Posts by adam@ire.org
Finding myself in news
By Amanda Morris, The Washington Post Growing up, I did not have friends who wore hearing aids like me. As a mainstreamed kid — who went to regular public school with hearing people instead of going to a deaf school — my only frame of reference for my experiences was my older brother Brett, who…
Read MoreReporting on inequality
By Jennifer LaFleur, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Imagine a broad group of people regularly excluded from social, governmental and employment activities because systemic and structural barriers keep them out. A pretty important story, right? Yet it’s one that too often goes uncovered. For investigative reporters, it’s an opportunity to do data-driven stories that…
Read MoreTom Koch’s vision for public health
By Doug Meigs, IRE & NICAR Journalist and scholar Tom Koch built his career writing at the intersection of public health and social justice. Now, the longtime IRE member is helping a new generation of public health reporters and journalists working with disabilities. Koch himself has low vision, and he had to fight for fair…
Read MoreOpening Letter: Disability news and community
By Francisco Vara-Orta, IRE & NICAR Visibility in the news comes and goes for historically marginalized communities. This is especially true for people living with a disability. Major events and milestones — such as the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Disability Pride Month, the Paralympics or the COVID-19 pandemic — have centered these…
Read MoreInvestigator’s Toolbox: Four starters
By Nakylah Carter, IRE & NICAR Disability is often excluded from conversations about diversity, but there are many resources available to help journalists address this problem. Although not an exhaustive list, IRE has gathered the following four guides as a helpful starting point for improving your newsroom’s disability coverage. As social norms rapidly change regarding…
Read MoreData reveals school voucher shortcomings
By Neelam Bohra, The Texas Tribune Are government programs to support disabled residents adequately serving the community? Two newsrooms in Texas explored this question in the context of public school privatization and dangerous residential care facilities. Project: “Inaccessible Private Schools or Underfunded Public Schools: Texas’ Disabled Students Have Few Options With No Change in Sight”…
Read MoreAccessible data visualizations
By Douglas Schepers, Fizz Studio; Frank Elavsky, Carnegie Mellon University People with vision or cognitive disabilities often struggle with charts, graphs and diagrams as a source of information. People with disabilities also have a fundamental ethical and legal right to an equivalent experience of information access. For basic images, adding accessibility is as simple as…
Read MoreNewsroom inclusion from a disability lens
By Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist’s Resource Until recently, I rarely told anyone I have a disability. I didn’t share that information with editors or even fellow journalists at the news outlets where I’ve worked during my 20-plus-year career. For one thing, I was ashamed. I’m keenly aware of the stigma and stereotypes associated with having…
Read MoreThe story behind the investigation
By Doug Meigs, IRE & NICAR; Mike Reicher and Lulu Ramadan, The Seattle Times; Amy Silverman, Arizona Daily Star; Beth Hundsdorfer and Molly Parker, Capitol News Illinois ProPublica supports local and regional investigative projects through its Local Reporting Network. These newsroom collaborations have exposed myriad failures by systems meant to support the most vulnerable members…
Read MoreTips to make the news more accessible
By Patrick Garvin, independent journalist and accessibility consultant I’ve spent more than four years speaking at journalism conferences and talking to newsrooms about making news sites more accessible to people with disabilities. When I speak with journalists about this, I rely on two sets of credentials: the accessibility certifications I’ve earned in the last four…
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