A message and request from Access Living of Chicago...
What does disability discrimination look like? Believe it or not, it can look like a National Public Radio piece.
On March 22nd and 23rd NPR aired a series of programs titled "Unfit for Work: The startling rise of disability in America" on All Things Considered and This American Life. The story greatly misrepresents the Social Security disability programs, including SSDI and SSI, and contains significant errors. The story can be read and listened to at: http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/.
Disability advocates nationwide are mobilizing in response to let NPR know that this kind of shoddy reportage is discriminatory and defamatory.
One of the major problems with the NPR coverage is that it portrays people as “using” their disability to scam the government. This plays right into the hands of people who believe that people with disabilities are “faking it” in order to use “entitlements” to rob tax payers of their hard earned dollars. The NPR story is being fanned into major news on outlets nationwide, with the result being that people who legitimately qualify as being too disabled to work are being scapegoated as the reason for our country’s fiscal crisis.
Seems like people figure that if you can’t blame the national budget crisis on race or class, you might as well blame it on people with disabilities. The NPR story fans the flames of this attitude and must be exposed for the piece of bias that it is.
Media Matters published a piece that refutes the myths in the NPR report. You can read the NPR report here: http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215. I strongly encourage you to read it.
Take action! You can email response letters directly to Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of NPR. The e-mail contact form is http://helpqa.npr.org/npr/includes/customer/npr/custforms/contactus.aspx. You can also call NPR via its Listener Services at (202) 513-3232. His Twitter handle is @NPRGaryKnell if you have Twitter and want to tweet at him on this issue.
At this point in time, Ira Glass and NPR are still standing by their story. Advocacy to ask them to air a follow up piece, including the voices of people on SSI and systems advocates, will continue.
Amber Smock
Director of Advocacy, Access Living
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For Access Living of Chicago, visit: http://www.accessliving.org/
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After reviewing the information shared from Access Living, I am taken back and disappointed in National Public Radio (NPR). We did send a brief message to Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of NPR. Please take a little bit of your time and respond to NPR, and please share this info. TY, Jim
Mr. Knell,
On March 22nd and 23rd NPR aired a series of programs titled "Unfit for Work. I am taken back and disappointed in National Public Radio (NPR). One of many concerns on the reporting is that there was no deferential from Those of us that live with a Disability, and the possibility that some are misrepresenting there medical condition for personnel gain. There is an extreme lack of full or part-time job opportunities for people with disabilities.
This is the type of 'story' that usually associated with the extreme part of the Republican Party (and FOX News). I would expect more from NPR, an in-partial report on any story. NPR - SHAME ON YOU.
Jim Watkins, exec. director
Ability Chicago
What does disability discrimination look like? Believe it or not, it can look like a National Public Radio piece.
On March 22nd and 23rd NPR aired a series of programs titled "Unfit for Work: The startling rise of disability in America" on All Things Considered and This American Life. The story greatly misrepresents the Social Security disability programs, including SSDI and SSI, and contains significant errors. The story can be read and listened to at: http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/.
Disability advocates nationwide are mobilizing in response to let NPR know that this kind of shoddy reportage is discriminatory and defamatory.
One of the major problems with the NPR coverage is that it portrays people as “using” their disability to scam the government. This plays right into the hands of people who believe that people with disabilities are “faking it” in order to use “entitlements” to rob tax payers of their hard earned dollars. The NPR story is being fanned into major news on outlets nationwide, with the result being that people who legitimately qualify as being too disabled to work are being scapegoated as the reason for our country’s fiscal crisis.
Seems like people figure that if you can’t blame the national budget crisis on race or class, you might as well blame it on people with disabilities. The NPR story fans the flames of this attitude and must be exposed for the piece of bias that it is.
Media Matters published a piece that refutes the myths in the NPR report. You can read the NPR report here: http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215. I strongly encourage you to read it.
Take action! You can email response letters directly to Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of NPR. The e-mail contact form is http://helpqa.npr.org/npr/includes/customer/npr/custforms/contactus.aspx. You can also call NPR via its Listener Services at (202) 513-3232. His Twitter handle is @NPRGaryKnell if you have Twitter and want to tweet at him on this issue.
At this point in time, Ira Glass and NPR are still standing by their story. Advocacy to ask them to air a follow up piece, including the voices of people on SSI and systems advocates, will continue.
Amber Smock
Director of Advocacy, Access Living
# # #
For Access Living of Chicago, visit: http://www.accessliving.org/
# # #
After reviewing the information shared from Access Living, I am taken back and disappointed in National Public Radio (NPR). We did send a brief message to Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of NPR. Please take a little bit of your time and respond to NPR, and please share this info. TY, Jim
Mr. Knell,
On March 22nd and 23rd NPR aired a series of programs titled "Unfit for Work. I am taken back and disappointed in National Public Radio (NPR). One of many concerns on the reporting is that there was no deferential from Those of us that live with a Disability, and the possibility that some are misrepresenting there medical condition for personnel gain. There is an extreme lack of full or part-time job opportunities for people with disabilities.
This is the type of 'story' that usually associated with the extreme part of the Republican Party (and FOX News). I would expect more from NPR, an in-partial report on any story. NPR - SHAME ON YOU.
Jim Watkins, exec. director
Ability Chicago
Maybe it's our government data that is bad. Shoudn't unemployment numbers include at least some of the people on disability? http://www.statisticsblog.com/2013/03/minding-the-reality-gap/
ReplyDeleteShouldn't our data be better? Shouldn't at least some of the people on disability be counted in unemployment? Check this article out. http://www.statisticsblog.com/2013/03/minding-the-reality-gap
ReplyDelete