An exploration of the adherence of journalists in Australia to established media guidelines on the depiction of people with disability

The representation of people with disability in the news media has been the focus of attention in Australia and beyond for many years. There has been much written about how people with disability are shown in television news bulletins and daily and non-daily newspapers. At the heart of much of this writing has been discussion about the frames journalists use to represent people with disability. This thesis seeks to build on that work by exploring the adherence of journalists to existing media guidelines in Australia on the representation of people with disability. This work incorporates a mixed methodology to explore the way people with disability are presented in newspapers and television; why they are presented that way and what impact that representation has on the general public’s perception of people with disability.