Media astray on disabled issue<\/p>\n
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Experts and activists involved
\nin a campaign to empower disabled people have lamented the lack
\nof media exposure on the issue.<\/p>\n
Dr. Handoyo Tjandrakusuma, the director of the Prof. Dr.
\nSoeharso Community-Based Rehabilitation Development and Training
\nCenter, said that some of the efforts made by the media to run
\nstories on people with disabilities have ended in
\nmisunderstanding.<\/p>\n
He said that a journalist once wrote a story on the Center
\nwhich ended up as a sad story on how urban doctors go to rural
\nareas to help local disabled people.<\/p>\n
He said that medical experts and activists have been
\ncampaigning to revise people's views on the disabled from the
\n\"handicapped\" into \"people needing empowerment\".<\/p>\n
He said on Wednesday that \"good news is often not news\" for
\nsome journalists.<\/p>\n
Another activist from the Center, Heny Soelistyowati, said
\nthat there should be more news on disabled people. \"The stories
\nwould help the campaign to make the community accept people with
\ndisabilities,\" she said during a break in the three-day meeting
\nof the Forum of Resource Group for the Asian and Pacific
\nCommunity-Based Rehabilitation and Human Resource Development.<\/p>\n
Eighteen people representing 16 organizations from 14
\ncountries in Asia and the Pacific attended the meeting.<\/p>\n
Heny said that people tend to place those with disabilities in
\ndifficult situations. \"A person whose feet are crooked remains
\nhandicapped in the eyes of the people around him, even if he
\nlater has an operation to have his feet straightened,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Handojo said that one of the most important things that
\nshould be covered in media reports on disabilities is information
\non preventive measures. \"The real issue on disabilities is how to
\nprevent them from happening, for instance by immunization,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Heny regretted that the organizations involved in empowering
\npeople with disabilities were yet to form a unified stance on
\ndisseminating information on the issue. (30\/swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/media-astray-on-disabled-issue-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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