Tag Archives: Journalism

Advice for ALL Journalists Pushed into the Autism Beat

The following is quoted DM sent by me to a local reporter in the Boston area in late 2021. As of 2023, the unidentified reporter no longer works in the industry, as that individual has a school aged child diagnosed with said condition. The quoted paragraph may be modified to eliminate shorthand words seen in DMs.

“I think the best way when reporting on the subject is to always come off in a hopeful tone because ‘diagnosis were [used to] bring hope’ and for whatever reason in recent years a diagnosis makes people (or the families) hopeless.

2nd you can’t please every group. A lot of the ‘self advocates’ [or #ActuallyAutistic types] are on the higher end and they can’t be pleased. You’ll always have haters on social media sadly to say. For me I understand both sides, but I cannot think it’s even morally or ethically proper to assume anyone who can’t speak is not intelligent by any means. I have been exposed to many ‘lower functioning’ autistics and I can tell you there is brain processing going in there. I think it’s important to shine that light (the journalistic sense not the Autism Speaks sense) on the individuals and ensure they get a fair voice, especially by the journalists. No matter what functionality, they should have the same right for a comment like the ‘typicals do.”

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What is so great about Public Relations? (PRopaganda?)

In the last year, of the many socials I follow of individual journalists, there’s almost 7 that left local media to switch from a journalism or a news operation to public relations, communications, or something that involves something that must be easier than reporting.

I can literally count to my hands, one the names I had almost blanked on was down in New York radio, JLo’s sister, Lynda leaving midday drive on WCBS to become the comms at the U.S. Department of Education.

I sent some really strangely written DM to a follow newsie in Boston who recently left a station that I will not identify; I admit it was bit oddly written it was suggesting to please don’t go into this field and I said something like you can’t spell propaganda without P and R. Given this individual said publicly on social over the winter time about a contract renewal late last year, if the contract wasn’t breached (because this individual is pretty professional) most likely we may not see that person on TV for maybe couple years…

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