For the last few years, myself and a team of volunteers at Media Diversity Australia have pooled our skills, knowledge and lived experience of disability to develop a tool for journalists to use in the media landscape and I am proud to introduce the Disability Reporting Handbook.
It was my honour to MC the online launch and introduce Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner, to launch the handbook.
“Media Diversity Australia (MDA) in partnership with disability organisation Hireup, Griffith University and Getty Images is launching its latest newsroom must-have in the form of the Disability Reporting Handbook.
This journalism resource to guide better reporting of people with disability is available free to everyone and can be downloaded from MDA’s website from the 23rd of November 2021.
It is an informative and practical handbook which includes advice on correct language and terminologies, ways to avoid common mistakes, tips on making content more inclusive, and a contacts database.
MDA pulled together a dedicated team of media professionals – all with lived experience of disability – to produce this practical guide on how to better represent people with disability. Many thanks to the Disability Handbook team for sharing their lived experience of disability and how it is treated by the media.
In July 2019, MDA produced a similar resource for media professionals reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and issues. Since its launch, our Indigenous Reporting Handbook has been downloaded thousands of times and is being used by newsrooms and journalists across the country.
Co-founder and co-chair Antoinette Lattouf expects the DRH to be just as well received by media professionals and others wanting to get it right when it comes to diversity.” Published 23.11.21 www.mediadiversityaustralia.org
