A Nieman Reports’ article examines the current state of reporting on disabilities, including the tendency to portray people with disabilities as only heroes or victims.

The story highlights Dan Barry’s reporting on disability for The New York Times.  Barry was awarded the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability in 2014 for “The Boys in the Bunkhouse,“ which describes the lives of a group of men with intellectual disabilities who spent 30 years working at a Iowa turkey processing plant for almost no pay.

Nieman Reports also touches on the work being done by the National Center on Disability and Journalism to improve the quality of reporting on disability through the Schneider reporting contest and publication of a disability style guide, among other efforts. Read more