Bad news for Disabled people

Inclusion London commissioned Glasgow University to carry out research in 2011 on the media portrayal of disabled people. The research analysed 2,276 print articles in a variety of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers and also analysed findings from focus groups set up as part of the research. The research was published in the ‘Bad news for disabled people’ report

Inclusion London commissioned Glasgow University to carry out research in 2011 on the media portrayal of disabled people. The research analysed 2,276 print articles in a variety of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers and also analysed findings from focus groups set up as part of the research. The research was published in the ‘Bad news for disabled people’ report, which is available to download at:

Bad news for Disabled people pdf

and Bad news for Disabled People. Word

 

The research found:

  • A significant increase in the reporting of disability in the print media.
  • An increase in articles focusing on disability benefit fraud; in 2011 there was 6.1% while in 2004/5 there was 2.8%.
  • A significant increase in the use of pejorative language to describe disabled people. The use of terms such as ‘scrounger’, ‘cheat’ and ‘skiver’ was found in 18% of articles in 2010/11 compared to 12% in 2004/5,
  • An increase in articles portraying disabled people as a ‘burden’ on the economy – with some articles even blaming the recession on incapacity benefit claimants,
  • A reduction in the proportion of articles which describe people in sympathetic and deserving terms.
  • Since the election of the coalition government disabled people have received an increasingly negative portrayal by the media, particularly by the tabloid press. [1]
  • Disabled people are feeling threatened by the way disability is being reported as well as by proposed changes to benefits – with the two combining and reinforcing each other. [2]

 

The research also revealed the impact on people’s perceptions:

All the focus groups claimed that levels of fraud were much higher than they are in reality with some suggesting up to 70 per cent of claimants were fraudulent. They justified these claims by referencing articles they had read in newspapers. Read more in full report, which available to download below:

Bad news for Disabled people pdf

Bad news for Disabled People. Word version

 

 

[1] http://www.scope.org.uk/news/disabled-people-experiencing-benefit-scrounger-abuse

http://www.comres.co.uk/poll/526/scope-tracker-survey-of-disabled-people.htm

[2] http://www.scope.org.uk/news/disabled-people-experiencing-benefit-scrounger-abuse