The media’s depictions of people with disabilities was the topic of a recent edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Dr. Katie Foss

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Katie Foss, an assistant professor of journalism at MTSU, aired earlier this month on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org ). You can listen to their conversation here.

Foss has introduced a new seminar class called “Media and Disability” for the spring 2014 semester. Aspects of the course include news coverage of disabilities, the impact of war veterans on disability policies, the absence of disabilities in advertising and the treatment of the disabled in reality television shows.

“We’re starting to move from more of a medical perspective, or a pathological view of disability … toward more of a cultural model of disability in which we think, ‘What are the cultural constructs that create the disability?’” Foss said.

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to the “Audio Clips” archives here and here. You can watch an excerpt from the conversation below.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.