30th Annual Student Research Conference
Disability in the News
Madlyn M. Jennings
Dr. Paul Shapiro, Faculty Mentor
Utilizing content analysis, this research examines the portrayal of people with disabilities in the New York Times from the years 2004-2013. There were 707 articles that mention disability within 406 newspapers. Close to 80% (79.2%) of the articles talked about the possibility of improvement as it pertains to disability. However, not enough information about the demographics of the people in the articles is provided to determine if the sample is representative. Having information such as this provides insight into how society views this particular population. Knowing this could lead to improved perceptions of the disabled, as well as a higher quality of life for these individuals.
Keywords: Disability, News, Perception, Society
Topic(s):Sociology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 14-1
Location: GEO - SUB
Time: 3:30