[Community-service] Discussion Starter

[Darian Smith]

Bridget,
  Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
 Do you  believe then that it doesn’t matter  what we do? Is there a reason to bother with getting our work recognized in the media as not only a division but a larger movement?
  Thanks,
  Darian    
> On Aug 29, 2016, at 4:28 PM, Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Community-Service <community-service at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Darian,
> 
> It all depends on how the media decides to portray us. All the power is in their hands. Doesn't matter what we are doing, what we say, how we act, the media runs a story with whatever angle they think best.
> 
> I've been spotlighted several times in local media, and it has varied on how the media decided to portray my story.
> 
> One of the first stories done on me was an article written about me for our Nebraska Medical Center and University. I had been chosen to participate in the advertising campaign that year, meaning I had radio and TV commercials run with my story. Its print publication wanted to run a fuller story on me. Fortunately, the journalist let me read the article before it went to print, and she kept trying to run it from the amazing blind person angle, really playing up how amazing I was for doing daily things. I sent her back several drafts before I felt comfortable with it. This is rare, and usually you have no control over how the media runs a story, so I lucked out, but had she just run the story without running it by me first, I would have been painted as the amazing blind girl because I get out of bed every morning.
> 
> After my son was born, a few times we were asked to do feature stories for one thing or another. During National Diabetes Week, a local TV reporter reached out to me to do a story on me. During the interview at my home, it became more about my husband and I being blind parents than it was about me being diabetic, but she did a great job portraying us as normal, capable people who just happen to be blind. We were happy with that story.
> 
> Recently, my husband and I competed in a triathlon. The media went crazy, and every newspaper, publication and TV station wanted to do a story, like blind people have never done something like this before. I understand that for many, they are not aware of what blind people do, but as we tried to explain that blind people all over the country compete in athletics, no one ever included this in their story. The all amped up the amazing blind person angle, taking comments we made out of context, making them fit the angle they wanted. One station asked my husband if doing a triathlon is difficult. His answer was that as a blind person, it's no more difficult than doing it sighted, but the physical training can be hard. You really need to condition your body. When the story ran, they had the reporter ask the question, then they cut his comment down just to yes, it can be difficult, making it seem like his answer was that yes, doing it blind is hard.
> 
> Another reporter just had inaccurate fact checking and poor reporting. She wrote an article for a newspaper, and she claimed Ross and I have never done anything like this before, which is completely false. We both used to compete in track and field, and I used to swim competively. She had my husband's blindness wrong. She even made a comment about how blind people sit at home being inactive until someone comes along to help us, meaning the sighted partners we competed with. I was livid and wrote her a strong response, asking for a retraction, which she refused.
> 
> But every time we spoke with the media about the triathlon, we used language explaining that blindness wasn't a huge factor creating an obstacle in being athletic. We felt we were positively demonstrating that by our actions and what we said. Several times I remember saying that we do the exact same physical movements as sighted people, we just use some different tools like a cane or tandem bike to cross the finish line. I also pushed that blind people across the country compete in sports, that the opportunities exist, it's just about people reaching out and seizing those opportunities. Didn't matter, most the media decided to run the story like we were doing something amazing, that no other blind people do what we do. It was a stereotypical portrayal of blindness.
> 
> I'm not saying we don't use the media to our advantage, but I do caution that ultimately, they decided to depict us in whatever light they want. If amping up the amazing blind person angle is what they think will attract viewers or readers, that's what they will do. Doesn't matter what we are doing, what language we use, they see what they want to see.
> 
> Bridgit
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Community-Service [mailto:community-service-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Darian Smith via Community-Service
> Sent: Monday, August 29, 2016 5:55 PM
> To: Community Service Discussion List <community-service at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Community-service] Discussion Starter
> 
> Hi Friends,
>  I’ve seen some  discussion the past week or so around the new movie “Don’t Breathe”.
> Most of this discussion is surrounding a topic  we come up against from time to  time, that of the issue of blind people  and our  portrayal in movies. 
> Many believe that the general media just doesn’t seem to get it right when it comes to portraying  blindness accurately and fairly.
> 
> Do you think that  community service; the idea of blind people, out in our communities, working along side our sighted peers might do anything to help this?
>  Do you think this kind of direct community service hurts our image?
> 
>  Darian      
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