Representation in advertising and media

How to change the world through advertising
Geneieve Clay-Smith, Taste Creative, 5 May 2017
It might sound like a bold and idealistic statement, but when we represent diverse people in advertising campaigns and when we challenge gender roles, we’re having an impact on society ... Apart from being the right thing to do, it makes sense — people with disabilities need the same stuff as everyone else! They have money, they are consumers too, of course it’s a good idea to include people with disabilities in marketing — all brands should do it ...



Something to watch out for - this comic book launches in July 2017:

• Meet the world's first comic book superhero with Down syndrome

Comedian Rosie Jones wants disabled TV characters who are 'gritty and flawed'
BBC, 14 April 2017
Stand-up comic and writer Rosie Jones says we need to see disabled characters on TV "who are gritty, and flawed, and three-dimensional like every other person is". The comedian, who has cerebral palsy, says she's "angry at how disabled people are portrayed by the media" ...
Oscars diversity debate must include learning disability
The Guardian (Letters), 24 February 2017
Diversity has long been an issue at the Oscars, which are due to be awarded on Sunday. Last year’s #OscarsSoWhite campaign highlighted the lack of racial diversity. But disability has been overlooked in this debate, with even less of a voice for people with a learning disability ...

Hollywood's push for diversity is ignoring the largest minority community

Gregg Mozgala, America Magazine, 28 February 2017

At Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, five African Americans received Academy Awards, for acting, producing and screenwriting. This came one year after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was blasted from all sides for not being “diverse” enough. Today, the Academy is being hailed for its immense progress in the area of inclusivity.

But this is only one thread of progress. Authentic diversity would mean including a group of artists who gain almost no mention in the popular press ...

Where Were the Actors with Disabilities at the Oscars?
Easter Seals, 27 February 2017
The 2017 Academy Awards presentation was all about diversity. So where were the actors with disabilities?

A Los Angeles Times interview with Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin asks the same question. Matlin is deaf, and her Oscar for best actress in Children of a Lesser God marks the last time an actor with a disability won an Academy Award. The only other actor with a disability to ever win an Oscar was Harold Russell, a veteran who lost both hands during World War II. He earned two Oscars in 1947 for his role in 'The Best Years of Our Lives' ...

A recent study found only 4 per cent of TV show characters in Australia had a disability
Every Australian Counts, 14 February 2017
A recent piece of research by Screen Australia benchmarked the current diversity of Australian TV by analysing nearly 2000 main characters from 199 free-to-air Australian TV shows.

'Seeing Ourselves: Reflections on Diversity in TV Drama' found that only 4 per cent of TV show characters in Australia had an identifiable disability. In reality, just over 18 per cent of Australians have a disability.

This research also analysed who plays characters with disability, and what this means to stakeholders. It found that actors without disabilities are placed in 91 per cent of roles for characters with disability.

See the full article summarising the research on the Centre for Applied Disability Research here.