Writing about disability: Victoria’s Bar None campaign

The media’s role in covering disability issues is often explored from a perspective of those outside journalism, yet it is a fundamental point that any change in the practices of reporting disability must come from the media itself. This paper explores a Victorian government campaign to recognise people for increasing access for disabled Victorians. The pioneering element of the campaign was that it was based on a partnership with Leader Community Newspapers, one of the largest newspaper networks in Australia, and was accompanied by a commitment from Leader to analyse how journalists used language around the reporting in their newspapers of disability issues.