![\"Disability](\"https:\/\/www.productionbase.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2010-06-29-Clare-Morrow-Disability-Television-Why-Does-It-All-Still-Feel-So-Difficult-v21.png\")
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I\u2019ve been banging on about this for years. If 1 in 5 of us is disabled why are there so few disabled people on the telly? And even fewer making our programmes? I guess the two things are almost certainly connected.<\/p>\n
Yes I know there\u2019s the argument that you can\u2019t see lots of disabilities so there are alot more disabled people ON telly and IN telly than you think, and that\u2019s probably true. But I doubt either figure gets anywhere near the level you\u2019d expect if TV was reflecting real life, as many of us programme makers like to think it does.<\/p>\n
Researchers recently took a snapshot of three weeks of programming across British TV. Against the 20% of the real population with a disability, only 0.9% of people in TV land had one. Not good. The current data suggests that disabled people make up only 2% of the TV industry workforce. Not much better.<\/p>\n
Actually, I think we\u2019ve come quite a long way in terms of portrayal, despite what this latest survey found in its snapshot. All the main UK soaps have at least one regular disabled character played by a disabled actor, and that\u2019s a huge step forward which can\u2019t be underestimated in terms of its power to change perceptions in the TV world and the real world. Long running characters give a chance to see people as properly rounded, warts and all, and not just as heroes or people triumphing over tragedy. They\u2019re even allowed to be unpleasant or unpopular. In fact, their disability sometimes doesn\u2019t play much of a part in their storylines.<\/p>\n
There\u2019ve been some great creative ideas where disability has been the focus, but in new and unexpected ways. Take Channel 4\u2019s Cast Offs, the BBC\u2019s Britain\u2019s Missing Top Model or Gok\u2019s How to Look Good Naked With a Difference.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also starting to see people appearing much more on shows where their disability isn\u2019t the story at all. There\u2019s been the odd quiz show contestant who\u2019s deaf or uses a wheelchair, we watched a choir whose members all had disabilities battle it out in Last Choir Standing, and Wife Swap featured a blind mum looking after her home and family just like anyone else.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all progress, but we\u2019re still a long way from a TV world where disability is unremarkable, sometimes the story, but mostly just there in the mix, as it is in life.<\/p>\n
The key to getting that right, almost certainly, is having more disabled people in our programme teams. Not to make programmes about disability, but to bring their particular production talents alongside their perspective as a disabled person, and their passion for cricket or cooking or whatever.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not going to be easy to achieve. Disabled people aren\u2019t exactly queuing up in their thousands to get into TV, and given that they are only just becoming part of the on screen telly family, maybe that\u2019s not surprising.<\/p>\n
The small numbers of successful disabled people working in TV production are still pretty much trailblazers, but we do have a growing pool of new talent coming in behind them, thanks to work done by some broadcasters and indies to encourage disabled people into the industry and give them the skills they need to get started.
\nCollectively we need to nurture and develop them to make sure they get the opportunity to succeed.<\/p>\n
The most creative production teams are made up of people who all bring different skills and life experiences to the table. Different voices make for good ideas and unexpected angles, and at the moment there is a significant voice missing on most productions.<\/p>\n
Clare Morrow, is the Network Manager of the Broadcasting and Creative Industries Disability Network. She is the former Controller of News and Regional Programmes for ITV Yorkshire.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve been banging on about this for years. If 1 in 5 of us is disabled why are there so few disabled people on the telly? And even fewer making our programmes? I guess the two things are almost certainly connected. Yes I know there\u2019s the argument that you can\u2019t see lots of disabilities so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[265,266,236],"series":[],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-word-of-mouth","tag-disability","tag-discrimination","tag-diversity"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.productionbase.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TOTI-Podcast-Artwork.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.productionbase.co.uk\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/turn-on-tune-in-2","embedCode":"Disability & Television \u2013 Why Does It All Still Feel So Difficult?<\/a><\/blockquote>