How to build newsrooms where disabled journalists can thrive

Evidence and recommendations from my research at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, media recommendations, and resources

Hello! Welcome, new subscribers. Thanks to all of you who wrote to me with your thoughts on the last issue on disability activism on social media. Keep writing and connecting. A stronger community will enable us to achieve our mission.

BBC’s Rethink Disability Festival is dedicated to discussions on authentic inclusion across the media industry. This year’s edition featured talks on disability in sports journalism, how to bring down the barriers, and the benefits of thinking differently. If you work in a newsroom or root for disability inclusion in newsrooms, I highly recommend watching a replay. 

BBC Ability’s co-chair Johny Cassidy is a friend of Reframing Disability. With his colleague Claire Harris FRSA, Johny initiated this festival last year. In his newsletter, he wrote yesterday:

“We know the news industry needs more disabled people if we’re going to represent all our audiences. Senior leaders however need to understand why this isn’t just about hiring more disabled journalists. The environment needs to change and the culture needs to become fit for purpose if we’re ever going to make progress.”

Building on this insight, my 2022 research on disability inclusion in India’s news and newsrooms at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism highlights the importance of transforming newsroom culture.

Below, I outline some of the key barriers and recommendations from my paper:

Barriers faced by journalists with disabilities

Barriers to joining a newsroom

• There is uncertainty among disabled journalists about which Indian news outlets are open to hiring them due to little to no advertised opportunities seeking persons with diverse abilities.

• Journalists are hesitant to mention their disabilities in their resumes to avoid potential negative consequences.

• A lack of basic accessibility features, like ramps and accessible toilets in newsrooms, prevents journalists in wheelchairs from being interviewed or employed. They are rejected because of their disability, without even being assessed for their journalistic skills.

• Hiring managers often display ignorance and discomfort around disability, leading to a lack of discussion about a disabled candidate’s needs in interviews when disabilities are mentioned in resumes. 

 Barriers in the newsroom

 

• There is low awareness of India's Disability Law (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016) and a lack of diversity and inclusion policies in newsrooms. Therefore, managers often lack knowledge about disability rights and reasonable accommodations. The onus of getting their needs met shifts on to the disabled staff and journalists. For example, a blind journalist had to himself buy expensive screen-reading software for his office computer when he was recruited. 

• Newsroom design is often not inclusive, with insufficient space for wheelchairs. Journalists with locomotor disabilities often need to instruct their workplaces on creating accessible spaces or manage with restricted movement.

• Newsrooms have low expectations from disabled journalists. A newly recruited blind journalist faced scepticism from his colleagues about his capabilities, and concerns over potential challenges about working as a reporter. 

Barriers to belonging

• Newsroom managers and editors often do not pay attention to their disabled coworkers’ needs. A wheelchair using journalist on late night shifts did not get assistance to go to the washroom as the housekeeping staff would leave early. She was also denied work-from-home. Costs for accessible transport she used for her commute to office were not factored into her salary.

• Inaccessibility creates communication barriers. A deaf journalist’s boss would get irritated if she asked them to write what they wanted to communicate. A wheelchair-user had to stay at their desk most of the time and was unable to engage effectively with coworkers, because of restricted space for wheelchair movement in the newsroom.

• Coworkers and bosses don’t want to make an effort to learn about their disabled colleagues’ way of working and make minor adjustments, hindering their success in a newsroom.

Recommendations for making newsrooms welcoming for disabled journalists

Adopt an accommodating structure and outlook 

To create an inclusive workplace, focus on an accommodating structure and mindset. You don’t need to know about every disability in detail; instead, be open and keep asking, “What can we do to help you?” Simple accommodations, such as flexible schedules if people want to take a mental health day off or get physiotherapy, captions for meetings, and physical accessibility features like ramps and elevators, can make a significant difference without heavy costs. Promote a compassionate culture that respects employees' well-being, allowing them to share feelings and avoid burnout. This approach nurtures a sense of belonging and support among all staff.

Think about how to actively recruit 

To recruit disabled journalists, highlight diversity hiring practices in job postings with inclusive language like “people with different abilities are encouraged to apply”. Offer accessible alternatives for interviews, such as online options or allowing candidates to choose venues. Proactively seek disabled journalists through universities, support organisations, or by providing entry-level opportunities like internships and fellowships. Consider intersectionality within disability hiring by considering caste and socio-economic backgrounds. 

Encode inclusive processes and foster a culture change

To foster a culture of inclusion, prioritise diversity, including disability, as a central organisational goal. Implement and discuss Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) policies to encourage dialogue. Ensure inclusion is a top-down initiative, with representation at leadership levels to drive change.

Educate staff on disabilities through training, workshops, and collaborations with disability-rights NGOs and activists. Build trust with disabled employees by focusing on their talents, not limitations, and ensure they have equal opportunities for assignments. Onboarding should emphasise belonging, with clear policies, assigned mentors, and awareness of who to approach for support.

Address mental health by offering support systems like mental health days, manageable workloads, and trauma training. Promote accessible team activities and avoid harmful jokes or stereotypes about disability. Recognise and reward inclusive reporting.

Document editorial policies 

Create accessible editorial policies to guide journalists in engaging with disabled sources. Provide resources like the BBC’s guide for interviews and ABC’s guide for photography. Maintain a language and style guide that promotes inclusive, non-ableist language, such as those by the National Centre on Disability and Journalism. Include resources like the Carter Center’s guide for reporting on mental health and India’s Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy's course on suicide reporting. These tools ensure respectful and informed coverage of disability and mental health.

Get in early 

Disability and accessibility training should start in journalism schools. Ensure buildings and hostels are accessible, and clearly highlight these features to attract disabled students. Provide grants and fellowships to support disabled students from low-income backgrounds. Newsrooms can train and hire disabled youth as correspondents or freelancers, focusing on their strengths. Explore diverse roles, such as audience management or social media, to match newsroom needs.

---

Did you know?

The popular hashtag #a11y is a numeronym for the word accessibility.

Here’s how: first letter - a, number of letters in between - 11, and then the last letter, y. It is pronounced as “a 11 y” and can be written as #a11y or #A11y 

Image Resource

The Business Disability Forum, UK,  has launched a new collection of images as part of their #ChangingThe ImageOfDisability campaign, which aims to increase representation and improve how disabled people and disability are portrayed in images. If you are a journalist or media organisation, you can request free access to 60 photos from the Disability Smart Image Bank.

Watch 

Rising Tides, Raising Voices, an award winning documentary on climate change and disability in the Pacific islands, and congratulate the director, Jody Santos for bagging yet another award for best international film in the Together! 2024 Disability Film Festival organized by the UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC). 

Read 

Another great piece by Elizabeth Hewitt in Reasons to be Cheerful reiterating that disabled people love to travel and are willing to pay for it. Meeting their accessibility needs benefits everyone.

From Pillow Talk’s newsletter, a hard-hitting piece. “The ableism underpinning Kathryn’s experiences reflects societal myths that disabled women are passive, asexual, or dependent — narratives that enable abuse to flourish. These stereotypes idealise caregivers as altruistic, making reports of abuse harder to believe.” Trigger warning: The story is about gender-based violence and ableism. 

Listen

In one of the most well articulated talks I’ve heard about why journalism so often fails to serve communities, Shirish Kulkarni at the 2024 b° future festival tells Mattia Peretti how we can add value to journalism. My most important takeaway: Audiences don’t engage with news that underrepresents or misrepresents them. Communities want journalists to spend time with them and report from a position of knowledge and understanding. 

Event 

The Serendipity Arts Festival in Panjim, Goa has an accessibility curation this time. Look out for installations, films, workshops, artwork, walks and talks curated by Salil Chaturvedi. Dates: 15th to 22nd December.

Hire me

If you want to support me and the work I do on disability inclusion, hire me.

As a trainer on disability inclusion in communications and storytelling or any other kind of content. Write to me for a customised training for your organisation.

Reporting or research for your publication/organisation: My byline appears in the BBC, Guardian, The Lancet, The British Medical Journal, CNN, Stanford Social Innovation Review and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Check my portfolio for my recent work.

Thank you for reading this edition on newsroom inclusion. Send me your tips, ideas and thoughts and questions. Your messages warm my heart and I always write back. Let’s also connect on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Warmly,

Priti