Monitoring Media (Theme 2) Presentation
Note: The slides for this presentation are available for download at the end of this page, but since some slides are not accessible to some users, efforts have been made to outline the substance of the presention and discussions on this page.
Purpose
- The purpose of the media monitoring stream is to examine Canadian media coverage from the perspective of disability rights. There has been little academic research so far pertaining to disability rights and the media.
- There are two questions that media theme will be covering. Firstly, the study will ask whether media reflects the paradigm shift that has occurred in the last 20 years in the way that society understands disability. Secondly, the study will ask what the media is transmitting to us about disability.
Methodological Approach
The methodology for this study involves a six-step process, overseen by a panel of media experts comprised of people with disabilities with expertise in both media and disability issues.
- Questionnaire Design: The questionnaire will have three key elements. The first will be bibliographic, concerning basic questions about the article (such as author, date and publication information). Secondly, generic questions will be asked in order to identify how disability is portrayed in each news story. This section will cover disability types, terminology, and whether key stakeholders are talking. In the third portion of the survey, questions will be asked regarding disability rights, and whether those rights are affirmed or denied.
- Sample Collection: The sample will focus on stories as a frame of reference, a focus which is consistent with how the media and the public approach news. The panel of experts will deliberate over the list of key stories that have been in the news in recent years regarding disability rights. Outlets for these stories will include national as well as regional sources corresponding to the four monitoring sites of Monitoring Individual Experiences Theme.
- Data Compilation: During this stage, students will be trained to code the items of the sample based on the criteria established by the researchers of media theme and panel of experts. A reliability test will be conducted.
- Analysis: The accumulated quantitative and qualitative evidence will be examined and key findings will be incorporated into research reports.
- Presentation of Results: There will be several ways in which this theme will be made public. Academic papers will be written for publication in scholarly journals. Findings will also be published at academic conferences. A press conference might be organized, and there is a possibility that one-on-one meetings could be arranged with key editors and producers so that their perspectives could be gauged. Moreover, findings will be brought to the community of people with disabilities.
- Further Research: The accumulated research will provide opportunities for further research on this importan issue.
View the Theme 2 presentation (PDF - 118 KB)