By BA Haller© Media dis&dat
As a scholar who studies media images of a variety of disability issues, including those of interest to the deaf community, I am very disheartened to report that I have found only two instances in which the news media covered the Nov. 6 FCC hearing on online captioning, which featured the Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin (pictured at the hearing).
MovieWeb had this brief blurb:
Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin has accused broadcasters, online DVD renters, and other video-content providers of dragging their feet in developing technology that would enable programs broadcast online to be closed captioned. Matlin, who has been deaf since childhood and said she was devastated when she discovered that Netflix's free presentation of the newly restored Wizard of Oz lacked closed captioning when it was streamed on the Internet last October 3, told an FCC hearing in Washington today (Friday) that she was originally told, presumably by Netflix, that the "technology was coming" to enable online closed captioning. However, she said in her prepared remarks, "Eventually I found out that there was actually no problem in the technology. In fact, the technology exists to stream content with closed captions. What it came down to was the same issue I encountered 20 years ago [when she originally demanded that TV broadcasters and manufacturers provide closed captioning] -- a lack of understanding and a lack of will and desire by broadcasters, content providers and equipment manufacturers to provide full access." Matlin concluded by imploring the commission to "ensure that the hard-fought victory we won so many years ago can move forward into the 21st century."
And no offense to MovieWeb but I don't really consider it the mainstream news media, such as a national newspaper is, which is more likely to be read by hundreds of thousands of people.
The Washington Post's Reliable Source column was the only news source that wrote about the FCC hearing that I could find in a LexisNexis search of all world publications.
And unfortunately, The Post's "coverage" is a bit flip:
Celebvocate!
An occasional look at the legions of Hollywood advocates amassing in our city, pushing for change. Friday's showbiz crusader: Marlee Matlin.
Event: FCC hearing on broadband access for people with disabilities, at Gallaudet University.
Her role: Testifying for the National Association of the Deaf.
Bona fides: The Oscar winner had big celebvocate success 20 years ago lobbying for TV captioning.
What she wants: The same thing, on the Internet. Said she can't get captions in streaming video of movies or newscasts. "It is simply a matter of making sure access reflects the changing landscape," she said through an interpreter.
How she looked: Dazzling. Like a movie star playing a lobbyist. Black blazer and slacks, turquoise sweater, very high heels, flashing blue eyes.
Observation: Impassioned but poised. Audience members -- who gave her the hands-in-the-air wave the deaf community uses for applause -- liked her very "crisp" signing style.
