Hi,
I've taken the liberty of sending this to SDS's president.
Thanks,
Phyllis Rubenfeld
On Mon, 26 Oct 1998, Dona Avery wrote:
> Hi Phyllis, Beth, Lennard, and everyone,
>
> I think it's a grand idea to set up a guidance/watchdog commission for the
> media, under the aegis of SDS. But you might ask our UK friends for
> advice: According to archival info, there have been, since at least 1994,
> similar issues and solutions over here:
>
> >From DIALOGUES IN DISABILITY THEORY AND POLICY - 28 May 97, Colin Barnes
> says that
>
> >several Guides have been produced on how to represent disabled
> >people in the media including that produced by the BCODP in 1992 and
> >recently reproduced in the British Film Industry's excellent 'Framed'
> >(1997): edited by two disabled writers Anne Pointon and Chris Davies. The
> >disabled peoples' movement now has its own media watch-dog: The One in
> >Eight Group, and issues relating to the portrayal of disabled people on
> >television and the radio are addressed in the Broadcasting Standards
> >Council Report (1994).
>
> Perhaps SDS can draw on this experience?
>
> Dona
>
>
> At 12:13 AM 10/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >Good to hear that you're interested-perhaps you will raise this at our
> >meeting in '99.
> >See ya,
> >Phyllis Rubenfeld
> >
> >On Sun, 25 Oct 1998, Beth Haller wrote:
> >
> >> I also support an SDS source list for media. Journalists especially love
> >> to quote experts in the field and university researchers, making SDS a
> >> great first step in developing a contact list for media.
> >>
> >> Let me know if I can help in any way.
> >> Beth
> >>
> >> _________________________________________________________________________
> >>
> >> Beth A. Haller, Ph.D. PHONE: (410) 830-2442
> >> Assistant Professor of Journalism E-MAIL: [log in to unmask]
> >> Dept. of Mass Comm/Comm Studies FAX: (410) 830-3656
> >> 8000 York Road, Towson University WEB PAGE:
> >> Towson, MD 21252-7097 http://www.towson.edu/~bhalle
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sun, 25 Oct 1998, Phyllis Rubenfeld wrote:
> >>
> >> > Hi Lennard, David M., and All,
> >> > I strongly support that SDS be the organization to address this issue.
> >> > Take Care,
> >> > Phyllis Rubenfeld
> >> >
> >> > On Sat, 24 Oct 1998, Lennard Davis wrote:
> >> >
> >> > > Hi,
> >> > >
> >> > > I've been meaning to respond to Paul Longmore's message including his
> >> > > response to the director of the polio documentary. That list of
> questions
> >> > > and advice was so good. If only the documentarian had listened to him.
> >> > > Paul's consultation is exactly the kind of thing that I'm
> advocating. It
> >> > > wasn't proscriptive; it wasn't PC; it just provided a perspective that
> >> > > would have made the documentary a much better one.
> >> > >
> >> > > If there is sentiment that we should have an anti-defamation kind of
> >> > > committee, or, alternatively, simply a speaker/consultant list that
> could
> >> > > be provided to the media how can we go about implementing it?
> >> > >
> >> > > I suggest that this question be taken up at the next SDS meeting.
> Or is
> >> > > there another organization that would be appropriate to house such a
> >> > > service? I am speaking mainly of an organization in the US. I would
> >> > > assume UK folks would have their own notions of the value or
> valuelessness
> >> > > of such a service.
> >> > >
> >> > > Opinions?
> >> > >
> >> > > Best,
> >> > >
> >> > > Lennard Davis
> >> > >
> >> > > PS: There was mention that the polio documentary would be followed by a
> >> > > shorter one on post-polio syndrome to be broadcast on PBS. I
> wonder if we
> >> > > could find out when that will appear and then write some op-ed
> pieces on
> >> > > the subject of media represenations of people with disabilities for
> local
> >> > > and national newspapers.
> >> > >
> >> > > At 11:10 AM 10/15/1998 -0700, you wrote:
> >> > > >
> >> > > >On Wed, 14 Oct 1998, Lennard Davis wrote:
> >> > > >
> >> > > >> Oh, by the way,
> >> > > >>
> >> > > >> Why has the director of this unique film never bothered to
> respond to this
> >> > > >> listserv if she was so interested in knowing about the disability
> >> > > perspective?
> >> > > >>
> >> > > >> LJD
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >I missed "Paralyzing Fear" when it aired in San Francisco, so I can't
> >> > > >comment on the content of the film. In 1994 I was approached by the
> >> > > >producer, Nina Seavey, Director of George Washington University's
> Center
> >> > > >for History in the Media, about serving on the film's advisory
> panel. I
> >> > > >expressed two concerns. I told her that it was imperative that she
> >> > > >include people with disabilities in key paid positions on the
> project. I
> >> > > >also offered suggestions about the content of the film. I wrote a
> letter
> >> > > >of support (appended below) to help her get funded. After she got her
> >> > > >initial grant, she discontinued communicating with me. Those of
> you who
> >> > > >saw the program can decide whether or not she responded to my
> suggestions
> >> > > >about content.
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Paul Longmore
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >August 29, 1994
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Nina Seavey, Director
> >> > > >George Washington University
> >> > > >Center for History in the Media
> >> > > >Washington, D.C. 20052
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Dear Ms Seavey:
> >> > > >
> >> > > >The film project you propose on the social impact and public
> perceptions
> >> > > >of polio epidemics in the 20th-Century U.S. is an important one. The
> >> > > >topic raises a range of significant historical and cultural
> questions.
> >> > > >
> >> > > >As a historian of disability and people with disabilities, I, of
> course,
> >> > > >would note that the history of the epidemic disease of polio is a
> story of
> >> > > >disability as well as illness because polio so often produced
> >> > > >disabilities. It is impossible to recount the history of polio
> without
> >> > > >examining the intertwined history of disability and people with
> >> > > >disabilities in that same era.
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Among other questions, I would raise the following:
> >> > > >
> >> > > >How have Americans dealt with epidemic diseases and individuals who
> >> > > >contract those diseases? What cultural beliefs did the polio
> campaigners
> >> > > >rely upon to mobilize material and institutional resources to fight
> the
> >> > > >epidemics and to treat and rehabilitate persons disabled by the polio
> >> > > >virus?
> >> > > >
> >> > > >At a time when the demographics of polio was making it increasingly a
> >> > > >disease of teenagers and young adults and no longer simply "infantile"
> >> > > >paralysis, why did the organizers of the fund-raising efforts make the
> >> > > >poster child the representative public image of persons disabled by
> polio?
> >> > > >What impact did that child-image have on the social identities and
> roles
> >> > > >of people who lived with post- polio disabilities?
> >> > > >
> >> > > >After FDR contracted polio, a friend of his mother said, "Now he is a
> >> > > >cripple. Will he ever be anything else?" Why did FDR, the leading
> figure
> >> > > >in the fight against polio, try to keep his disability hidden?
> What does
> >> > > >"FDR's splendid deception" reveal to us about social attitudes in
> that era
> >> > > >toward Americans who had post-polio and other disabilities?
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Why did the polio campaigners place so much emphasis on getting
> patients
> >> > > >to walk again? What was the cultural meaning of "overcoming" a
> post-polio
> >> > > >disability in this way? Did FDR and his colleagues (doctors,
> >> > > >fund-raisers, and people who had had polio) transform people who
> had had
> >> > > >polio into cultural heroes? If so, what sort of heroes were they?
> >> > > >
> >> > > >During these same decades, segregation of disabled people was
> enforced by
> >> > > >such ordinances as "ugly laws" in Chicago and other cities that
> prohibited
> >> > > >any "person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way
> deformed so
> >> > > >as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be
> >> > > >allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this
> city" from
> >> > > >exposing "himself to public view." Did institutionalized prejudice
> such
> >> > > >as this in any way influence the polio fund-raising or treatment?
> Given
> >> > > >this deeply entrenched bias, was "overcoming" another form of
> stigma or a
> >> > > >step toward social inclusion?
> >> > > >
> >> > > >In the early 1950s, Salk and other virologists tested live-virus
> vaccines
> >> > > >on institutionalized physically and mentally disabled persons.
> What does
> >> > > >this tell us about social attitudes and values regarding people with
> >> > > >disabilities in that era and in the anti- polio campaign?
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Many of the attitudes, values and institutionalized approaches toward
> >> > > >illness and people who are sick or disabled that we now take for
> granted
> >> > > >were fashioned during the first half of the 20th Century within the
> >> > > >campaign against polio. Your film offers a valuable opportunity to
> >> > > >explore a history that could illuminate an important but neglected
> aspect
> >> > > >of our historical experience. I welcome the chance to work with you.
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Sincerely,
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >Paul K. Longmore
> >> > > >Assistant Professor
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Dona M. Avery
> University of Bristol, England
> Research Fellow, Graduate School of Education,
> Arizona State University, USA
> PhD program, English: Rhetoric & Composition,
>
> UK Tele: 01793 487 424 Email: [log in to unmask]
> Website: http://www.public.asu.edu/~donam
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|