Hello,
A few weeks ago, I was on a panel about reporting disability at this year’s Disability in Journalism Forum. The panel itself went well, and I met some brilliant people who are doing great work to change our industry - both for the disabled people who work in it and the disabled people whose stories we tell.
But by the end of the day, I couldn’t help feeling a bit deflated and, honestly, a bit bored. Not by the people in the room or the event, but by the staleness of the conversation itself. Because I’ve been having the same chat, ad nauseum, since I was a baby 18-year-old journalist doing work experience.
The truth is, all the people who attended the Forum already know what needs to happen. We know that we need more disabled journalists, and we know that we need to change how organisations work so that the disabled journalists they do hire actually stay in work and eventually get promoted. We know we need better flexible working and new ways of doing our jobs. We know we need to win the trust of disabled audiences, readers and case studies by being more accurate and fair in our reporting of disability - and by banishing the harmful language, stereotypes and assumptions that currently litter our media. We know that we need to tell more disability stories and that we need to include disabled people in all other stories.
We know.
We just don’t do it.
Why not? Because for too many people in this industry, disability stories are still seen as niche. Because for too many people in this industry, the tropes we use for disabled people are true. And because for all the people in that room who were really dedicated to the cause, only a handful were editors and recruiters with actual decision-making powers.
We’re preaching to the choir and it’s not bloody working.
Of course, events like the DJF have a place in raising awareness, but I am sick of one-off, isolated days that don’t reach beyond the same small circle. Instead, we need mandatory reporting disability training for every journalist, no matter their beat, so that we stop demonising and excluding disabled people. We need targets for disability representation, in the same way lots of organisations have for gender and race. We need disabled journalists and consultants brought in to ensure best practice (and paid for their expertise). We need flexible working to be the norm and for disabled people to be promoted into positions of responsibility. We need failure to do this stuff to have actual repercussions.
None of this is rocket science. It doesn’t take genius to implement real solutions. But it does take willpower and determination from leaders - and it takes listening to disabled people every day, not just for a few hours once or twice a year. That’s where the real change has to be.
On a personal level, one of the things I want to do in my career is help bring this change about. Yes, I will always write about and cover disability myself, but I also want to teach others how to do these things just as well. So I’m starting to offer my expertise as a disabled journalist, not just as a writer but as a consultant and trainer. I know a lot of media pals read this newsletter - if you or your organisation are interested in better representing one in five of your audience, please do get in touch to discuss how we can work together.
Let’s stop having the same old conversations, and start some new ones.
Speak soon,
Lucy
P.S. Very fittingly, I am running a workshop on reporting disability for the lovely folks at
- it’s next Monday evening and you can watch live or whenever works for you. There’ll be a Q&A too. Tickets are just £4 - don’t miss out.I wrote a book!
That’s right! My debut book is NOW.
It’s a memoir about life as a disabled woman, how ableism and sexism interact in complicated and multifaceted ways, and how we often have to fight to be seen as women at all. Find out more here.
I put my heart and soul into this book and I’d love it to reach as many people as possible. Please do grab a copy or share the link with anyone who’d be interested.