Disability Media Studies Brings Together Industry

Background to the Issues

Dsicuss about the Disability Media Studies Brings Together Industry.

The depiction of disability in media is often done in a negative light and helps in playing a major role in changing the public perception of disability. Very often the media portrays the disabled in a very different manner because of which the public tries to sympathize with them and perceives them in a different light. Perceptions in media about the disabled have a negative impact on the people. The media tends to re-enforce negative images about the disabled and put in wrong ideas with regard to these special people.

However, this should not be the case as the people with disability need to be death with empathy and not sympathy. The image which is displayed of them, is always about pain and embarrassment however, they need to be considered as an inspiration and their will and honor needs to be upheld (Attitude.org.au. 2018). The campaign aims to address this issue and bring together different people with disabilities together and creates films centered on such issues to create awareness.

The given campaign aims to:

1. Spread awareness

The given campaign Attitude aims to share awareness of the depiction which is reflected by the media with respect to the disabled people. The media in order to gain matter for their use and increase the TRP of their channel in the respective news time shares inconsistent news about the disabled people and portrays them in the negative light. The media tends to have an underlying impact on the people and for this reason, the general public has also started perceiving the disabled people poorly and this is a shame on their honor and integrity. For this reason, the given campaign will be looking after the given situation in hand and spread awareness accordingly.

2. Remove misconception

The given campaign also intends to remove any misconception regarding the perception about the disabled. The campaign aims to bring together different disabled people with various means and wants to show that they are just like us.

3. Uphold the spirit

The honesty and integrity of the disabled people must be upheld. They are often viewed in bad light and pitied upon but at the end of the day it must not be forgotten that they are one among the people and that they need empathy and encouragement instead of sympathy and pity. Hence, this campaign is in honor of these people.

4. Oppose the media for the shameful act

The media has been carrying forward with the given act since a long time and for this reason, the campaign wants to condemn the media though the given campaign and spread awareness about their shameful tactics.

Defining the campaign goals/objectives

The given campaign established credibility as an activist in the following manner:

• Informed- The given campaign went a long way in informing the general public about the deceitful act of the media in disrespecting the disabled people and reflecting them in a negative light. Furthermore, it intends to inform the society that this isn’t fair and that the media needs to be stopped.
• Transform-The campaign also gained credibility by going a long way in transforming the perception of people. The perception of the people plays a major role in the treatment of the disabled and hence, with the help of the given campaign, the company aimed to transform their thinking and show the disabled people in a new way
• Inspired-The campaign gained credibility by inspiring the people and influencing the disabled to come forward and share their experiences and their stories.

The policy environment can be described as the environment in which the given campaign shall take place. The policy environment acts more like a business context which functions in the external business environment. The policy environment needs to be assessed carefully because it tends to have a great influence on the various components of a campaign and the result of it. The policy environment of any campaign can be better understood by making use of a Power holder map.

A power holder map can be described as an essential tool which is generally used to analyze the influence of the different components on another in the context of the campaign. It assists in understanding, of the different parties relevant to a campaign and determining the future outcome of the campaign.

The power holder map identifies the networks and relationships that lie between different institutions and people. This network helps in identification of the parties which have a direct influence on the change that is to be brought about by the campaign and which other party can help to have an influence on them.

The questions relevant to the given campaign related to Attitude are as follows:

• Who will be having the primary decision making influence on the campaign`s objectives
• The process in which these decisions will be made
• The parties which might have an influence on the decision making process and can these alter the result of the campaign (Jackson et al. 2013).
• Helps in identification of allies and opponents along with their interests

 

Figure 1: The Power Holder Map (As created by the author)

In the given scenario, the above power holder map helps in identification of the different parties who are indirectly or directly related to the campaign of Attitude.

The power holder map has identified six main parties who might be relevant responsibility holders and influencers. The public is a key party in the given campaign and it is for the purpose of the public perception why the given campaign is held.  The public has an influence on the disabled community and is directly influenced by the media and its thinking. Furthermore, the policy perception also has an influence on the manner the hospitals view the disabled group and how the perception can be changed. The media and staff are influenced by the disabled society. The policy has an impact on media as well and the media tries to show what the policy would like to see (Ellis et al. 2014). Secondly the government and the hospitals are also connected.

Hence, the primary players in the given campaign are the Media, Public and the disabled community. The three have an influence over one another due to which the campaign strategy needs to keep in mind.

How did the campaign establish credibility as an activist?

A strategy can be described as the long term plan which assists in the future of any objective. The strategy adopted for the campaign needs to follow a holistic approach whereby the Attitude foundation needs to understand the steps which should be taken and the time frame of each step (Quarmby 2013).

A campaign strategy is important because it helps in the analysis of the external environment and the primary factors that may have an impact on the domain of the business. The development of the strategy is as follows

 

Figure 2: The Strategic Map( As created by the author)

The given integrated strategic map has been formed in order to understand the development of the campaign strategy in a better manner (Ellis and Goggin 2015). The primary vision of the given campaign as identified is bringing about a change in the perception of the media and the depiction of the disabled. The given objective can be achieved by changing the perception and the attitude of the people towards the disabled society. Media has been taken to be the utmost culprit of the reason behind the negative perception of the disabled and thus this campaign aims to spread awareness.

The primary stakeholders involved in the given campaign are the public and the disabled community. The public refers to the general population which takes in media as well. The next important stakeholder is the community of the disabled. This community is greatly affected by the wrong perception and hence they have been taken in another light. When the campaign runs successfully, these are the parties who will be benefit with the post.

Capacities can be defined as the requirements which are necessary in order to bring the campaign to action and make it successful.

• Spread of awareness
• Removal of misconceptions
• Ability to deliver the motive
• Respect for the disabled (Ellis and Goggin 2015)
• Opposition to media act

• Gaining support- In order to promote the growth of the campaign it is extremely popular to ensure that the support of the disabled attained as this shall go a long way in execution of the strategy of the captain
• Good promotional strategy-The campaign will also require a good promotional strategy which will ensure active participation from the public alike. The strategy being used for the given campaign is that the social media will be greatly used to bring together different people from the community and share their stories of their achievement (Nytimes.com. 2018). This will be done to ensure that a positive image of the disabled is portrayed in front if the society.

• Television
• Social media

• Funds- Bringing together the different components of the campaign would require adequate funds.
• Active participation-Active participation from the different members of the disabled community will also be required. This will ensure that all of them get equal resects and justice.

Media- For the media, certain proactive techniques will be used in order to instigate them to change their given concept of the disability which is generally portrayed by them. They will be made known about the campaign using various tools such as Letters, Events, and Website. The given tactics are being used so that the campaign can gain the attention of the selected party and the objective is achieved (Disabilityplanet.co.uk. 2018).

Public- The public refers to the general crowd which is greatly influenced by the media. Hence, there are various strategies which can be used in order to attract them (Ellis and Kent 2015). The strategies used for them are Letters, Events, and Websites, Television techniques, Social Media advertisement and the use of Media. This will encourage them to come together and join the given campaign.

Analyzing the policy environment

Disabled society- The disabled society is the primary party of the given campaign and for this reason; the tactics used to involve them would include sending out letters, using media tools, television shows and advertisements, events and awareness. They will be made to realize that the campaign is for their benefit.

Government- The tactics used for the government would include using techniques like sending out letters, lobbying and event strategies.

The plan which has been formed needs to be implemented as well. Proper implementation of the plan is important as it will determine the results of the campaign. Implementation of the plans play an important role as it determines the efficiency of the planning phase (Horst  and Miller 2013). This means that planning and developing the campaign strategy is important. Hence, it should be done in such a manner that it is successfully able to achieve the mission of the strategy.

However, even more important than the strategy planning is strategic implementation, because any mistake in the implementation might lead problems in future (Disability Horizons. 2018). The implementation stage often results in gap between the actual outcomes expected and the planned ones. However , it should be seen to it that the gap between them is the minimum.

Given below are the activities and the steps which will take place for the Change the Attitude Campaign

The idea and the concept need to be advertised first. The advertisement might act as an invitation to the different members of the public who might want to contribute and the disabled community to join the organization and assist them in changing the attitude (Theguardian.com  2018)

The disabled members will be welcomed and every story will be heard in order to understand their achievements till now.

Deciding upon the best idea for the campaigning

The best idea for the given campaign will be decided upon. The chosen idea refers to the idea where the direction of the movement will be deciding upon .

Along with the assistance of the disabled community a dummy test would be run in order to understand the impact of it on media and society (Riddell and Watson 2014). Taking in permissions from the concerned authorities regarding the implementation of the campaign

After successful completion of the tests, any changes might be made followed by the successful movement on social media and television. Further permission might be taken from the concerned authorities.

Developing the strategy

The final edits will be made to see if everything  is in place

The advertisement on all platforms will be edited for perfection

Advertisement on social media and other platforms

The hosen channels, event launch, newspapers, social media platforms will be chosen for the campaign. It is very crucial to choose the right medium so that the awareness is spread in the right manner (Shakespeare 2013).

Finally, after all the checks will be made the campaign will be released in all chosen platforms.

Feedback

The feedback and response from the desired public will be analyzed.

New ideas to continue with the movement will be made

Major Stages or activities	Week 1-4	Week 5-8	Week 8-11-	Week 11-13	Week 13-16	Week 16-20	Week 21
Website Advertising	ü
Connecting with the community	ü	ü
Idea generation		ü
Dummy test		ü	ü	ü
Permission and legislatives			ü	ü
Final checks				ü	ü
Editing and formatting					ü	ü
Choosing the right means to promote the campaign						ü
Releasing the campaign						ü
Taking feedback						ü	ü
Moving forward						ü	ü

The campaign was quite successful in brining various people together to make them fight against the injustice against media. Many people were not satisfied with the way in which the media portrayed the disabled people and thus for this reason, these people decided to come forward and help the Attitude Foundation (Hickey-Moody and Crowley 2014). The campaign witnessed various people coming together as volunteers and trying to create awareness with respect to the change in the attitude of the people. The given crowd worked hard towards creating the content for the awareness and the idea generation.

Furthermore, the disabled crowd also came along with the campaign and gave their consent to share their story. The participated actively in the contents of the campaign and together with the different volunteers trying to alter their image in the eyes of the society

After viewing the various advertisements and television podcasts, the public came together with the disabled crowd and decided to help in the protest against the media who had a wrong perception about the disabled. The public as discussed previously is greatly influenced by the media and the contents (Hynan, Murray and Goldbart 2014). For this reason, the campaign bought about different cultured people to share their experiences and their views against the cheap tactics being adopted by the media. Hence, the campaign was quite successful in brining together the people and changing the attitude of the people towards the particular segment of the society.

The given campaign was also successful in forcing the media to change its content and show the people in a positive light. The campaign was successful in making the media realize that it had been conducting wrong actions by portraying the disabled in a wrong manner. The campaign was successful against protesting against the media and its activities (Attitude.org.au. 2018). The campaign brought about a positive outcome in the sense that the media reduced the negative content about the disabled and this in turn resulted in a changed perception about the people.

Capacities

The media started covering the existing campaign and started replaying the different videos about the campaign and thus this resulted in positive image about the disabled people. The media reduced the negative content and the attitude definitely changed.

However, one weak point about the given campaign was that, it was not successful completely (Un.org 2018). Changing the perception is not any easy task and although the campaign has been successful in beginning the process towards the change, however, it still has a long way to go in changing the mindset and the portrait of the disabled society.

Conclusions

Therefore, from the given analysis it could be stated that the given campaign as conducted by Attitude Foundation, was very successful. It brought about the different people together to fight against the injustice as portrayed by the media and to reflect the positive side if the issue as well. The given report reflected the different strategies that were used to bring the campaign to action and how it was implemented. It was identified that media has a major role to play in the given field and that the media is largely responsible for portraying the disabled people in bad light. Hence, the given campaign was directed against the media and it wanted to make them understand that the disabled people need encouragement and empathy instead of the current sympathy and negativity which is being thrown towards them. The results of the campaign were quite positive and hence for this purpose, the camping objectives were achieved.

References

Attitude.org.au. ,2018. Changing Attitudes will Change Lives – Changing Attitudes will Change Lives. [online] Available at: https://www.attitude.org.au/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].

Attitude.org.au. ,2018. Our attitude and plans in 2018. [online] Available at: https://www.attitude.org.au/attitude-in-2018/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].

Disability Horizons. ,2018. Disability and the media: disability in films. [online] Available at: https://disabilityhorizons.com/2012/09/disability-and-the-media-tv-and-film/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].

Disabilityplanet.co.uk. ,2018. Media Representation of Disabled People: A Critical Analysis. [online] Available at: https://www.disabilityplanet.co.uk/critical-analysis.html [Accessed 11 May 2018].

Ellis, K. and Goggin, G., 2015. Disability, locative media, and complex ubiquity. Ubiquitous Computing, Complexity and Culture, pp.272-287.

Ellis, K. and Goggin, G., 2015. Disability and the Media. Palgrave Macmillan.

Ellis, K. and Kent, M., 2015. Accessible television: The new frontier in disability media studies brings together industry innovation, government legislation and online activism. First Monday, 20(9).

Ellis, K., Goggin, G., Huntsinger, J. and Senft, T., 2014. Disability and social media. The social media handbook, pp.126-143.

Hickey-Moody, A. and Crowley, V. eds., 2014. Disability matters: Pedagogy, media and affect. Routledge.

Horst, H.A. and Miller, D. eds., 2013. Digital anthropology. A&C Black.

Hynan, A., Murray, J. and Goldbart, J., 2014. ‘Happy and excited’: Perceptions of using digital technology and social media by young people who use augmentative and alternative communication. Child language teaching and therapy, 30(2), pp.175-186.

Jackson, D., Hodges, C.E., Molesworth, M. and Scullion, R. eds., 2014. Reframing disability?: media,(dis) empowerment, and voice in the 2012 Paralympics (Vol. 41). Routledge.

Nytimes.com. ,2018. Disabilities. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/disabilities [Accessed 11 May 2018].

Quarmby, K., 2013. Media reporting and disability hate crime. Disability, Hate Crime and Violence, pp.64-79.

Riddell, S. and Watson, N., 2014. Disability, culture and identity. Routledge.

Shakespeare, T., 2013. Disability rights and wrongs revisited. Routledge.

Theguardian.com, 2018. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/.../invisibility-of-disabled-people-in-the-media [Accessed 11 May 2018].

Un.org ,2018. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/.../disability-and-the-media.html [Accessed 11 May 2018].