One in Four: The Ethics of Covering People with Disabilities

MNSPJ is partnering with the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota to present on Monday, April 4, a virtual panel discussion about the ethics of covering people with disabilities.

The CDC reports that 26% of U.S. adults have some form of disability.  How should journalists and communications professionals depict them and address the challenges they face without resorting to “inspiration porn”?  How can they balance the ethical dichotomy between exploitation and exclusion?

Join the Silha Center and the Minnesota-Pro Chapter of SPJ to hear from:

• Jane McClure, award-winning St. Paul journalist and editor of Access Press, the upper Midwest’s disability community news source
• Scott Libin, HSJMC Senior Fellow; former news director at KSTP and WCCO; former Ethics Chair of the Radio Television Digital News Association
• Sophia Schmalz, first-year student with dyslexia, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, 
• Peter Tressel, Creative Director with 38 years experience at advertising agencies around Minneapolis.

Jane E. Kirtley, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law and director of the Silha Center, will moderate.

Monday, April 4, 2022 at 6:30 pm

Free live-streamed presentation

Open to the public, but advance registration required at https://z.umn.edu/2022SilhaForum