Best practices and ethics
As you are planning your event, think about these three things to guide your thought processes:
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Do not objectify disability.
We want to make sure that the storytellers you work with are portrayed as people, rather than sources of inspiration. Make sure this is embedded in your framework while planning this event.
“Inspiration porn” is a term most often used to describe journalism designed to make the news consumer feel better – the girl with autism getting asked to prom, the older man with Down syndrome being included at a sporting event. One important distinction: a journalist who does not have an intellectual disability is the one telling that story.
But if the person with intellectual disabilities chooses to tell that story, that’s their choice. The goal is to find ways to help storytellers find nuanced stories – whether positive or negative – that really capture something meaningful in their lives.
We caution against themes that only encourage stories of personal hardship or overcoming the disability. Your goal is to design this event in a manner that gives agency to the storytellers and allows them to share comfortably. This means picking neutral themes that aren’t necessarily related to sharing joy or despair. Neutral themes allow the storyteller to assign their own emotion to the topic. “Best Day Ever” would likely result in all-positive stories, and you want to avoid a prompt like “abuse” or “hurt” so you are not triggering anyone or encouraging them to share stories they might not feel comfortable sharing. Those stories might naturally emerge from other themes and that’s okay.
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Be mindful of a storyteller’s safety.
You don’t want to try to tease out horror stories to use in your reporting – that’s absolutely not the goal here – however, if someone does share something that makes you question their physical or mental safety, be sure to contact the program director you’re working with and depending on what they have to say, the storyteller’s guardian if applicable. For further information, you can consult this guide.
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Keep focused.
The purpose of this event is to engage people with IDD. Not their guardians, caregivers, teachers, or other surrounding relationships. Those communities have stories to share as well, but they get more coverage than people with IDD. We want to focus on these specific voices.
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Tread lightly.
Just like any other community engagement event, we encourage you to be a community member first. Yes, you’ll still have your journalist hat on – but you’ll also hold the role of teacher. To that end, don’t push anyone to tell you anything, particularly anything controversial. If someone does share something that gives you concern about their wellbeing, you’ll need to consider how that should play out on a case-by-case basis.
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Communicate respectfully and effectively with people with disabilities.
This might be the first time you or your newsroom interacts with this community. We encourage you to be understanding, patient and kind. Here is a guide from the University of Utah to help you better understand the best way to interact with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Another method used for effective communication is Plain Language. It’s designed to allow people with IDD to better understand written materials. Often such translations can be condescending or leave information out. Plain Language is different, as explained by disability studies Professor Rebecca Monteleone. You can learn more about it at the Plain Truth Project.
