Studies from the US and Western Europe show that persons with disabilities were predominantly portrayed from a medical perspective in the media during the 20th century; that is, with the disability itself in focus, framed as a problem of the individual. Since the 1980s, the United Nations and disability organizations have tried to establish a human rights perspective: where persons with disabilities are seen as persons that do not yet enjoy equal rights, which is a problem that society has to resolve. What can disability organizations do to promote a human rights perspective in the mainstream media? This is a question raised in this case study of the efforts made by the Swedish Disability Federation to influence the public broadcaster Swedish Television. By using media accountability strategies, the federation managed to influence the corporation’s policy documents, diversity strategies, in-house education of producers and reporters, journalistic debates and, in some cases, journalistic output.
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