Terms and conditions: disability representation in newspaper coverage in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Historically, terminology has been a site of struggle, with the disability rights movement rejecting, embracing, and coining new terms, mirroring the changing landscape of the lived experiences of persons with disabilities and our deeper understanding of human rights. Word choice is deemed the embodiment of one’s positionality, with two broad camps of person-first and identity-first terminology emerging. The media, including the press, plays a significant role in informing the public and forming public opinion, making the language choice and sensitivity of portrayal important features of a newspaper article. This study aimed to critically review selected local newspaper articles in Sinhala, Tamil, and English featuring or referencing disability to explore the use of terms or word choice and conditions or representation. An online database search was conducted to identify relevant articles using a range of search terms. The articles identified were critically reviewed for language use and the portrayal of persons with disabilities using the key principles of simple thematic analysis and through the lens of the models of disability and critical disability theory. The key findings are the use of a plethora of terms to refer to disability, suggesting a lack of cohesion and positionality. The word choice used in the press articles ranges from derogatory and archaic to representative of current terms proposed by the local disability rights movement. The five emergent themes in the portrayal of persons with disabilities were to evoke humor/satire, highlighting inequality as recipients of discrimination, objects of pity, or as inspiration.There is a lack of consistency in the terms used within the local press, though there is a trend towards using less derogatory language. The conditions or representation is mixed, with evidence of the charity model and the social and human rights models to inform the portrayal of persons with disabilities. Both the terms and conditions/representation of persons with disabilities must be informed by the disability rights movement with close links advocated, as well as more disability representation in the field of journalism.