Abstract:

The aim of this study is to assess the image of disability in national press in terms of social model. This study was conducted with a qualitative method. In the study, four newspapers in Turkey were selected with purposive sampling method and scanned for the news reports about people with disability between the years 2005-2010. The data which were collected in the scope of document examination were resolved with content analysis. By analyzing the content, 11 main themes and 42 sub-themes were put forward. Accounts of percentage and frequency of the news reports that were distributed to the themes were studied as well. When the distribution of 1420 news reports about people with disability to the years is considered, it is revealed that the news flow is the most in Sabah and the least in Cumhuriyet newspaper. When the distribution and the intensity of the news to the themes are considered, a viewpoint that is far from a social model concept of disability can be discussed.

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