This article has been paid for by Prabhu Ventures Limited
There are an estimated 14.6m disabled people in the UK, according to a Family Resources Survey in 2020/21. In today’s society, disabled people come up against a number of obstacles that put them at a disadvantage compared to able-bodied people.
There are more facilities, openings and opportunities which are made available to able-bodied people compared to those who are disabled. This puts large sectors of society at a disadvantage and is a form of discrimination which leaves them isolated from the rest of society.
Newspapers, magazines, and TV news tend to only include items that will bring in a larger audience or readership for them. If a story comes in about an issue that they feel will not bring in a larger audience, it will more than likely be ignored. This can leave large sectors of society feeling unaware of what is happening in the world around them.
I’m Ashish Prabhu and I’ve been interested in pursuing a career in journalism ever since I took my options at school. I remember we’d just had the presentation for media studies and became quite interested in that area. It was the kind of work I felt I’d be best at as I had a lot of exposure to TV and newspapers. One of my friends even made a joke as to whether I wanted to be a TV presenter.
Following my GCSEs, I got in touch with John Perry, who at the time was running an online newspaper and radio station called One Vision For All Media. He now continues to offer people support through the Focus Employment Hub and also produces a podcast called Imagine which focuses on employment including diversity.
Winner of South West England Prestige Awards for Freelance Journalist of the Year, I produce news, current affairs and sports stories that mainly focus on the areas of disability, equality and diversity. These are considered niche issues in modern UK society and are not given as much coverage through mainstream media as they deserve. This can leave large numbers of people feeling isolated as they won’t know what’s going on in the world around them and won’t be able to socialise with their friends and peers as they used to.
More needs to be done to ensure that disabled people and people from minority ethnic groups are provided with the information they need to have equal opportunities in society. That way they will be able to maintain contact with their friends and peers and form part of a stable society.
If you’ve got a story you’d like me to cover, e-mail ashishprabhu@prabhuventures.com or call 07597 574 626. Find out more at www.prabhuventures.co.uk.
