By Esther Kiragu
As part of its capacity-building efforts, Internews organized a disability reporting training for journalists. Journalists were urged to increase disability content with a humanizing view, in their reportage.
The training held from the 6th to the 8th of December, 2022 in Nairobi, saw journalists from notable Newspapers, Televisions, Radios, and Online media houses in attendance.
Speaking during the three-day training, Jackline Lidubwi, Internews Project lead of Inclusive Media Project noted that often journalists refer to persons with disabilities by their disability first rather than by their name.
“Language is powerful and can be used to discriminate and devalue persons with disabilities. It is important to refer to persons with disabilities by their names first before talking of their disability; they have names, use them," she stated.
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Hon Isaac Mwaura who was the keynote speaker at the event highlighted that disability just like gender is a social construction.
Emphasizing the power of the media as a tool for transformation, he challenged journalists to shape how society views persons with disabilities through a consistent, concerted effort to publish stories that do not stigmatize persons with disabilities.
“Often, reporting on PwDs has been done as an act of mercy, yet we are equal leaders, scholars, artists and professions in the society," Mwaura said.
The media plays a vital role in shaping how society perceives people with disabilities. Historically, stories that represent people with disabilities are limited to stereotypes such as objects of pity in need of help and unable to fully participate in social life.
In line with that, there was a call for the media to use positive language when reporting on such persons and focus more on their successes that usually go untold.
The Inclusive Media is a two-year project that began in 2021, after the organisation received a grant from the Well Spring Philanthropic Foundation to support a series to support and empower journalists in key countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to increase and improve their coverage of disability issues, presenting disability issues in a way that promotes the dignity of PwDs as well as amplifying their voices and perspectives.
This year in Kenya, 35 journalists from across the country took part in the training. At the end of the training, Internews will offer story grants to participating journalists to do follow-up reporting on issues impacting persons with disabilities (PwDs).
