Coordinator-General of The PsykForum Madam Vivian Aubyn says the language used by media personnel is often derogatory and discriminatory, especially against persons with disability and mental health issues and this must stop.
She stresses that though such persons are challenged, they are part of society.
Speaking to ATL FM on the sidelines of a day’s workshop for media practitioners in Central Region on disability media-friendly reportage organized by The PsykForum and Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), she indicated that the training for journalists has become necessary due to the power and influence the media has over its audience in information dissemination.
“… Stigma and discrimination of persons with disability including people with mental health disabilities are experienced at all levels of society from the family to the community where we live. It is in our religious institutions, our traditional and cultural practices irrespective of the laws that we have. So, today’s program is focusing on the media and is a media training on disability to promote of positive non-discriminatory in their reportage and programs.” She said.
Madam Aubyn, therefore, urged all media practitioners to refrain from the use of derogatory words against PWDs and Mental Health patients.
Workshop
The training of the media practitioners including editors, producers, reporters, talk show hosts among others focused on achieving the use of positive non-discriminatory language on people with disabilities and mental health conditions in the media.
It also formed part of the Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) and stigma reduction for mental health and disability inclusion project under the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie.
This project is a three-year program started in 2021 and is under the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie participatory program.
This project is informed by a research conducted in 2022, formative research trying to find out among the general population and also among persons with disabilities the kind of stresses, stigma, and discrimination they face.
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Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
