Google, Facebook, Buzzfeed, BBC, ELVIS and MediaCom Join Line-Up for ‘Reframing Disability’ Summit
Media Trust, the charity that works with the media and creative industry to give charities, marginalised groups and young people a stronger voice, has announced the line-up for its upcoming ‘Reframing Disability’ summit, which Media Trust is presenting in partnership with Disability Rights UK and Scope.
The free-to-attend half-day summit, which will take place at Google’s Academy London on the afternoon of 28 October 2019, will bring companies from the media and creative industries together with leading disability charities to discuss the representation of disabled people in the media and how this can be improved.
Google, Facebook and Turner are amongst the media owners who will be represented at the event, alongside news organisations including the BBC, Buzzfeed and CNN and creative and media agencies including ELVIS, MediaCom, Omnicom group, Weber Shandwick, BBH and Wavemaker. The charities and disability organisations taking part include Scope, Disability Rights UK, National Autistic Society, Access Sport and Inclusion London.
The event will also feature presentations from media and disability experts on issues around representation, awareness, access and countering stigma. Speakers will include Emma Gardner - Managing Partner at ELVIS, Sue Bott - Deputy Chief Executive of Disability Rights UK, and James Taylor - Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns at Scope, alongside Media Trust CEO - Su-Mei Thompson.
These are some key contextual considerations for the discussion:
• There are 13.9 million disabled people in the UK. One in five of us will be affected by disability at some point in our lives. (Source: Family Resources Survey: financial year 2016/17)
• Nearly half (49 per cent) of people with a learning disability or difficulty in Great Britain have no qualifications. (Source: Equality and Human Rights Commission, April 2017)
• While most of the focus around disability has been on Talent, the bigger opportunity is in attracting customers. Touching 53% of your consumers, disability is the second largest global market behind women.
• Between 2012 and 2016, only 91 large consumer-facing firms ran advertising including disability. (Source: Return on Disability 2014)
According to Su-Mei Thompson, Media Trust CEO:
“’Reframing Disability’ is all about starting a real and honest conversation between organisations representing disabled people and the media and creative industry. We want to bring these two groups together with the aim of creating better representation and increased access for disabled people. We’re also hoping that this event will be the start of greater understanding, connectivity and collaboration between the two sectors. This is important for so many reasons but maybe most of all because we know people are changed by what they see and also when they are seen. We hope that through this initiative we can play a part in destigmatising disability in society today and ensure disabled people don’t feel constrained in their ambitions.”
Sue Bott, Deputy CEO, Disability Rights UK, said:
“It seems we disabled can’t win in the media sometimes – we’re either super-heroes or scroungers. Of course, the overwhelming majority of the 13.9 million disabled people in the UK are neither of these. For that reason, I’m really excited about the Media Trust event bringing together people in the media, disabled people and charities to discuss developing a new narrative to reflect the people we really are.”
Emma Gardner, Managing Partner, ELVIS, added:
“The representation of disability is something I care passionately about, on both a personal and professional level, so I’m absolutely delighted to be part of this brilliant event. There’s been plenty of talk about these issues, but now it’s time for agencies, media owners and charities to come together to agree some clearly defined, concrete actions, in order to create a step change in how we see people with disabilities in the media.”
