Unseen by Mass Media: the Question of Disability

- By Sudarsan Subedi

People are not likely to disagree that mass communications play a front role in putting light to all sorts of problems, aberrations and distortions existing in society. Mass communications in Nepal has been successful in bringing to life questions which otherwise have been suppressed in society.

But it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that mass media has paid much attention to the question of individuals with
disabilities. The issue of disability has not been given much priority outside sponsored programmes or in material published to mark special occasions.

Looking back, the question of disability has not been given priority. All communications media, whether national or rural, are mostly giving priority to political issues. Because of geographical remoteness and lack of awareness at such remote or rural levels, people are still unable to view disabled on par with others. It would be no exaggeration to say that in our society those with disability are looked upon as useless or derelict. If one of two children of the same parents is disabled and the other non- disabled, the latter is sent as a border to a private school with all kinds of facilities, while the disabled one is dumped at the gates of some orphanage that just provides room and board. There are plenty of examples of this.

From time to time words signifying disabled are used in mass media vocabulary when referring to something that is broken down, defunct or useless, such as politics or a regime. Such usage takes place not once but again and again. The bitter reality is that phrases such as a lame democracy, a limping parliament, or an election commission that is disabled crop up frequently in electronic and print media. Apart from this such wording has been used time and again in the past by the prime minister and members of parliament, people who have reached the apex body of our country. What this situation shows clearly is that change has yet to take place in the way mass media and the citizenry in general look upon the disabled. Such ways make the disabled community feel that society has not yet been able to rise above the traditional attitude of showing them pity and throwing them a coin or a handful of rice.

Just because any one part of the body is weak does it mean that the individual is totally useless? Each and every individual in the world has some kind of disability or other. Only the state of disability is different. If the mass media and our state leaders feign ignorance of the fact that an individual who has one organ that does not function can make up for it and find himself a place in society on par with others, to whom is the disabled community, recognized as the most sensitive in the nation, going to look up to?

The time has come for mass media to look into this. Over the past five years disabled individuals have been active in mass media as capable media workers and running radio programmes, publishing newspapers dealing with disability and advocating their rights. Meaningful and positive cooperation is urgently needed from all quarters to further these positive efforts involving the running of separate programmes in mainstream radio and FM advocating the rights and empowerment of this class.

Primarily mass media give priority to political issues. This is not something covered by the code of conduct for mass media. Between someone starving to death and a leader making a speech or getting arrested, everyone’s attention will go to the latter. Every day news about social issues comprise less than one percent if one goes by the main news and pictures that appear on the first and last pages of newspapers. This is a striking example of what we are trying to say here.

When taking up a problem existing in society attention has to be paid to whether or not it is taken up as a question of right, duly considering how sensitive it is rather than just taking it up for the sake of taking it up. This sector should never forget that mass media has a key role to play, be it in social transformation or in the task of giving the state a sense of direction.

So far it is rare for the news media to raise the question of the disabled as one of right. So long as a particular subject is not raised as a question of right it cannot attain national recognition. Such social problems have remained overshadowed because mass communications media have been concentrating too much on politics. By way of example, if Radio Nepal which is run at a national level by HMG, cannot even exempt programming on the disabled from VAT while FM stations operating in the private sector have allowed some discounts for the disabled or made it altogether free for them, it is useless to even imagine developing the capabilities of disabled communications workers and brining them into the mainstream of information and communications.

As long as individuals with disability have no access to mass communications, the development of the disabled will remain practically impossible. This is because mass media is the only means of forcefully highlighting a problem. That is why it is the equal responsibility of us all to bring about equal access to information and communications for the disabled. This is also the need of the day.

Story of Voice of the Disabled

Nepal Disabled Human Rights Center has been running the Voice of the Disabled radio programme from 8.10 to 8.25 AM on Sundays during Radio Nepal’s national broadcast in order to advocate the

cause of the disabled on a national scale and bring change in the negative attitudes in society. This radio programme started from Baisakh 8, 2059 (April 2002). The programme has 175 radio listeners’ clubs in 42 districts and more than 500 people have benefited directly through it. Communications workers with disabilities participate and lead in the programme production, reporting, editing and all such work. This is the first and only radio programme about disabled in Radio Nepal.

The broadcasting charge for this radio programme has been met by Nepal Disabled Human Rights Center with the help of international donor organizations while all the production work has been done since the beginning with the help of volunteers. The centre has been paying Radio Nepal Rs 631,800 for each broadcast of 15 minutes in 52 parts at the recently hiked rate of Rs 700 per minute. The centre has been lobbying donor organizations and the government every day to save the programme and give it continuity. As for the government, it has been avoiding its responsibility by doling out Rs 25,000 to 75,000 a year. Radio Nepal says that it is not going to provide even one paisa in assistance while the ministry concerned, Information and Communications, remains silent. It remains silent despite repeated requests.

It is distressing that while such programmes are run at international level along with an employment side, the government has yet to become involved openly although this radio programme initiated by the disabled themselves has already completed three years. At a time when a radio programme which is extremely popular not only among the disabled community but in the whole country is on the verge of closure due to government negligence and indifference on the part of donor agencies, it remains to be seen whether the state and the donor community just look on or work jointly to give the programme continuity.