Abstract
This article argues that the amount and nature of disability representation in English and Telugu news media directly and indirectly serves neo-liberal objectives. Disability construction in the Indian print news media may be construed as a product of the political economy of representation. News articles present disabled people as having ‘use value’ in society, ready to be offered for ‘exchange value’ in the market. These insights are derived from a close reading of news articles using framing analysis, which allowed us to explore the underlying political economy of disability coverage in mainstream news. This article situates the symbiotic economic relations established through the media’s consciously placed disability representation within the existing discourses related to disability. It also attempts to reevaluate the available themes on disability and media representation with a view to uncovering the implied meanings of political economy recurrent in print news in India.
Introduction
Disability is usually defined in terms of the presence of a physical, sensory or cognitive impairment, or conversely, the absence of what may be considered a ‘normal’ range of abilities of these categories. In an ableist society the immediate identity of a person with disability is often predicated upon the presence of an impairment and its possible linkage to both use and exchange values in Marxian terms. An ideal society might be conceived as one that is fair, equitable, providing all individuals opportunities for self-realisation in a social, cultural and economic sense. This occurs through a complex process of identity creation, negotiation with others and the sustenance of identity through various forms of representation and interaction. One important mode of representation is the mass media, which arguably constitute an important locus of identity politics, holding particular significance for socio-economically, culturally and politically marginalized groups. The present study in line with Marxian thought focuses on the means by which intellectual/creative investments of media blend with or work within capitalist interests to represent disability in news stories. Based on a close reading of selected articles in English and Telugu print media, we argue that disability representation in news is both scant and skewed.
In this study, the politics associated with disability news production in Indian print media are uncovered/understood through the use of specific journalistic devices known as news frames. We attempt to analyze different news frames within which disability is constructed, that is the specific and strategic ways, means and journalistic techniques employed in representing disability.
Disability Representation and Media
Globally, there is a long tradition of looking at disability representation in media, with film and literature being primary loci of study, and news and other mass media receiving relatively less attention. Much of the work done so far has been on Western media, with few published reports from the developing world. The literature on disability representation suggests that stories in newspapers (Keller, Hallahan, McShane, Crowley, & Blandford, 1990; Wehbi, 2012), on television (Campbell & Hoem, 2001; Cumberland & Negrine, 1992; Haller, 2006), and in feature-length films (Norden, 1994) significantly impact public attitudes toward individuals with disabilities.
Media constructions have the potential to influence/shape the perceptions and thereby the attitudes of the audiences towards disability (Haller, 1999; Hunt, 1966; Morris, 2001 ; Shakespeare, 1999). Media representations of disability are important in (at least) two ways: First, in terms of shaping ideas about and attitudes toward people with disabilities, and second, creating/establishing a sense of participation of people with disabilities in the larger social space.
Paul Longmore’s views on the self-definition process of representation are worth recalling: ‘Both activists and theorists consider media coverage and language used by journalists to represent disability issues to be central to this self-definition process (Longmore, 2003)’. This is important at two levels, that is, media coverage and language, both of which are instrumental in presenting an image of disability to the able-bodied and are equally imperative to creating a self -image for persons with disabilities.
Previous work has noted the predominance of such conceptions as prejudiced depiction of disability (Morris, 1991), objectified characterisation, crude and one-dimensional and simplistic in disability representation (Shakespeare, 1994, 1999) while also pointing to the presence of ableist language (Haller, 2010; Linton, 1998) and describing disability representation as mascotsation (Davis, 2013).
Jenny Morris (1991) contends that cultural depictions of disability in media are more often than not about the sentiments of able-bodied individuals and their responses to disability, rather than disability itself.
Morris’ conclusions echo Laura Mulvey’s (1975) concept of the ‘male gaze’, suggesting that disability representation in media similarly occurs via the gaze of non-disabled or able-bodied people. This prejudice inevitably structures the news articles they produce (Shakespeare, 1994). Drawing upon this theoretical premise, this study focuses on the process and dynamics that underpin disability representation in Indian news media, which, like elsewhere in the world, is dominated by able-bodied people (Haller, 2000; Thomas & Smith, 2009).
Shakespeare (1999) points out in his seminal article about the representation of disability that the phenomenon ‘…makes the most important thing’ in film. He further states:
The use of disability as character trait, plot device, or as atmosphere is a lazy short-cut. These representations are not accurate or fair reflections of the actual experience of disabled people. Such stereotypes reinforce negative attitudes towards disabled people, and ignorance about the nature of disability. (p. 168)
According to Shakespeare, disability representations can also be a ‘vehicle’ for media to emphasize the importance of broader social fears or needs, such as the effects of industrialization, the expression of evil or the potential healing power of charity (Shakespeare, 1994). He summarizes that ‘above all, the dominant images [of disabled people] are crude, one-dimensional and simplistic’ (Shakespeare, 1999).
Corner notes that in electronic media, particularly television, representations appear to resemble reality more closely than in any other and audiences, in fact, consume images that stand in place of real things and people (1999).
Fiske (1991) on the other hand, sees ideology as central to encoding reality. In other words, media products are ideologically constructed and presented to the audience as fact, or reality. In this process of ideology turning into reality, the media functions as a mere transmitting tool that disguises the ‘truth’. Thus ideology is implicit in the process of media production as well as its consumption.
Grossberg, Wartella and Whitney (1998) also noted that representation is linked to the concept of ideology, which means that every society ensures the maintenance of its continued existence, its institutions and structures of power, by getting people to accept a particular way of thinking and seeing the world that renders the existing organization of social relations natural and inevitable. To this extent, representation is nothing but defining reality in a certain way, as it is about social power, in the sense that the narratives from the media offer the most probable configurations of meaning produced by powerful ideological institutions. Therefore, they are also sites of social struggle (Grossberg et al., 1998).
Several media scholars have argued that media representations are selective, that is, journalists generally use just a small amount of information from their large collection of data so that what emerges in the media narrative is a very small slice of a larger reality (McQueen, 1998). Representations are mediated—where audiences have a prior awareness of genres and contents, for example, fiction programs and comedy shows (Dyer, 1986), certain readings are forced or pre-ordained. The Western media studies literature abounds with examples that persuasively argue both these points (Cumberland & Negrine, 1992; Goggin & Newell, 2000; Haller, 1999; Keller et al., 1990; Wehbi, 2012). Our literature search revealed no systematic studies of disability representation in Indian news media.
Given media’s pervasiveness in our lives, it is logical to assume that our sense of the world is shaped over time by the stories and images the media bring to us (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). This would include our understanding of specific groups and the attributes assigned to them which are continually reinforced by the news and entertainment media. Much of this work has been around stereotypes of women (Mulvey, 1975) and minorities (Said, 1985) and how media representations work to maintain the status quo for these groups (Dyer, 1988; Hall, 1997).
The present study is informed by the social model of disability, which establishes a conceptual framework for reading disability as a social outcome and pattern of social repression. It emphasizes analysis of the elements that exacerbate the difficulties and affect the capacities of individuals with physical disability as participants in civic and social life. Modes of representation both structure and mediate ideas and possibilities related to disability and those who are identified as persons with disability.
Given media’s enormous presence in India, the level of awareness, commitment and sense of responsibility towards disability issues that media organizations have merits exploration. Both academia and civil society organizations working on disability issues in are yet to strongly critique media’s role in conveying many myths and misconceptions about disability. As Haller noted, [North American] newspaper narratives have a history of ignoring, devaluing or misrepresenting disability issues (Haller, 2010). This might be true of disability representation in the Indian media also. By and large, it may be assumed that media organizations across the world share the propensity for ableist narratives (Davis, 1997), and thus serve to present PWDs as people with little worth (Phillips, 1990).
Methodology
In order to study how disability is represented in the Indian news media, we drew upon material in two major newspapers published in the region 1 , The Hindu (English) and Eenadu (Telugu). Articles were selected from the main section of each paper, Feature and special interest supplements and special editions were not included, as the focus was on news. However, disability related news features that appeared on any page of the main paper were included.
Both the selected papers have been recognized for their wide-ranging coverage and their high circulation in the region. They have also had a history of recruiting persons with disabilities to work in various capacities (Eenadu School of Journalism, 2012; Subrahmanyam, personal communication 2 ). The stories selected included all the news stories published offline in these two newspapers in the calendar year 2012 as this was the year of the Paralympics, and it was expected that there would be substantial coverage related to disability, especially in the sports section of the newspapers.
Frame analysis was applied as a tool to identify stories as well as uncover the representational strategies in the news. ‘Frame’ refers to a rhetorical and discursive device that forces (or encourages) a certain reading of the text. ‘Frame elements’ or elements that constitute the frame include both verbal and design elements. In this article, therefore, we considered for analysis not only the text of a news story but also, as conceived by Carragee and Roefs (2004), several additional elements, as listed in Table 1.
Frame Elements
Conventional news frames (described later in this article) are important because they furnish consistent, predictable, simple and powerful narratives of disability that are embedded in the social construction of reality (Morris, 1991; Shakespeare, 1994, 1999) In this study, we chose news frames representing persistent patterns of selection, emphasis and presentation (Entman, 1993) that build a coherent interpretation and evaluation of events with regard to disability. In this approach, interpretation of frames is based upon problems, actions and events offered by credible sources to convey dominant meanings, make sense of the facts, with a focus on the headlines and the structure of the storylines (Gamson & Modigliani, 1987).
Identification of frames was done using the mechanism developed by Statham and Mynott (2002). A set of key terms were used to search for and locate disability-specific news in the selected newspapers. Key terms included (the Telugu term is italicised) like Guddi-Blind, Kunti-Cripple, Cheviti-Deaf, Lopam-Defective, Durbaluru/Avitivallu-Disabled, Vaikalyam-Handicapped, Nissattuva-Impaired and Manasika-Mental. The term ‘Paralympics’ was also included. A total of 205 disability specific news articles were identified from the two newspapers.
Frame analysis is also related to the mass media’s Agenda Setting theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) which explains how media emphasize certain issues in a way that affects the importance that audiences attribute to these issues. But the convergence of both the agenda setting and frame analysis, as Ghanem and McCombs (2001) argue, holds that framing is essentially a more fully elaborated description of selected aspects of the issue, constituting the second level of agenda setting. Based on this idea, the researchers attempted to analyze the frames that were used in the selected stories to arrive at an understanding of how disability is represented in the two newspapers.
Analysis
The 205 stories were selected based on the presence of the key terms mentioned above, anywhere in the news story including the headlines. Each story was first read through to determine relevance to the focus of the study. In the next step, the story was analyzed along five different dimensions: origin, location within the paper, length, source and content type; these were further classified according to more specific descriptors. This allowed us to build a broad picture of the disability coverage.
At the second level of analysis, four different themes emerged: Goodwill Building, Economism, Persistence of Medical model, Statism and Anti-statism. After several close readings of the text, we also arrived at an overarching theme we refer to as political economy of disability representation. The four themes were analyzed in juxtaposition with this central theme, that is, the political economy of disability representation. In this analytical scheme, each individual theme has a logic of its own but connects to the overarching idea of political economy of representation.
We arrived at these themes based upon the extent to which different problems, actions, and events contained in news narratives on disability shape the discourse. News coverage related to issues of disability takes a position which is often in direct contrast to the interpretation of the same events by disability scholars (Abberley, 1997; Barnes, 1996 Barnes, Mercer & Shakespeare, 1999). Cultivation theory suggests that news frames influence the public’s understanding of impairment as well as their ideas of how disability is constituted.
At the macro level, these themes were identified through an examination of specific elements of the text and its sub-sections, as well as the article as a whole. Special attention has been paid to the headlines and leads where overarching themes of the news article are expressed.
Further, at the micro level, we tried to understand how coherence is established through story construction. Attention was given to drawing implicit, taken-for-granted meanings based on a certain world view drawn from the information in the article. We examined the choice of quotes, particularly the source and the specific words used. Most importantly, we took note of the various rhetorical devices used to build credibility including statistics, description, anecdotes, etc. This meticulous form of dealing with the collected data led to the emergence of the themes described below.
Themes, in this study, relate to the common meanings generated from a group of news stories relating to a certain event or issue as well as those that treat issues in similar ways. This similarity of ideas is reflected in the vocabulary, expressions and phrases in story. Each theme has been given a label that encapsulates its essence.
The frame, on the other hand, is a news presentation technique used by the media (albeit subconsciously at times) both to enrich the content and to subtly exploit/expand the meaning of the text. News frames specify the relationship between a number of connected elements in a text. They help us interpret what is going on and make sense of the events. Frames are interpretive in nature and embedded with implied meaning/s that go beyond the explicit meaning of the text. Thus, we see themes as lessons to learn from the news articles and frames as tools that help arrive at the themes. We might also say that themes emerge while reading across a wide range of news stories while frames are devices within which the news stories are packaged.
Goodwill Building
The media serve as a bridge between traditionally marginalized groups and society as well as the market. In this context, journalists often bear the responsibility of creating demand for and acceptance of PWDs. Recent studies suggest that disability media presentations serve to promote the idea that correcting impairments (e.g., with the use of technology or medical intervention) can transform disability into specific abilities that can be utilized by the market (Barnes & Mercer, 2001). Several news stories were seen to emphasize this aspect. These messages are constructed in a manner that builds society’s goodwill toward PWDs. Goodwill building occurred in the news presentations either through the usage of evocative language, compelling images or through the effective usage of frame elements listed above. The language, in particular, connects with the ‘charity frame’ including such phrases as seeking, looking for or in waiting to receive…. These news articles, to a large extent, shift the focus from the idea of disability to one of capability or readiness to become part of the workspace.
Media thus appear to negotiate with society on PWDs behalf to make productive use of their abilities and pave the way for their acceptability. On the other hand, this can also be read as the media, as a private/capitalist entity, helping the industrial/corporate world by locating or identifying ‘labour’ with a difference suitable for productive utilization. Further, this theme allows us to uncover how news media through their messages create a sense of social acceptability of PWDs by presenting them as Marx’s ‘reserved army of labour’ (Marx, 1887/1999) or a productive group awaiting their turn.
Newspapers are not only vehicles of information dissemination but they also function as agents of the market economy. News displays PWDs’ achievements for public consumption with the expectation of building awareness of their availability and readiness for utilization as human capital, as reflected below:
He cannot see with both eyes. His self-confidence didn’t let him down. He is leading his life independently. He is able to give his children a good education and his efforts are being commended. (Eenadu, 2012a, March 9)
Some news stories also present society’s perspectives on the achievements of PWDs by quoting opinion leaders. This social acceptance of PWDs is to a large extent associated with appreciation laced with amazement as seen in the quote below:
We are at a juncture where writing novels in Telugu has stopped, writing a novel in English, that too by a visually impaired person of 18 years of age is amazing, notes Chiranajeevi. (Eenadu , 2012, February 24)
Through such endorsements, media encourages society to reconsider or reverse existing perspectives on the abilities of PWDs.
Feature stories, special stories and stories that come in certain appealing formats with the usage of design elements such as boxes, profile the ‘achievements’ of the PWDs in the following manner:
I was married immediately after my degree…met with an accident and on the very next day I was selected for the IAS…decided not to depend on anybody… got trained to help others like me… waiting to work with a happier spirit. (Eenadu, 2012, March 20) Jagannadham, who is more interested in studies, just completed his under graduation. He caught the state’s attention by writing his examinations with his foot. He has never failed in any exam… he paints with his feet. He entered his paintings into competitions. Initially, he received appreciation followed by prizes. This way Jagannadham won more than fifty prizes both in academics and painting. (Eenadu, 2012, May 5)
News stories such as these use the achievements of disabled people to position them in a positive light. Media thus perform a gatekeeping job that scrutinizes PWDs achievements and presents them to the world as people with abilities (value to be exchanged). However, one can discern a market ideology/strategy behind this emphasis on their abilities. Media projections such as these indicate that society should pay attention to the success that can be attained despite the apparent personal and social challenges. One could also argue that such feature stories tend to commodify the abilities of the disabled people. Gaining favourable media coverage that highlights achievements is akin to sending one’s resume to the whole world, announcing that they are ready to offer the use of their abilities for exploitation in the capitalistic economy. The celebration of PWDs’ achievements while highlighting the issues of disability end up focusing on how one overcame the hurdles of one’s own impairment to reach a certain goal. The media narrative leads one to see the overcoming of disability as a major—and sometimes the ultimate—achievement in itself. The final effect is to romanticize both the disability and well as its ‘conquest’.
Special interest stories, as defined within this study, differ slightly from feature stories. Features focus on the individual whereas special interest stories centre on the significance of the achievements of an entire group of people with disabilities. These stories usually are shorter, and are placed within the news space but set apart in boxes. ‘Players with different forms and levels of disabilities show their mettle in three-day south zone cricket tournament’ (The Hindu, 2012, September 27).
Goodwill-building narratives are like advertisements in their own right and serve to let potential donors (employers) know about PWD abilities of value in the job market. Emphasizing and explaining through words and images, the work that the PWDs could perform can help build confidence among prospective employers. Often these same news photos exaggerated the physical differences of the PWD, such as one that enlarged or zoomed in well on the particular impairment to make his/her body appears even smaller than his/her impairment (also noted by Haller & Ralph, 2001). Such presentations are seen in the beginning of the twentieth century, as the ‘poster child’ phenomenon (Panol & McBride, 2001), otherwise labelled as charity advertising. However, in this analysis, such advertising shifts from its traditional purpose of seeking help to seeking economic opportunities on behalf of PWDs. It is a transition to Ability-Integrated Advertising—the practice of including the roles that PWDs could play drawing upon the abilities mentioned (Panol & McBride, 2001). While such stories may take a promotional tone, they work to build social acceptance for PWDs and open the space for their entry into the mainstream under a new identity—a new labour.
Economism
Disability is seen as a form of poverty, thus generating an attitude of pity or sympathy directed at the state of impairment. Social construction of disability limits its exploration and explanation as an economic category. Articles under this theme discussed disabled people as an economic category. Disability as an economic category is associated with benefit, welfare, financial aid, grants, budget allocations, salaries (demand for a raise) and other public or private spending on disability.
Several stories discuss what society and the state ‘owe’ this section of citizens in terms of financial benefits and rights. The fact that these benefits, normally due to all those in need, are often denied, becomes the focus of such stories, as is seen in the following extracts:
He (Head of Vikalangula Hakkula Porata Samithi) said he would continue his struggle till the state Government provides 7% reservations for the PWDs in law-making houses and till their pension is increased to ₹1500 per month. (Eenadu, 2012, September 10) Chief Minister announced that a decision on increase in the pensions for the differently abled would be taken before March next year. Also being mulled over was the proposal to announce pensions for those with less than 40 per cent disability, who have been disqualified from the pension scheme recently by way of special camps. (The Hindu, 2012, December 4)
These stories present the disability groups as a dependent category, one that requires support from the state. In these stories, the media speaks on behalf of the PWDs, supporting their stand with personal narratives and examples. The reporters pose questions and identify gaps in an unsympathetic and difficult system. However, there seems to be an inherent contradiction in the media’s views and coverage; on the one hand, PWDs are presented as a ‘dependent’ group requiring the state’s support while on the other, they are seen as a potential workforce that can be used by the market. The latter category is relatively less common in the Telugu press.
Disability is also presented as an economic category in stories that relate to political agendas or to special schemes and plans targeting this group.
If Telugu Desam Party comes to power, we will give ₹1500 pension for the disabled people…upon the demographic appropriation we will implement a sub-plan for the disabled people… as and when our Government is formed, I would take up the responsibility of building a house worth of one lakh rupees for the disabled people…. (Eenadu, 2012, August 22)
Government has the increased monetary incentive from ₹10000 to ₹50000 to non-disabled people who marry disabled people, …. (Eenadu, 2012, March 21)
Such announcements appear to promote/support the cause of disability and their economic empowerment. They explain how state welfare schemes could engage PWDs in economically productive activity. Specific mention about the subsidy/support underscores the importance of economic and financial support in the lives of the disabled people. This kind of coverage also points to the state’s efforts to bring the disabled people into the mainstream.
Some of the stories under this theme seek to argue that the government is equally if not more responsible for meeting its obligations to PWDs as it is to all citizen groups. News articles headlined Vikalangula Padonnatiki no (No promotion for disabled) (Eenadu, 2012, 24 January, p. 11) and Vikalanga Udyogulaku padonnatuleppudo? (When are the promotions for the disabled employees?) (Eenadu, 2012c, March 9, p. 5) are examples of this category. These examples reiterate that while PWDs are fit for employment, they are not treated on par with their abled bodied counterparts.
Articles that question the lack of ‘promotions’, or support demands for ‘promotion’ for PWD employees or appeal for the fulfilment of ‘disability quota’ in the Government departments are presented as discrimination in employment (Eenadu, 2012, January 24, p. 11). While disability is a criterion for recruitment into Government services, the same disability becomes a ‘hurdle’ when it comes to promotions (Eenadu, 2012, March 6, p. 3). The rhetoric in these news reports seems to suggest a rights-based view on disabilities, but this fails to evolve into a full blown discourse.
The following extract points to the serious consequences on the lives of PWDs if economic supports is withdrawn by the state.
A legally blind Sheik Munsoor has been receiving his pension for last ten years. He cannot take single step outside the home without his mother’s help. The pension which he has been receiving for last ten years stopped since May. The pleas and requests made to all the officials went in vain. He has been running a small hotel with his two blind children. His brother is also blind (Eenadu, 2012, October 16, p. 2.)
It is through such articles that media present a position on disability issues and construct social perspectives on disability in relation to systemic oppression (this is elaborated in a subsequent section of this article). While the story relates to an individual case, the implications are for the disability sector as a whole. The second extract suggests that the economic cycle of the PWD is inextricably linked with the life cycle. In Marx’s view, all human relations are connected to economic relations, and social acceptance is also linked to economics (Marx, 1859/2010; Marx, 1887/2010). Such coverage points to how the state exercises a major influence on the everyday economic and social life of the PWDs, having the potential to be both enabling and limiting.
Persistence of the Medical Model
News articles falling under this theme relate to news about scientific and medical developments that could impact PWDs. These stories were not about ‘health’ but reportage specific to disability.
News articles grouped under this category suggest that the PWDs are medical subjects that could be ‘treated’ (Eenadu, 2012b, March 9, p. 14.), that it is a condition that is often induced and therefor can be ‘cured’ (The Hindu, 2012, March 6, p. 6.), ‘corrected’ (Eenadu, 2012, December 23, p. 6. 2012, August 29, p. 3.), ‘rehabilitated’ (The Hindu, 2012, January 3, p. 2.) and ‘reconstructed’ (Eenadu, 2012, December 18, p. 3.). These stories reinforce the idea that disability is a medical category by emphasizing its ‘cure’ via the new medical inventions (fixes) and technological innovations which in the long run would turn the PWDs into a productive community.
Scientists have made a breakthrough discovery in identifying a gene that causes hearing impairment. With the cutting edge developments in the medical sciences new surgeries are becoming accessible to us. (Eenadu, 2012, October 2, p. 6.)
Korean scientists have developed special spectacles with which hearing impaired people can ‘see’ the sounds…. (Eenadu, 2012, September 7, p. 13.)
Though Health/medical related news stories carry explicit messages, they also implicitly serve vested interests. News details about new products or assistive technologies work to create a demand for these products. At an initial stage, preliminary developments of technology are presented to capture the attention of PWD consumers. In most cases, insufficient detail is provided, thus acting as a ‘teaser’ to stoke the interests of the potential market.
Though these stories may be said to be based on news values, they end up playing the role of business advertisements. These products have ‘life changing’, ‘empowering’, ‘enabling’ characteristics, and promise a bright future for their users. These stories also suggest that with technological advances and medical innovations, a PWD’s life is technologically determined. Additionally, these stories seem to offer a way out of the social exclusion and stigma associated with disability. For instance:
Scientists have taken up research to avoid blindness in old age. They have revealed that they invented a substance that could prevent Macular Degeneration in the elderly… those who are victims of this condition lose their eyesight. (Eenadu, 2012, April 10, p. 14.)
Such news items present scientific developments as life givers rather than need fulfillers in the case of disability. Medical inventions are presented in the news story as if they are instrumental in expanding the life chances and choices of the PWDs to lead a life with social acceptance.
Cognitive disabilities get little or no prominence in the newspapers. Only one story related to this form of disability was found in this sample, and this too presented it as a burden to society and to the individuals in particular (Eenadu, 2012, August 2, p. 5). This is a news article on new findings from medical research presented in the form of an alert to the audience. It discusses the problems arising out of mental illness and as if to underline the seriousness of the issue, the text is presented against a black background.
These examples serve to illustrate the continued prevalence of the medical model of disability in the news media—a view that has in recent times been strongly objected to by disability rights advocates and rehabilitation professionals. This model tends to characterize disability as an individual problem and ignores the presence of disabling social and systemic barriers. It is within such an understanding of disability that medical interventions would maximize the utility value of the disabled (patient).
Statism and Anti-statism
This theme emerged from news stories on disability primarily sourced from the Government and focusing on issues related to PWDs’ ‘empowerment’, or ‘employment opportunities’, mostly in relation to the implementation of the statutory 3 per cent reservation of jobs in the Government sector for the PWDs. These stories included announcements about government ‘incentives’, ‘scholarships’, ‘policies’ for PWDs and analyses of their impact on the lives of PWDs. These articles also allowed us to understand the role of citizens and civil society organizations in advocating PWD rights and building pressure on the state through the media.
Stories in this category by and large simply reported the decisions or actions of the state and avoided a promotional or advocacy tone. News articles studied under this theme were drawn from Government sources and presented the PWD as a dependent category requiring the state’s help.
Planning Commission’s recommendation for 3 p.c. budget component for the disabled given the go-by… Meanwhile, Minister for the Disabled Welfare V. Sunitha Laxma Reddy, while speaking on the occasion, explained about various schemes in the offing for the disabled. A 30 per cent subsidy on loans for the disabled is under consideration, so also 30,000 jobs for the disabled in the coming three years, she said. She distributed MP3 Players for visually challenged students. (The Hindu, 2012, January 5, p. 2.)
These news reports reveal two aspects of the issue. One, the very idea that the State should be a benefactor to the PWDs, who then become a receiving community; and two, the Government’s lethargic attitude and inattentiveness in allocating the funds for the PWDs. This results in their potential remaining unused/unrecognised.
A few news items reflected the social commitment of the media towards PWD issues. For instance, they are conscientious about focusing on disability issues on specially marked days, for instance the following extract published on World Human Rights Day.
“I cannot operate a bank account by myself and must depend on a guardian to have a bank account, I was told,” Rajiv says…People with disabilities forced to depend on guardians to open bank account Disability rights lobby fighting to change ‘discriminatory’ Contract Act…Rule says banks can refuse to start accounts for people with ‘intellectual and psychosocial disabilities’ (The Hindu, 2012, December 10, p.1, 11.)
This presentation highlights not only the need to uphold the human rights for the PWDs but also points the reader’s attention to the anti-state voice which is surfacing in the form of the disability movement.
These kinds of stories point to the ‘legitimized discrimination’ effected through the practices of state and its apparatuses such as public banks. One might argue based on such reportage that the PWDs are forced [by the state] to remain a dependent category. Although the State makes a public commitment to the development of PWDs and appears proactive in its pronouncements, its own rules limit its actions. The media coverage serves to point out these contradictions and gaps between what the state says and what it does.
PWDs resistance was given a greater importance in the media coverage when the state action serves to fix them as a dependent category: for example, ‘An amendment to the Right to Education Bill 2010 to provide education at the door steps of the disabled people‘ (Eenadu, 2012, May 9, p. 5).
Interestingly, the above brief and purely descriptive piece in Eenadu contrasted with a much longer feature in The Hindu that criticized this move by the State: ‘A recent amendment to the Right to Education Act legitimising home-schooling may lead to children with disabilities being “pushed out” of the system’ (The Hindu, 2012, August 19, p. 12).
These stories suggest that while the purpose of the State’s move was seemingly positive, its consequence was to intensify the isolation and marginalization of the PWDs.
Disability-specific news reports from India that have international importance were given greater importance and priority—for instance, an article that outlined the key issues to be raised by India in the move for a resolution at WHO meeting to be held at Geneva (The Hindu, 2012, January 20, p. 5). Such stories advocate for disability rights while also trying to underscore the Government’s commitment to international allies with a similar stand on these issues. However, there are no details on how the Government has actually implemented any policies related to disability rights. Along with the state and its attempts to make the country’s interests visible at the international venues, the country’s newspapers display their [lack of] commitment to these ‘progressive’ issues.
There is a tendency on the part of news media to present issues as resolved; for instance, when the state makes a tentative move in the form of a promise, the attendant media report would present it as a fait accompli. The headline, ‘Panel to look into differently-abled air passengers’ problems’ (The Hindu, 2012, March 23, p. 8) makes it seem as though the problems of PWD air passengers have been resolved with the creation of the panel. This headline was presented in bold letters on the top of the page but the article made it clear that the panel was yet to be constituted and did not even have a time frame for its establishment. The story appeared to be an attempt to appease the anger of PWD air passengers who faced problems. In this way newspapers save the state from the wrath of the group facing discrimination. However, the report of the actual incident that led to the constitution of this panel was just a short piece of less than 100 words positioned along with the local classifieds (The Hindu, 2012, February 20, p. 9). But the consequence (constitution of the panel) was highlighted with a bold headline. It was only after disability rights organizations and individual advocates intervened with press statements that the newspapers stepped up their coverage of the issue.
In terms of representing the issues of people with disabilities in news, the papers tend to focus on ‘exemptions’, ‘concessions’ or ‘reservations’. Giving concessions and exemptions was a dominant frame used in the news stories that fall under this theme.
The AP administrative tribunal has asked the state to give clarification on the exemption given for the disabled in the appointment of VRO, PRO, VRA positions. A petition filed by Vikalangula Hakkula Jaatiya Vedika (National Platform on the Disability Rights) that asked Reservations in the jobs, age relaxation, concessions in the fee. (Eenadu, 2012, January 3, p. 13.)
Stories on demands for the implementation of reservations, providing exemptions and getting concessions underscores the legal relevance of these matters. In disability studies, constitutionality is necessarily associated with the rights model of disability. Though the news contexts in the extract given below is region specific, it has been placed in the national news section, indicating that disability rights have national significance. The media, on its part, aims to highlight the State Government’s failure in fulfilling the constitutional rights of the PWDs.
When it comes to the demands by civil society organization for increased financial support for people with disability, the news construction served to present it as one of seeking the state’s mercy (using words such as ‘request’ or ‘appeal’ as opposed to ‘demand’) rather than demanding it as a right.
Representatives from Disabled Welfare Society, the Congress Party allied organization have requested the State Government to increase the disability budget allocation from ₹66 crore to ₹4 thousand crores. (Eenadu, 2012, May 6, p. 3)
This example emphasizes that economics could be a tool for both empowerment and mainstreaming of PWDs. Both these objectives are part of the move to ensure that PWDs register themselves as members of the labour force in the existing capitalist society for their ensured survival.
These news articles are directly related to economic matters but their implied objectives are disability welfare/empowerment. More importantly, such provisions are either granted by laws of land or guaranteed by the constitution of the country. But the way they are presented in the newspapers is to establish the will and authority of the Government as the main ‘benefactor’ in issues related to PWDs rather than as an enabler from a rights perspective. In general, these articles did not mention specific sources of information, presenting the government as a faceless, all-powerful entity.
Discussion
Marx described the political economy of a just society as one organized around the ethos from each according to ability; to each according to need. The abilities of Marxian reserved armies of labour or surplus population (Marx, 1844, p. 395) would be utilized for the sustenance of the capitalist production where media play a liaison role in defining rights and capacities. Media products are designed both to serve media needs and to create/manage the segmented consumers who are then transformed into audiences. Media have been considered as the handmaidens of capitalism, at least, in globalized economies (Tompkins & Cheney, 1985). The following description details the overarching theme arrived from the individual themes presented above.
Political Economy and Disability Representation
In this article, we have analyzed the various narrative strategies that journalists employ in order to construct disability and related issues. The analysis yielded four themes which permeate disability coverage, and serve to represent ideas of disability and persons with disability, thus producing certain specific ways of seeing and understanding these issues. News construction includes ways and means of representing disability news using various news framing devices. Analysis of a sample of 205 news articles from two Indian newspapers published in a calendar year (2012) led to the emergence of an overarching thematic framework—Political Economy 3 (PE, hereafter) of disability representation in the media.
For early economic thinkers like Adam Smith, political economy consisted in asking theoretical and empirical questions to organize economic life and balance markets against state intervention and these ideas were inextricably bound up with questions about the constitution of the ‘good society’ (Wasko, Murdock, & Sousa, 2011). This implies that Smith saw PE as raising questions that could lead to a healthy balance between both market and Government. Karl Marx, on the other hand, sees political economy as an ethical concern, ‘….but argued forcefully that it could only be pursued by abolishing capitalism. Other socialists opted for a more gradualist approach in which the negative impacts of capitalist dynamics would be disciplined by strong public regulation and countered by substantial investment in public services’ (Wasko, et al., 2011). In simple terms, capitalism essentially is understood as a study of the production of commodities; labour is utilized to produce commodities that feed and fuel market demand. PE also focuses on the relations of labour and processes of production with law, social formations and Government.
Marxian political economy focuses on the labour theory of value that sees labour as the genuine source of value. Commodities are the result of expended human labour that consists of both use and exchange values. Function value relates to the usefulness of a commodity in the phase of fulfilling the need and gratification of the consumers. Commodities also possess an exchange-value, the comparative value of a commodity in relation to other commodities. Karl Marx himself noted that all human relations are economic relations. This suggests that economy is linked to every human activity whether it is cultural, social or political. Marxian analysis implies that ability to take part in the social production is a fundamental criterion to get into social relations in the world. Such relationships in totality constitute the structure of society. According to Marx, the superstructure which corresponds or generates legal and political consciousness is decisive in the entirety of productive relationships (Marx, 1859/2010).
For Charlton (1998), in conditions of disability it is easy to build a political economic system. In a general and practical sense, persons with disabilities are powerless and poor. Moreover, their condition is not helped by the very minimal support that is received in the form of legal entitlements or welfare measures from the State. PE is both generally and centrally concerned with class. That the immense majority of people with disabilities are living in poverty (Ambati, 2009), without many of the basic necessities live a full and independent life, is mainly a function of class. PWDs who have sufficient fiscal resources have no problem in securing the most modern wheelchairs and prosthetics; rehabilitation and psychiatric services; and personal assistants, drivers, and readers. This is, more or less, the case throughout the world. However, Charlton (1998) noted that the definition of the political economy of disability needed to be revised and more inputs were required to concretize the aspect.
Media as an institution and a product is inherently political. In case of disability representation, media tend to project disability in relation to conflict or complex events or as an issue within a larger social conflict, and occasionally takes a position that negotiates for and on behalf PWDs. Media’s disability activism would shape up the decisions bearing upon the production, consumption, and transfer of (scarce) resources, irrespective of whether the natural processes are formal or informal, public or private, or a compounding of both. Precisely, political economy in this study is understood as the way media coverage creates a market vis-à-vis opportunities for the abilities of the PWDs and getting the capitalist needs fulfilled through what Marx calls, the reserve army of labor (Marx, 1887/2010). Disability representation through news articles pitches for the need of social acceptance of PWDs by highlighting their abilities/skills or use values and at the same time speaks to the industry requirement for people with acquired skills through different framing techniques. In a fashion, by creating space for the disability issues, media are bringing together both the abilities of the PWDs to the notice of the industry and the needs of the industry to the notice of skilled people (labour) with disabilities.
As far as the goodwill building theme is concerned there were different types of editorial formats within which news related to disability seemed to generate a positive sense about the PWDs among the audience. Through the use of specific language, aimed at generating an inclusive and positive impression, the media aimed to indicate their support to PWDs and also draw in the support of the audience. Language was strategically used as the dominant tool of media presentation in all the stories grouped under this label and the study aimed to shed light on this aspect as well as situate it theoretically in the literature and understand it in the context of political economy.
Presenting disability through the use of ableist terms such as ‘disabled’ or ‘handicapped’ is as an important component of political economy of disability representation. Previous media analyses have indicated that media represent disability often in derogatory terms but many of these representations have become accepted as ‘politically correct’ (Raiser, 2001). Furthermore, language is an integral element of a culture (Bassnett, 1990). Use of disability specific language is as yet a novel idea in Indian media. With the arrival of misrepresentation of disability consciousness among the disability groups, a significant move had been evident in the history of disability language formation internationally: ‘person-first language’—a movement aimed to avoid perceived and subconscious dehumanization of PWDs in everyday conversations was successful in replacing the person first and condition next, as in expressions like ‘person with disabilities’ instead of ‘disabled person’ (Art, 2002).
News under economism emphasized the fact that social assistance, particularly financial help can extricate PWDs from their position of disadvantage. Presenting disability related news stories in such a way confirms PWDs as a category that society has a duty toward, particularly in economic terms. When looking at disability from the Marxian conception of class, the very nature of news treatment situates PWDs as an economic class. These stories speak about the importance of economics in the lives of the PWDs as also the availability or non-availability of mainstreaming facilities (government schemes, for instance) meant for them—these are ways of constituting class. In other words, the media makes it seem through such stories that what PWDs require above all is financial assistance. This serves to underplay the importance of an accessible environment and infrastructure that could enable the PWDs.
However, news articles that pointed to the persistence of medical model serve to speak on behalf of PWDs for their social integration and ‘enhanced life choices/chances’ (Szymanski & Hershenson, 2005) through the adoption of scientific inventions. Assistive technologies allow them to access the world and help them acquire new powers (Rothman, 1987) that are life changing (Tetrick & Quick, 2003). These inventions are instrumental in their coming out of disability (Brealey, 1984). News stories on scientific/medical innovations pacify the anxieties of the able-bodied audience about disability. These stories serve to emphasize the fact that even in the event a disability occurs, one can avoid both stigma and exclusion from productive society.
The major limitation of this study was time period selected. Twelve months might not be an ideal choice for theorizing on disability and media coverage. The way disability images are constructed and shared and understanding aesthetics of these images could be the future direction from this study.
Conclusion
In Marxian terms the history of all (disabled people) in contemporary societies is the history of class struggles. Media, in modern times, are the venues that host/mediate these struggles through their coverage of issues. This analysis revealed that PWDs are a sub-class of the working class that is in preparation to register as new labour. It is a new labour force whose abilities (use values) are now discovered by media and presented to a world that is ready to integrate them into the system of production. Media being the moderator between the society and PWDs acts as a bridge between the neoliberal economy and PWDs, a labour in waiting. News representations on disability, in this regard were observed, more as fulfilling the economic/productive needs of the labour market rather than fulfilling the social needs of PWDs. In other words, news articles on disability issues appear to possess more publicity value than news value. Even the media designs (editorial and formatting) and desires (framing and positioning) while covering disability end up taking from PWDs without giving to them substantially.
A major point of learning from this study is that there is a widespread lack of awareness and orientation to disability issues among journalists and newspaper managements. An ethical approach to news construction would take into account the sensitivities and needs of all constituencies, particularly marginalized groups such as persons with disability. For this to happen, there needs to be a conscious effort to include the missing perspectives of disability groups and to integrate PWDs into the process of news production. Our analysis points to the consequences of the existing gap: the news stories analyzed exhibit a significant bias in terms of framing disability, perpetuating the medical understanding of disability rather than promoting a more socially situated, nuanced way of seeing persons with disability. If news organizations can frame policies that are inclusive in terms of news conceptualization, scope and coverage (giving voice to more PWDs and disability advocates), as well as in terms of hiring practices (drawing in disability viewpoints in the production process), they could in a significant way lead the change in the way disability is reported, attitudes are built and most importantly, setting in motion a fair and balanced representation of disability.
Authors’ Declaration
Nookaraju Bendukurthi undertook the data collection and analysis as part of his doctoral thesis titled “Construction of Disability in an ableist Indian media: Framing Difference, Facilitating Inclusion”, under the guidance of Usha Raman, and wrote the drafts of this article.
Usha Raman conceived of and supervised the doctoral study conducted by Nokaraju Bendukurthi and edited and critically reviewed the manuscript.
