Fox 4 (ugh) for local news and MSNBC for national news (yay).

As far as non-televised news goes, I typically only read news from MSNBC. I'm rather partial to them because they seem to be the network that provides the best unbiased coverage, and if it's not always unbiased, it's at least leaning to the side I'm more in touch with. They're the least ridiculous of the television networks. I don't typically read the paper as I don't subscribe to one. The only print news I typically read is from Newsweek, and that's typically because someone else has just left a copy sitting around and I have a free minute or so to flip through it.

I would say that on an average day, I seek out roughly 2.5 - 3 hours of news coverage, mostly in the morning. Nightly local news coverage is usually full of "filler" news, so I don't typically watch that at night. In the evenings, I'll probably turn it to MSNBC again to see if I've missed anything big.

In regards to the final quesiton, I do notice a difference in the way certain issues are handled in news coverage. With a station like MSNBC, they often handle topics about race and gender issues with an open mind. They usually have someone from both sides come in and defend their stance, and I appreciate that, but I know that several other news stations don't take that same approach. Some stations just report on what they agree with, and that often deters many people. I also notice a difference in the way issues are reported regarding genders. Men in the media are often judged very quickly, beaten down by the system, etc. However, I often notice that women are reported on with a more muted tone. For instance, if a man commits murder, he is often a criminal without second guess. He did something terribly wrong, and it seems as if there is a "no excuse" attitude towards it. However, if a woman commits murder, the media often reports it as if it's due to an underlying mental flaw caused by some devastating event in her life, often caused by men. Women aren't allowed to be cold-blooded killers. I think that the media still wants to portray women as loving housewives, but it's not always the case.

I don't think that people from all backgrounds are ever going to be treated equally in the news. We're too comfortable being able to stereotype and make assumptions to change.