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From Newsrooms to Now Media: Employing Disabled Journalists

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Disability Media Work
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Abstract

This chapter outlines prior research into the employment of disabled journalists, illustrating the continuation of employer fears associated with costs, performance and the reactions of others. Approaches to research encompass both quantitative assessments of actual numbers of disabled employees in newsrooms and qualitative assessments of biographical experiences. Although the majority of the literature on this topic was published during the 1990s, there is little to suggest attitudes have changed considerably in the intervening 20 years. At the same time, print media has shifted towards online and participatory media. While discriminatory fears persist within the industry, disabled journalists also recognise the unique benefits of being a disabled journalist and the opportunities presented by a new digital industry.

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Ellis, K. (2016). From Newsrooms to Now Media: Employing Disabled Journalists. In: Disability Media Work. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52871-1_3

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