THIS IS HOW THE BRITISH PRESS RESPONDS TO THE KILLINGS OF DISABLED CHILDREN. All of these extracts were taken from UK news websites. the final tweet is in response to a now-deleted tweet from politician Sandy Kaylan, who praised a mother for ‘euthanising’ her infant children
tania Clarence, 43, admitted to smothering three of her children, all of whom suffered from physical disabilities. Regardless of the circumstances that led to their tragic deaths, these methods of reporting are unethical and go against the British editors code of practice – which states that, once proceedings are active, the press cannot publish any material that could create substantial risk of prejudice in court. The language used in these articles (“tragic mum”, “the unbearable burden of care”, putting the word murder in scare quotes, etc) does exactly that. Reading these articles, it is clear who we are meant to “side” with.
that these rules on court proceedings are apparently not applicable to cases involving the killing of disabled children shows how little the British press (and by extension, the public) cares about the welfare of disabled people in this country. Calling these children burdens and implying they deserved to die reinforces ableism and makes the world a more dangerous place for disabled people. Yet the press does not count it as encouraging prejudice. maybe it’s because we believe the unlawful killing of disabled infants does not “count” as a real crime
This is abhorrent.
5,000 notes. Tumblr really that’s it?
WHY?! ;_;
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