True Newsroom Diversity Must Account for Disability Status, Too
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
Disabled people make up 20% of the U.S. population but take up little space on mastheads and in coverage. Why?
Read the full story here.
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Sexual Violence and the Disability Community
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
In 2018, with support from the Ford Foundation, the Disability Justice Initiative and the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress developed their “Courageous Conversations” work to bring together leaders across the disability rights and justice movement and the reproductive health, rights, and justice movements. Staff of the Disability Justice and Women’s Initiatives convened a series of conversations at conferences including Let’s Talk About Sex, The Abortion Care Network, and the Association of Rural Independent Living, among others to talk about how to better collaborate across the two spaces. The authors created this column and the companion resource guide as tools that can be easily adopted or adapted by those wanting to bring these communities together for a nuanced discussion of sexual violence and disabled people.
Reach the full story here.
What Biden’s Pick for Ed. Secretary Discussed With Disability Rights Advocates
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
If confirmed by the Senate to the cabinet role, current Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona could play a significant role in special education at a time when advocates fear that many students with disabilities have been left behind during rolling school closures and remote instruction. Cardona met with advocates for students with disabilities who voiced concerns about issues ranging from school discipline to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on special education services.
Read the full story here.
There is no justice without disability
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
Rebecca Cokley, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, a Ford grantee. She shares some key steps any organization can take to become more inclusive.
Watch the full video here.
ProPublica Uses Plain Language to Make Stories More Accessible
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
In Arizona, ProPublica teamed up with the Arizona Daily Star to sponsor a story by Amy Silverman that looked into why the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities turned down thousands of people who sought assistance.
That road eventually led to Silverman’s lengthy and at times complicated story being translated into plain language, the first time ProPublica (or any other news outlet, as far as I can tell) created a plain language version of a story in an attempt to increase its accessibility for disabled readers.
Read the full story here.
People with disabilities desperately need the vaccine. But states disagree on when they’ll get it.
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
People with disabilities living in different states aren’t sure when they will be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine due to a lack of clarity.
Read the full story here.
5 Actions Nonprofits Can Take to Embrace Disability Rights and Access
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Nonprofit Quarterly joined forces with a number of our partners, from Community Change to Human Rights Watch, each at different stages in their journeys toward inclusion. Together, they laid out five concrete actions organizations of any kind can take to advance disability inclusion and move closer to equity and justice.
Each Election Day, voters with disabilities combat barriers to cast ballots
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
As protests break out at elections offices over which votes should be counted and which shouldn’t, one group continues to grapple with just voting in the first place. About 38 million people with disabilities, or one-sixth of the electorate, were eligible to vote this year, according to a study by Rutgers University. Yet turnout is historically lower for this group, with physical challenges and a lack of support often standing between them and the ballot box. There are legal protections in place for voters with disabilities, under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 2002 Help America Vote Act – but voters and advocates still report barriers to voting.
2019 Contest Winners
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
Our contest archives contain results from every year of the Katherine Schneider Disability Reporting Contest.
Read about the 2019 winners below.
2019 Contest Winners
2013-2021 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability
FIRST PLACE (Large media)
ProPublica and PBS Frontline in collaboration with The New York Times
Joaquin Sapien and Tom Jennings
Overview: The series examined the efforts of New York City to let those with severe mental illnesses live on their own. Reporters obtained about 7,000 pages of records from hospitals, psychiatrists, social agencies and housing programs to reveal how an ambitious housing program left many vulnerable residents in danger. In response to the investigation, a New York federal judge ordered expanded oversight of the housing program.
SECOND PLACE (Large media)
“Trapped: Abuse and neglect in private care”
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
Audrey Quinn
Overview: The report revealed a history of abuse, neglect and client deaths at facilities run by Bellwether Behavioral Health, the largest group home provider in the state of New Jersey. The episode showed how even as state after state cut ties with Bellwether, New Jersey continued to send nearly 400 of its most vulnerable citizens and $67 million a year in Medicaid to the troubled company. After the investigation, New Jersey ended its relationship with Bellwether.
THIRD PLACE (Large media)
Radiolab
Matt Kielty, Pat Walters and Lulu Miller
Overview: The episodes explore how people with disabilities were targeted for sterilization during the early 20th century as a form of eugenic genocide, but laws permitting forced sterilization have quietly stayed on the books. While the language is now different—swapping terms like “feebleminded” for “mentally incapacitated”—there are still 23 states that allow the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities against their will if a court decides it is in their “best interest.”
HONORABLE MENTION (Large media)
“The parents said it was a special needs bed. The state said it was a cage.”
The Arizona Republic
Mary Jo Pitzl
Overview: This story exposed the confusion—and potential harm—that happens when bureaucracies can’t see past their rule books to understand the intricacies of the fragile populations they are charged to protect. Pitzl explored one family’s ordeal to win approval for caregivers to use a specialty bed for their developmentally disabled daughter and how the interpretation of a rule took years to untangle.
FIRST PLACE (Small media)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee PBS
Overview: The documentary was built on USA Today Network reporter Rory Linnane’s “Kids in Crisis” series. The film encourages young people to seek help for mental health challenges, while calling for greater support from adults and health systems.
SECOND PLACE (Small media)
“We dined with wheelchair users at 4 of Charleston’s top lunch spots. Here’s what they experienced.”
The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina
Hanna Raskin
Overview: Food critic Hanna Raskin had not fully considered the obstacles posed by physical barriers until a group of wheelchair users invited her to a meeting. The diners were concerned about not being able to fully enjoy the city’s celebrated food scene. Raskin proposed that the group visit four celebrated local restaurants at random while she documented their experiences. The end result was a piece highlighting numerous accessibility issues.
THIRD PLACE (Small media)
Searchlight New Mexico
Ed Williams
Overview: Williams asked why so many of the state’s special education students ended up in police custody. In collaboration with the local ABC news affiliate, Williams interviewed more than 300 parents, including the mother of Sebastian Montaño, a smart, promising but behaviorally challenged youngster who never received legally required services for his autism. The New Mexico state Legislature conducted hearings and directed the Legislative Education Study Committee to investigate.
HONORABLE MENTION (Small media)
“Fighting for personal attendants at the Texas State Capitol”
The Texas Tribune
Edgar Walters
Overview: When Walters learned that Texas lawmakers planned to spend $23 million on a negligible pay raise for personal attendants, he connected with advocate Susie Angel, a woman living with cerebral palsy. His piece explores Angel’s quest for additional funding for her personal attendant, the person who makes it possible for her to live independently.
Posted on: , Catie Cheshire
Ford Foundation unveiled their Creative Futures fellows last week.
CREATIVE FUTURES is a series of 40 provocations by thinkers across the spheres of arts and culture, documentary film, and journalism unfolding throughout the fall of 2020.