Media rep? Help is needed

 

They say ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’. I get the idea people don’t see themselves in various environments so they feel they can’t achieve things. I’m sure I quite agree though. You can see lots of things you can’t see, it just doesn’t mean you will. We see or hear of famous and successful people all the time. It doesn't translate that we will end with the same outcome if we try and make it in their industries. I think luck, hard work, contacts, sometimes money and being in the right time in the right place is part of the equation. 

That’s not to say we don’t need to ourselves back in the media but there’s always got to be a first if not you then who? Mainstream media representation of disabled people is poor but arguably in the UK at least it’s getting better. In the last two decades we have had breakout stars in fits and starts but the progress from one personality emerging never appears to open the gates for more disabled people to come through. Whether it be Francesca Matinez, Lisa Hammond although arguably they originally came through in the 90’s with Grange Hill and Mik Scarlett was a breakthrough figure as a presenter. 

Then we had Cerrie Burnell on Cbeebies who arguably remains the most well know disabled person and seemed to break new ground.. The next major media star was Alex Brooker of the Last Leg and I have to also include Adam Hills alongside him although he was already well established on the comedy circuit before then. I realise I’m also perhaps being ableist by only mentioning mostly physically impaired disabled people. I know there have been others with other impairments such as Chris Packham and Sue Perkins but their impairments have either not been well known or not disclosed until or diagnosed until later in their careers. 

In the former list there have been presenters such as Sophie Morgan and Adepitan who have come via reality TV and sport. But perhaps the most current breakout stars have been the former Eastenders and Strictly Star Rose Ayling-Ellis and the comedian Rosie Jones. And the towering media figure that is Niki Fox. And of course a mention has to go to actresses Liz Car, Kiruna Stammell, Kyla Harris, Cherrylee Houston, Shannon Murray and Ruth Madeley. Writing that list down certainly does seem like progress but a cursory glance at TV shows that much more work needs to be done. 

However I think we need to tell our own stories and build our own platforms to do so, with the rise of Youtube creators I don’t think it’s time to build our own channels and production companies to tell our stories. I know to do it full scale is a great expense but it doesn’t have to be full scale. We can have one person shows, audio stories, with the rise of AI we can build animations with disabled characters, not everything has to be bells and whistles. But even if we want to expand on production surely we can come together and collaborate, pool resources, apply for funding, sponsorship, generate social media interest as use cases? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t expect more from traditional media companies but I think to truly tell authentic stories we have to look within and use whatever means we have to tell those stories and build resources as we go. And key to that is an audience and we are also part of that audience. We have to show up for each other, we can’t be complaining about representation  but not give an audience to our own creators.