Silenced Voices in Portuguese Public TV News: An Intersectional Analysis of the Representation of Women with Disabilities in RTP’s Telejornal

Abstract

(1) Background: Studies on women with disabilities (WwD) are rare and tend to reveal certain representation patterns. This study aims to understand how and to what extent WwD and chronic diseases are deemed newsworthy in the Portuguese public news TV station RTP1 primetime news program. Feminist disability, standpoint, agenda-setting, and framing theories are used alongside the concept of intersectionality. (2) Methods: A mixed-method approach is adopted, combining quantitative content analysis of all broadcasted news in January 2020 (n = 704), and qualitative discourse analysis of news items on PwD (n = 5). (3) Results: The results reveal that disability is a reduced issue in Telejornal’s agenda. PwD, in general, are often portrayed in secondary roles and without a voice. The protagonists of news stories about disability or persons with disabilities are predominantly women without disabilities, occupying traditional roles as caregivers (mothers, nurses), while men are more often portrayed as public agents. Discourse analysis deepens understanding by uncovering the prevalence of negative news values and a problem-centred framing, often associated with negativity, rather than presenting solutions. (4) Conclusions: Consequently, WwD were found to be deprived of news representation with a more positive or ‘normal’ focus and an intersectional approach reveals a lack of inclusion, with the few existing news tending to focus on exclusion issues, portraying only white Portuguese women. This study underscores the urgent need for a more equitable approach in media representation, recognising the diversity and positive contributions of WwD to promote an inclusive narrative.

Point of Interest

• In this article, we have adopted the concept of ‘persons with disabilities’ in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities language [1], and not ‘disabled persons’, which is preferred in some critical Disability Studies communities [2];
• Though the authors do not engage in a medical model, for analysis purposes it was considered that in Portugal, those with chronic diseases are considered persons with disabilities (Law n. 93/2019, 4 September). Chronic diseases include asthma, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatic diseases, vision impairments, and obesity.

1. Introduction

Knowledge and general understanding about persons with disabilities (PwD) is socially constructed and influenced by common discourse produced and disseminated by the media [3], especially visual media and particularly popular television addressing big audiences [4]. Not only PwD are perceived in society through the strength and power of media discourse, as their self-perception is influenced by television contents [5]. Jeffress [6] explains that, for many of us, media representations are the only window into many aspects of the world and the different groups and cultures of people who live in it. Therefore, if marginalised groups are not sufficiently represented, they remain invisible to audiences and if they are not accurately and genuinely represented, they will continue to misunderstand them, be unaware of their rights, promote harmful stereotypes, and act in a discriminatory way [6].

Studies from the 20th century revealed that gender and disability in television and cinema were underrepresented e.g., [7], based on negative ideologies of disability and on a limited and predictable array of ‘gendered’ forms [8]. Deegan and Brookes’ work [9]. (2017) on women and disability uncovered how women with disabilities (WwD) represented the category with less attention. The absence of studies and general attention given to WwD increased since the beginning of the 21st century, with studies pointing out changes in representations towards greater inclusion. Nevertheless, studies in the 21st century remain rare, though showing that when PwD are represented, they are mostly men e.g., [10]. Considering gender differences, but also other layers of complexity, such as gender and race [11], the concept of intersectionality has been applied to studies on TV news representations of WwD [12]. In fact, literature on the intersection of disability and gender shows that WwD experience discrimination for being women and for having disabilities [13].

The aim of this study is therefore to comprehend how WwD are deemed newsworthy in the Portuguese TV primetime news program. To compose a literature review on the thematic focus in approach, a Boolean search was carried out on the EBSCOhost database, “the leading provider of research database” (https://www.ebsco.com/, accessed on 7 April 2024), using the keywords “people with disabilities” AND “TV representation” AND “Portugal or Portuguese”. The search yielded no results for Portugal, which shows the scarcity of scientific research on this subject and the need to know the Portuguese context, which can then be compared with other international contexts.

We refer to the concept of intersectionality and use a feminist disability theory and standpoint combined with agenda-setting and framing theories in a mixed-method approach. As literature on disability studies, especially using intersectional perspectives, suggest that researchers position themselves [14], we assume a reflexive attitude, considering our own identities as white Portuguese WwD, though attentive to both the social and cultural context in which research is being conducted and to how representations of their lives may in fact impact them [15].

To characterise WwD representation on the news, comprehending the what? and understanding the related news discourse, the how?, we combined content analysis with discourse analysis. The study focused on Telejornal, the main news program of the public Portuguese news channel RTP1—Rádio e Televisão de Portugal [16], with international broadcasting. RTP is the public service operator of Radio and Television of Portugal dating back to 1935 with the first radio broadcasts, followed by TV from 1957 onward. Today, it works as a group, including eight TV channels (open channels RTP1 and RTP2), seven radio channels, and the online platform. The RTP website presents itself as “a reference in Portuguese audio-visual”, with the “ability to reach a vast and heterogeneous audience and to cover large segments of the population it impacts”. Aiming at being a communication group “from all to all”, it underlines that one of its missions is to “reach majorities and minorities, to include the public with special needs and to be close to all Portuguese people, wherever they are” [17].

Telejornal is the first informative space of the RTP group and it is broadcasted on RTP1, the most popular channel, with an editorial proposal focused on the interests and needs of most Portuguese people [18]. It contrasts with the other open-air channel (RTP2), targeted at minorities and diversity, but with much lower audience rates, given the highly segmented audience profile (https://www.marktest.com/wap/, accessed on 7 April 2024). Every RTP news program counts on the support of delegations from north to south and 14 international correspondents ([16,18]).

Telejornal has been on the air since 18 October 1959, and it is the oldest programme on Portuguese television, continuing to the present day. It is deemed as the most important news programme of RTP for editorial decision makers, who identify it as the “brand” of the Portuguese public radio and television broadcaster [18]. According to the Digital News Report [19], the information produced by RTP is considered the most reliable and credible in Portugal. As a public service news programme, it is expected to be the most accountable to society.

Legally, RTP is under television law (Law n. 27/2007, 30 July), abiding to the public service concession contract, renewed in 2015, for a 16-year period, both for information and for entertainment. According to its clause 6, n. 2, RTP is obliged to “provide a varied, differentiating and comprehensive information that promotes cultural diversity and considers minorities interests” (a), and “guarantees information spaces and program services to contribute towards public awareness for integration, gender equality, social cohesion and minorities interests” (f). Therefore, studying the role of public service television in representing PwD, especially WwD, is crucial to ascertain whether it fosters more inclusive and diverse news coverage, and upholds responsible professional standards, thereby reflecting social diversity. This understanding is pivotal in assessing the impact of public broadcasting on the representation of PwD and in formulating adequate public policies regarding such representation.

1.1. Persons with Disability and Theoretical Approaches

According to the World Report on Disability [20], about 15% of the world’s population live with some form of disability, of whom 2 to 4% experience significant difficulties in functioning. These numbers increase due to population ageing and to the rapid spread of chronic diseases, together with the improvements in methods used to measure disability.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [1], adopted in 2008, has aimed to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity”. Portugal also adopted the CRPD in 2009, but the Disability and Human Rights Observatory—DHRO [21] noticed a significant rise in the overall number of complaints regarding discrimination against PwD between 2009 and 2018 from 41 to 835, corresponding to an increase of 1937%. Accessibility complaints ranked highest, though there was also a significant rise in complaints concerning health services. Moreover, though some progress concerning jobs inclusion was noted, there is a growing vulnerability related to poverty and social exclusion, with WwD having more problems than men to exit unemployment situations. This report also shows how men with disabilities benefit more than women from state support, whether in special education, family care, or third-person assistance [21]. These findings corroborate with the WHO report (2020) stating that despite disability correlation with disadvantage, not all people with disabilities are equally disadvantaged, and WwD experience gender discrimination as well as disabling barriers.

The different anti-discrimination national acts and especially the CRPD paved the way for a rethinking of cultural and media attitudes to disability and impairment across the world [8]. This increased the interest in media representations of disability in many European countries, together with attempts towards a more equal representation of PwD. Regardless, as Montgomerie [22] states, “the Western media norm has clearly been designated male, heterosexual, cis gendered, white, and nondisabled” (p. 2). Hence, disability in the media stands outside the average or ‘typical’, therefore seen as deviant. Moreover, asymmetries around the world are noted: for example, in African countries such as Ghana, a study on media representations of PwD revealed inadequate news coverage and representation of issues concerning PwD and gender equality [23].

In this study, we refer to standpoint theory as a broad approach combined with intersectionality and representations, and then to feminist disability theory to specifically frame the research. In fact, standpoint was used twofold. First, to recognise our own research position as women, though not as WwD, analysing media texts produced under a dominant male environment as news production contexts. Second, standpoint combined with intersectionality and representations was used to examine how WwD living experiences would be represented in the news as a starting point to break dominant research [24], attempting to shed light on this marginalised group by understanding the relative social positions they hold, and how this impacts them for better or for worse [15].

Deriving from noted inequalities, Garland-Thompson [25] argued for a feminist disability theory addressing the four domains of feminist theory: representation, the body, identity, and activism. The author [26] further stated that feminist disability studies are linked to critical cultural work, as these investigate the cultural meanings attributed to bodies that societies consider disabled (p. 1557), moving forward with a critical disability studies approach to implement a new model of disability considering gender, queer, posthuman, and postcolonial studies [27]. According with Garland-Thompson [26] the standpoints for this approach are (p. 1557): 1. understanding disability as a system of exclusions stigmatising human differences; 2. uncovering communities and identities that the bodies deemed disabled have produced; 3. revealing discriminatory attitudes and practices directed at those bodies; 4. exposing disability as a social category of analysis; and 5. framing disability as an effect of power relations. Hence, focusing on the latter, we combine this theory with framing theory to understand the representation system concerning bodies marked by disability.

Feminist disability studies highlight the importance of language in creating meaning through representation, which becomes useful in this study, when referring to people with disabilities rather than disabled people, thereby avoiding essentialist viewpoints and following the UN CRPD. Furthermore, the authors subscribe to Schalks’ [28] argument that derives from criticising [29] use of disability metaphors and other feminist “distancing” from disability, calling for the incorporation of insights from disability studies while following three premises: not using language that aligns negative concepts or connotations, being responsible with denotation and connotation, and being accountable and open to criticism.

Notwithstanding, other authors [30] reported that feminist writers have under-investigated the experiences of WwD. Naples et al. [31] confirm the need to expand the visibility of feminist disability scholars’ contributions, particularly to research on intersectionality. In fact, the link between feminist disability studies and the intersectionality perspective has been advocated before. For example, Moodley and Graham [30] acknowledged the use of intersectionality as an analytical tool to recognise the multiple identities of an individual and how these result in various experiences of disadvantage or advantage. Moreover, Aspler et al. [12] employed an intersectional analytic framework to problematise representations of PwD, combining television, feminist, and critical disability studies.

Intersectionality was effectively previously used by several authors such as Crenshaw [32] to refer to the various ways in which race and gender interact to shape the multiple dimensions of Black women’s employment experiences. Furthermore, Crenshaw [32] delineated three types of intersectionality: structural, referring to how people are marginalised within systems that fail to recognise the position they occupy at the intersections of different layers of oppression; representational, in terms of how marginalised groups are visually and discursively depicted; and political, focusing on how the issues and interests of particular groups are marginalised within political agendas and social movements. All of these types converged in disability research, within a social model that “switches attention to the social organisation, asserting that disability arises because society is not shaped to include people with impairments and provide them with the opportunity to choose their own future” [33] (p. 10). Furthermore, Collins and Bilge [34] recognise the importance of using intersectionality as an analytical tool to explore power relations that involve gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability.

Concerning political intersectionality, for example, Evans’ [14] study applied an intersectional analysis to social movements to explore the perceptions and experiences of disability activists in the United Kingdom (UK), considering questions of sameness, difference, and power in relation to feminist, anti-racist, and queer organising. This study found evidence of a growing tendency amongst disability activists to engage with intersectionality, both in how they understand disability and in terms of how they are organised [14], which also confirms the structural importance of this approach to subjects themselves.

Our study focuses on representation and follows the line of others e.g., [12] that used an intersectional analytic framework to problematise representations of PwD. As cited authors, we find it useful combining this approach with television, feminist, and critical disability studies to understand how characters with disability are depicted on television. Moreover, this combined approach seems to confirm what Garland-Thompson [25] put forth, that “the gender, race, and ability systems intertwine further in representing subjugated people as being pure body, unredeemed by mind or spirit” (p. 7). Thus, the basic premise is that “disability, like gender and race, is everywhere, once we know how to look for it” (p. 28).

As traditionally women are the main caregivers in the family or community, WwD who are physically unable to perform this role are more likely to be left without family or community support and face negative attitudes among non-PwD [9]. For example, a study on media portrayal of Singaporean Paralympics shows that the role of media representations is paramount in conveying images of WwD, adding discrimination risks [35].

1.2. Women with Disabilities on Popular Television

Popular television, as an audio-visual platform, stands as one of the most significant conveyors of disability representation but there are important differences concerning types of content such as advertisements, entertainment, and information (news). Advertisements have the purpose to sell products, services, or ideas and work in a positive ideological framework, so “advertising images indoctrinate developing boys and girls with messages that encourage the stigmatisation and marginalisation of anyone who is deemed not attractive or beautiful enough to be included in mass media imagery” [36] (p. 2). As the authors claim, this results in one of the most common prejudices of invisibility, perpetuated by the media through under-representation.

On the other hand, entertainment in popular television has seldom depicted WwD. Longmore [37] identified the three most common media stereotypes that disqualify PwD from gendered identities by envisioning them as unable to engage in ‘normal’ relationships. The first stereotype is the historical association of disability with evil, as a symbol of bad character and behaviour (e.g., Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street). Second, the downplay of people as ‘less human’ because of their disability, especially when it is a mental or intellectual disability (e.g., Mrs Emery in the BBC series Little Britain). Thirdly, Longmore refers to the ‘maladjusted’ PwD, as if the problem was centred on the individual full of self-pity, bitter and unable to accept the disability (e.g., Emma Coolidge in NBC series Heroes). The study conducted by Cuelenaere et al. [38] on how film remakes transform and reinforce nationality, disability, and gender points to transformations toward specific socio-culturally defined disability and gender identities, but also towards a shared and almost universally shaped disability and gender culture. WwD are marginalised both because of their status as disabled and because of their gender, which provokes deep effects as a stigmatising phenomenon [36].

News information, however, involves different issues. The agenda-setting theory refers to news media influence on audiences by setting which issues have public visibility and by establishing a thematic hierarchy that crosses into other agendas [39]. This influence is developed from selection and highlighting practices [40]. The importance of news items on women belonging to vulnerable groups, such as WwD, is therefore paramount. To set the agenda and to frame are intertwined. Entman [41] explains that framing consists of selecting aspects of a perceived reality, highlighting them on a communication text to promote the definition of a particular problem, to diagnose causes, to morally judge, and/or to suggest solutions (p. 52).

Studies on the news representation of PwD are mainly focused on print media. In Europe, a content analysis of the Flemish print media (newspapers and magazines) from 2003 to 2012 showed very limited coverage or even lack of it, and important correlations between gender, age, type of magazine, and type of disability [3]. Concerning gender, the authors highlight a general emphasis on male representation, with news more related to physical impairments, whereas WwD are more prone to be included in news about chronic health conditions, except for female magazines, where the number of WwD slightly outnumbered men. The media’s portrayal of PwD can vary significantly across different contexts and cultures. For example, print media coverage in Kenya has been found to represent successful PwD positively, highlighting their potential and capabilities [42]. Conversely, the Israeli press and television have been noted to predominantly depict disability through pity and victim representations, reflecting biomedical understandings of disability [43].

In Portugal, a study on media representations of disability [44] in main three print media outlets from 2009 to 2013 found a lack of coverage, with less than 1% of total news items, with more male representation, a secondary placement of news items, and positive news items related especially with Paralympics. The authors also found that, though Portugal adopted the CRPD, in over 80% of cases, the Convention’s articles are ignored, which may also be due to their short dimension. Additionally, Neca [45] argued that Portuguese print media news on disability are mostly descriptive and only a few of them problematise disability issues or critically analyse them. She also refers to the scarcity of news items, except for the International Day of PwD, 3 December. Notwithstanding, research on how WwD are represented in news media in general and particularly television is still very scarce.

2. Materials and Methods

The research question guiding this study is the following: How are women with disabilities (WwD) represented in the public Portuguese television (RTP1) prime time news program, Telejornal program, during January 2020? The aims of this study are then to (a) characterise the representation of WwD on Telejornal news (what and to what extent?) and (b) understand the related news discourse (how?). To accomplish these goals, we used a mixed method, combining quantitative content analysis and discourse analysis.

The analysis period was the first month of 2020. The choice of this particular period was due to combined criteria of (a) beginning of a civil year, with potentially new agenda dynamics, (b) being the month previous to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought a monothematic agenda for the following years, (c) presenting news daily routine on TV. Combining these criteria, we composed the corpus for content analysis (

Table 1. Content analysis corpus.

Telejornal	News Items (n)	News Program Parts	Duration (Time)	Total Time
News program 1/1	23	2	36:28 + 23:17	59:45
News program 2/1	26	2	31:29 + 24:33	56:02
News program 3/1	27	2	32:21 + 27:19	59:40
News program 4/1	27	2	25:24 + 24:41	1h:00′:05″
News program 5/1	20	2	31:33 + 26:36	58:09
News program 6/1	23	2	29:28 + 27:59	57:07
News program 7/1	25	2	30:51 + 29:06	59:57
News program 8/1	30	2	30:17 + 25:49	56:06
News program 9/1	23	2	35:02 + 22:04	57:06
News program 10/1	26	2	30:59 + 27:02	58:01
News program 11/1	22	2	27:18 + 29:13	56:31
News program 12/1	21	3	15:54 + 21:06 + 18:59	55:19
News program 13/1	23	3	20:21 + 11:26 + 22:56	54:03
News program 14/1	21	3	23:07 + 14:39 + 18:35	56:21
News program 15/1	23	3	24:04 + 3:09 + 28:39	55:52
News program 16/1	22	3	24:07 + 2:40 + 29:30	56:17
News program 17/1	25	3	16:49 + 14:37 + 23:24	54:10
News program 18/1	19	2	24:32 + 32:18	56:50
News program 19/1	23	2	25:20 + 31:31	56:51
News program 20/1	20	2	30:32 + 25:39	56:11
News program 21/1	25	2	34:21 + 22:49	57:10
News program 22/1	26	2	34:13 + 23:25	57:38
News program 23/1	25	2	32:33 + 24:46	57:19
News program 24/1 *	-	-	-	-
News program 25/1 **	14	1	34:47	34:47
News program 26/1 ***	26	2	29:38 + 25:54	55:32
News program 27/1	25	2	29:59 + 28:44	58:03
News program 28/1	22	2	35:43 + 22:01	57:44
News program 29/1	24	2	33:49 + 24:47	58:36
News program 30/1	23	2	36:00 + 22:53	58:53
News program 31/1	21	2	40:45 + 18:24	59:09
TOTAL: 704 News items			News Program average: 23,46 news items
TOTAL TIME: 28h:15′:14″			News Program average time: 56′:30″

* News Program not broadcasted. ** Shorter program, due to a football match broadcasting on RTP1. *** Blue lines correspond to weekends.

), with a total of 704 broadcasted news items, to understand the representativeness, as the extent of news on PwD, and then WwD, and its representation, as who and what is being portrayed.

A codebook with 25 categories was constructed (

Table 2. Codebook.

Categories Groups	Registration Categories	Analysis Units
Editorial categories	Alignment	1–31 January
	Day of the week	Weekday; weekend
	Editorial section	Politics; society; economy; sports and culture + international in all categories
	Part of the news program	1st; 2nd; 3rd; only part
	Format	Reportage; Agency’s news; off; interview; fait-diver; commentary
	Highlight	Opening; 1st chapter; promotion; closure for commercial break; reopening after break;news program closure; news program body
	Promotion	Present; absent
	Transmission	Direct; delayed
	Space	National; international
	National regions	Great Lisbon; Great Porto; Minho;Trás-os-Montes and High Douro;Littoral Douro;High Beira; Low Beira; Littoral Beira;Ribatejo; Estremedura; High Alentejo; Low Alentejo; Algarve; Madeira; Azores; General; Mixed
	Foreign regions	Non applicable
	Direction	Positive; negative
	News-value 1	Actuality; importance/social relevance; interesting/unusual/spectacle; proximity/consonance/identification; negativity/conflict/controversy; intervenient number; story quality; balance/composition; accessible coverage; shortness; service news; ‘non-burdening’ news/protection; exclusiveness; competition; personalities; visual material; frequency; format; unpredictable; follow-ups; news program Target; public servisse demands; self-promotion
	News-value 2	“ ”
	News-value 3	“ ”
	Duration	Seconds
	Gender of journalist	Male; female
Categories of the person with disabilities (PwD)	Disability type	Motor/phisical; visual; mental; deafness; cerebral paralysis; câncer; multiple scleroses; fibromyalgia; paramiloidosis; Type 1 diabetes; cardiovascular diseases; HIV positivity/AIDS; self-immune disease; rare deseases; malformations; morbid obesity
	Attribute	Professional; unemployment; student; homeless; Target of prejudice; hero/heroine; sports person; artista; crime victim; perpetrator of crime; Target of wealth; necessity; disease; accident; death; inmate; celebrity/media personality; migrant; religious
	Protagonist	Person with disability (PwD); group/association representative of PwD; family/informal caregiver; friend/neighbour; supplier of health care; State organ; international government; political party; court/Lawyer; opinion leader; celebrity; expert (academic); educator
	Deuteragonist 1	“ ”
	Deuteragonist 2	“ ”
	Deuteragonist 3	“ ”
	Gender of the PwD	Male; female; general; trans person
	Voice (direct discourse)	Yes; No

Table 2 was inspired by the following studies: [16,18,43,46,47].

) from conducted research within the project Media representations of vulnerable groups (CIEG 2020) and diverse sources, such as studies on news representations e.g., [16,18,43] and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities—[1]. To ensure intercoder objectivity and to validate data, revision and confirmation processes involved three coders.

The corpus for discourse analysis (

Table 3. Discourse analysis corpus.

Day	News Item Number	Part	Promotion	Highlight	Duration	Total Time (Seconds)
14/1 Tue	17	3	No	News program body	Pivot: 19″ Item: 3′:36″	235″ (3′:55″)
15/1 Wed	14	3	Yes	Opening 3rd part	Pivot: 13″ Item: 2′:55″	188″ (3′:08″)
16/1 Thu	4	1	No	First 6 items	Pivot: 15″ Item: 2′:14″	149″ (2′:29″)
22/1 Wed	16	2	No	News program body	Pivot: 21″ Item: 2′:42″	183″ (3′:03″)
23/1 Thu	18	2	Yes *	News program body	Pivot: 12″ Item: 2::15″	147″ (2′:27″)

(*) Self promotion to the next informative program ‘Linha da Frente’ (Front Line) about the issue.

) was constructed following the content analysis results, which revealed that only five news stories, out of a total of 704 news items, focused on persons with disability and chronic diseases. All the 704 news items were scrutinised according to the editorial theme, the issue, the attribute, and the type of disability or chronic diseases of the characters involved, either as the protagonists or as secondary characters in the news story.

To operationalise discourse analysis, we referred to Entman [41], namely, concerning the enunciation of the four framings of problem definition, cause diagnosis, moral judgement, and solutions suggestion to ascertain which framings are more applicable in each news item (p. 52) (

Table 4. Discourse analysis matrix.

Framing	Explanation
1. Problem definition	Determine what a causal agent is doing, with what costs and benefits, generally measured in terms of common cultural values
2. Cause diagnisis	Identify the forces that are causing the problem
3. Moral judgements	Evaluate causal agentes and their effects
4. Solutions suggestions	Offer and justify treatments for problems and prevent probable effects

Source: Entman [41] (p. 52).

).

3. Results

To explore the representation of disability, we first characterised the general theme of Telejornal in the determined period. We considered both the format and news alignment structure, as well as news values inherent to editorial decisions. We also analysed characters involved in the news stories according to being protagonists, and to their role, attribute, presence, and voice, referring to an intersectional perspective.

3.1. Content Analysis of RTP1’s Telejornal

From the corpus of 704 broadcasted news items in the considered month (January), the editorial section with more news items was (national) Society (26.8%), closely followed by International (26.3%). Politics and Sports amounted to 18.5% and 14.5% of news, respectively. The least represented sections were Culture (7.4%) and Economy (6.5%)—

Table 5. News items by Telejornal editorial section.

Thematic Sections	Society	Politics	Economy	International	Sports	Culture
Total n	189	130	46	185	102	52
Total %	26.8%	18.5%	6.5%	26.3%	14.5%	7.4%

.

3.1.1. Formal and Editorial Representation of Disability on RTP1’s Telejornal

Of the overall number of news items broadcasted in January 2020 (n = 704), only five focused on disability (

Table 6. News items about PwD on Telejornal and formal editorial decisions.

Day	News Number	Part	Promotion	Highlight	Emission	Time
14/1 Tue	17	3	No	General place	Delayed	Anchor: 19″ Item: 3′:36″
15/1 Wed	14	3	Yes	Third part Reentrance	Delayed	Anchor: 13″ Item: 2′:55″
16/1 Thu	4	1	No	First chapte (first 6 news after entrance)	Delayed	Anchor: 15″ Item: 2′:14″
22/1 Wed	16	2	No	General place	Delayed	Anchor: 21″ Item: 2′:42″
23/1 Thu	18	2	Yes *	General place	Delayed	Anchor: 12″ Item: 2′:15″

(*) self promotion to the next informative program ‘Linha da Frente’ (Front Line) about the issue.

), which represented only 0.71% of the total news and 0.89% of the total duration time (28 h:15′:14″). In television, time is also a relevant indicator of the importance given to news. In this study, both the quantity and the duration of news items dedicated to disability and chronic diseases fell below 1%.

The five news items about disability were broadcasted on weekdays, which in journalism have greater newsworthiness, and therefore tighter selection criteria. Only one news item was broadcasted in the first part of Telejornal and within the so-called ‘1st chapter’, comprising the first six news items that follow the opening. This space is deemed important on TV news for defining their editorial ‘brand’. The other four were aligned in theme Section 2 and Section 3.

Other significant moments of the public’s attention are the re-entrances after commercial break(s). The news item broadcasted on 15 January served as a promotional teaser of the in-depth reportage that would be broadcasted immediately after Telejornal on the informational program ‘Linha da Frente (Front Line)’.

Time in television works as a sign for the news importance and/or interest attributed to each news item. Although we found only a few news items about disability, time dedicated to each was above average, comparing with time dedicated to other news items (1.5 min). Moreover, they were all Reportage, the most noble of journalism genres in Portugal [48].

Furthermore, all news items on disability were produced by the (national) Society editorial section, which represented 2.6% of its total news production (189) in January 2020—

Table 7. News items on PwD in Telejornal and conceptual editorial decisions ¹.

Day	Subject	Issue	News-Values	Direction	Social Image
14/1 Tue	National Society	Health	1. Social Relevance 2. Conflict 3. Identification	Negative	Negative
15/1 Wed	National Society	Health	1. Social Relevance 2. Conflict 3. Identification	Negative	Negative
16/1 Thu	National Society	Education	1. Social Relevance 2. Conflict 3. Identification	Negative	Negative
22/1 Wed	National Society	Health	1. Social Relevance 2. Conflict 3. Identification	Negative	Negative
23/1 Thu	National Society	Health	1. Social Relevance 2. Conflict 3. Identification	Negative	Negative Positive

¹ The difference between direction and social image is that direction is about the tone of approaching the events [49]), and social image is about what is mirrored in terms of symbolic construction about the event and/or its participants [16,50]. The tone of the news coverage often influences social image, because it can steer public opinion in a certain direction. This is particularly true when a given group is exposed to a highly unidirectional coverage—positive or negative. This increases the chances of this dominant tone being internalised by the public while judging the social image of that group in society [51].

.

Quantitative content analysis encompasses an interpretative dimension that mirrors either the perspective of the speaker or of the researcher who is analysing data [52]. The perspective is considered representative if the texts are used to identify the intended meaning in the message. If the researcher’s perspective is dominant, the texts are interpreted in terms of the researcher’s theory and the analysis becomes instrumental. However, Roberts [53] recognised that, in many cases, text analysis involves both perspectives. It is representative when thematic categories are coded on their face value, but the researcher can use the data on these themes to interpret the text instrumentally. This is what happened in this study with the categories direction and social image [16]. Direction, also used as tone [54], referred to a fact that qualified good or bad news [16,18]. In this study, direction was assessed based on how the news media framed issues related to Universal Declaration of Human Rights values [1]. In particular, values concerning the integrity and dignity of individuals with special needs. Social image is associated with the image of certain groups or the whole society, i.e., how they can be seen. Pan and Kosicki [55] used “perceived reality” and Lengauer et al. [54] referred to “pessimistic outlook” with this same meaning.

In this study, positive and negative social images were related to greater or lesser social inclusion and greater or lesser social justice, as inferred from the news portrayal of individuals with special needs. Scholars thus often differentiate between the mere dissemination of negative/positive news (exogenous negativity/positivity coming into the news from outside—direction) and media-initiated negativity/positivity (endogenous negativity/positivity imposed on news by journalists—social image).

Table 7 shows that the referential contexts of these news items were essentially health (4) and education (1). Plus, they all followed a negative direction and generated negative social images. Potential explanatory indicators of a predominantly negative tone were, for example, retrospective, concomitant, or prospective reports about PwD being abandoned, neglected, discriminated, and socially excluded. According to Lengauer et al. [54], when a story is framed in optimistic terms, it means it primarily conveys the impression that positive consequences are likely or possible, or issues are solvable. Conversely, it is pessimistic if it conveys the impression “that negative, critical and threatening scenarios are likely or possible, or if the problems at hand are unlikely to be resolved” (p. 184).

Our data showed that only the last news item articulated a negative social image of the Medical Order and of Portuguese justice. The news item was about allowing a negligent obstetrician to follow pregnant women and to perform ultrasounds after numerous complaints related to child malformations unidentified during pregnancy. However, depicting a young girl with no limbs and 97% disability skillfully performing culinary tasks conveyed a positive social image by the end of the news item.

The three main news values highlighted in all news items were, hierarchically, (a) story importance and social relevance, (b) conflict and controversy in facts, and (c) identification and proximity presumed by the public. PwD portrayed and/or identified in these stories were children (in four news items) and elderly people (in one news item), two vulnerable age groups. Portugal is an ageing country with low birth rates (ine.pt), which may generate empathy and greater connections with these vulnerable groups, thereby gaining ‘social value’.

3.1.2. PwD Visibility in Telejornal

The analysis revealed a tendency not to have PwD as news protagonists. Only the 16 January news item denouncing the exclusion of children with educational special needs from a basic integrated school put them in the first line of attention.

The other four news stories were written from the institutional angle of Casa Kastelo (Home Kastelo), which took in children with rare and terminal diseases, and also of their direct families and primary health care givers.

PwD were most highlighted as secondary characters, among the denounced subjects/entities and public managers for administration and regulation organisations (

Table 8. PwD voices and portraits on news items, by gender.

Day	Main Character	Secondary Characters	Non-PwD’s Voice	PwD’s Voice	Kind of Disability	PwD’s Image
14/1, Tue	“Casa Kastelo” (1) (Home Kastelo)	- One Fathers and three mothers (2a,b,c,d) - Health Regulatory Entity (3) - Regional Health Administration (4)	(1) No (2a,b,c,d) Yes (3) Yes (4) No	No	Rare diseases	No, and not identified by name
15/1, Wed	Two (1) (2) Mothers	- Obstetrician (3) - 4 years old Child (4) - 10 years old child (5)	(1) Yes (2) Yes (3) No	(4) No (5) No	(4) Malfor-mations (5) Down’s Syndrome	(4) No, but identified by name (5) No, but identified by name
16/1, Thu	Students with Disabilities (1a + 1b)	- Integrated Basic School (2) - Two Mothers (3a + 3b) - Nanny (4) - Civil service union (5)	(2) No (3a) Yes (3b) Yes (4) No (5) No	(1a) No (1b) No	(1a) Cerebral palsy (1b) Autism	(1a) No, but identified by name (1b) No, but identified by name
22/1, Wed	Four Home Support’s Nurses (1)	- Two Disabled persons (2a + 2b) - Disabled person’s wife (3) - Disabled Person’s Daughter (4) - Home Support Director (5) - Health Center Director (6) - Health Regional Administration Director (7) - Nurses Union (8)	(1) Yes (3) Yes (4) Yes (5) Yes (6) Yes (7) Yes (8) Yes	No	(2a) Paralysis (2b) Terminal cancer	(2a, 2b) Yes, and both identified by name
23/1 Thu	Two Mothers (1)	- Obstetricion (2) - Disabled Person (3)	(1) Yes (2) No	(3) Yes	(3) Malformations	(3) Yes, and identified by name

). These characters included three women and four men who mainly had no voice, with the exception of one young girl with disabilities. Their clinical condition and age might have served as the rationale behind this editorial choice, in line with the provisions of the Portuguese Deontological Code which mandates ethical conduct for journalists, particularly concerning the capture of images and statements made by children. For the same reason, most children did not appear in captured images, although the use of their first names, except for one news item, humanised them.

3.1.3. Gendered Perspectives of Disability in Telejornal’s News

From all appointed characters, with or without disability, 15 were men and 25 were women.

Table 9. Characters’ gender in Telejornal’s news about PwD.

Day	Main Character Gender	Secondary Characters Gender	PwD’s Gender	PwD’s Atribute by Gender	Journalist Gender
14/1 Tue	Not gendered	One male Three females Two males	Two males One female	All neglect vitims	Female
15/1 Wed	Two females	One male One female One male	One female One male	Both neglect vitims	Female
16/1 Thu	One female One male	Three females	One female One male	Both, victims of discrimination	Female
22/1 Wed	Four females	Two males Four females Two males	Two males	Both neglect vitims	Female
23/1 Thu	Two females	One male One female	One female	Doctor Neglect vitim	Female

Despite the analysed news items mentioning six male PwD and four WwD, and no references to other genders, no discrimination or favour was noted in this regard. The exception was a reportage on hours and nursing team reduction on homecare for people with limiting pathologies. It portrayed only two elderly men receiving home care. All other news items mentioned undifferentiated male and female children.

registers all characters’ gender, with or without disabilities, and with or without higher priority roles. This follows the same order of character appearance of Table 8.

Furthermore, regardless of being men or women and of different ages, they were all connoted with the same attributes: either as victims of medical negligence and primary health care or as discriminatory exclusion victims.

There was, though, a greater presence of women than men in the news. Women mostly represented close family (mothers, wives, and daughters) or informal caregivers (nannies), or even health caregivers (nurses). They were also the ones who came up in the dominant role of main denouncers of acts or situations of negligence or discrimination against their family with disabilities. Women gave more voice to claim their family members rights, followed by health caregivers (nurses). As counterparts, men were represented as public organisms and union managers.

An important highlight is that all journalists who made these news items on disability were women. This may also contribute to maintaining the association between women and the care sphere.

3.2. RTP1’s Telejornal Discourse on Female Disability

By applying Entman’s framing approach to the corpus of five news items on disability, a predominance of the problem definition was observed, mainly in news items from 14, 16, 22, and 23 January. Moral judgements was another used frame.

The 15 January news item was constructed under the moral judgments frame, highlighting that “mothers of babies who were born with malformations do not want the obstetrician Artur Carvalho to practise medicine ever again” (pivot). A direct speech of a mother supported this framing: “for now, he cannot be out practising! You cannot give him this chance. It’s not even because of the parents’ life… It’s children’s! There are children who cannot have a normal life… My daughter, for example, will be deprived from being a mother”. Another mother demanded: “I want justice done”. The journalist highlighted Diana’s case, assessed by her mother as being “very strong”. The news item ended with the emphasis that the questions posed by mothers remained unanswered, at least for that time.

The news item from 14 January emphasised the issue of “negligence and maltreatment in House Kastelo” (pivot), that “takes in 30 children with incurable chronic diseases or in terminal stages” (off). Gender was highlighted in reference to the origin of the accusation that came from a mother and an ex-employee, and in soundbites from mothers, where images protected children’s identities. Although the framing focused on an issue, there were mothers who denied it: “this institution gives us all we cannot have outside”.

In the news item from 16 January, the pivot began the speech by informing that “students with special needs are left without classes in a school in Évora”. Filipa’s mother framed it: “She is already missing school. She needs to get back to her rhythm, as any other child. So, this is our problem. Why do some have school and others don’t?”. Images depicted the girl being cared for by her mother and her nanny. Another boy’s mother asked: “what if the school doesn’t want our children there? What do we do?”. The school board remained silent (off).

The news item from 22 January reported the problem of “continued and homecare teams in Évora district (which) are with less nurses and less support hours for users” (pivot). The wife of a man with disabilities stated about the problem: “that worries me… a lot!”. Some nurses said that: “it would be better to increase the number of beds, not close them. We are going against what’s pretended!”; “we cannot understand this downsizing!”. The President of the Alentejo’s Regional Health Administration justified that two nurses remained in the basic emergency system of Montemor-o-Novo, which “doesn’t satisfy anyone” (off). He, however, guaranteed the temporary nature of the situation.

The problem of medical negligence in detecting malformations in ultrasounds continued in the news item from 23 January, reporting “more complaints against the doctor from Setúbal” (in 1st electronic embedded text of the news item) and “more cases of doctors” (in the 3rd electronic embedded text of the news item). One of the pregnant women who aborted and was still waiting for an answer for her complaint exclaimed: “nothing will make me forget!”. Patricia’s mother was in a “court battle that lasted since the day her daughter was born without hands, feet and half a leg” (off). Crying, this mother praised her daughter: “she is a fighte! We are talking about a girl who doesn’t have 60% of disability: she has 97% disability, but she has this energy, a contagious joy”. However, despite this level of disability and attracting admiration, Patricia assumed: “I love cooking, I love baking… I can do everything!”.

None of the news items adopted the solutions suggestions as the main frame. At the end of some news items, the journalist symbolically called for the solution (e.g., “questions that, for now, will be left unanswered!” (news item from 15 January); “five students with special needs keep home waiting for the right to be equal to be fulfilled” (news item of 16 January). The cause diagnosis frame was neither the protagonist (e.g., “12 workers on sick leave at this school, which led to closing the special education unit”—16 January; “nurse reduction in continuous homecare in Évora district to reinforce the health care centre in Montemor-o-Novo”—22 January), always being associated with the problem definition mainframe.

4. Discussion

The scarcity of news items on disability—five in RTP1’s Telejornal during January 2020—especially about WwD and their representation as secondary characters converges with Wilde’s [8] statement that many studies of representation reveal PwD as uncommon in television and rarely positioned as main protagonists. Further, Goethals et al.’s [3] results show the ‘lack of representation’ and emphasise that PwD remain strongly underrepresented in the media, which, according to them, adds to the notion that people with disabilities are not fully part of the society. The authors explain that this clear underrepresentation falsely implies that people without disabilities are the standard and impede the PwD’s struggle for position in the social space. Even the Silva and Howe [56] and Kolotouchkina et al. [57] studies on media representations of athletes with disabilities at the Paralympic games came to similar conclusions. Although PwD are more present and positively represented in the news at these events, the angle is still the ‘disability’ and not the ‘person’.

Entman [41] explains that framing consists of selecting aspects of a perceived reality, highlighting them on a communication text to obtain a certain aim (p. 52). The tendency for using the problem definition frame is in line with Goethals et al.’s [3] statement that the generally prevailing framework on disability coverage in popular press is melodramatic, because of its emphasis on human drama and emotions. In the analysed news items, the problem’s personalisation was highlighted, especially when the victims were children. Through their mothers’ voices, emotions and drama were shared, and social empathy may have arisen. This is not to say that the negativity associated with the problem is damaging for mentality change and empathy towards WwD and caregivers/mothers’ conditions. This framing, from the female journalist’s symbolic or implicit call for a solution, may have a positive social effect, by raising awareness, promoting empathy, and advocating for change [58].

This approach, although portraying a negative image of a society that fails to protect its most vulnerable citizens, may serve as a catalyst for societal introspection and action towards addressing issues faced by marginalised groups [59]. It is related to the idea of service journalism or useful journalism which, in addition to the six basic questions of journalism (What? Who? When? Where? How? and Why?), adds a seventh question: What for? This additional question is linked to watchdog journalism, which focuses on public denunciation and holding power accountable [60]. By incorporating the “What for?” question, journalists aim not only to report facts but also to critically examine the purpose and societal impact of news stories, ultimately seeking to promote positive change and social awareness [60]. This journalism combines information with factual descriptions, with interpretation that imposes an evaluation of reality [61]. Thus, the construction of negative social images from a negative direction of the facts ends up, from this type of journalism perspective, having a positive intention.

However, this often negative media representation of disability does not reflect the diversity and complexity of PwD experiences in society. According to Zhang and Haller [5], promoting positive portrayals can play a vital role in challenging stereotypes, fostering understanding and promoting social change. The authors underline that a pattern of negative stories tends to simplify and homogenise the experiences of PwD, perpetuating harmful stereotypes.

Our study showed that in every framing there was a discourse construction that conveyed the viewer with the injustice of what happened. It was also noted that PwD, among whom were WwD, were in situations of prejudice or limitation because of their condition, in need of institutional help and justice (in the case of negligent doctors who did not detect malformations in ultrasounds). Although the framing was mainly focused on the problem, therefore negative and disclosing the news value negativity, there were at least three positivity notes on these five news items (e.g., “She is very strong”—Diana’s mother about her daughter; “She is a fighter!… she is a kid with such an energy, a contagious joy”—Patricia’s mother about her; “I can do everything”—Patrícia). By documenting the depiction of PwD and challenging negative stereotypes, journalists may contribute to a more balanced representation that fosters understanding and inclusivity [62]. Moreover, media representation of PwD can influence self-identity and self-esteem among individuals with disabilities, empowering them to overcome societal barriers [45,63]. Conversely, the lack of appropriate representation and perpetuation of stereotypes in the media can sensationalise disability and hinder accurate portrayals of PwD [64].

This study mainly found a social model of disability [65] in the analysed news content. News discourse construction mainly highlighted the loss of social rights for people with disabilities, such as the right to education, healthcare, and protection. The news suggested that society “is not shaped to include people with impairments and provide them with the opportunity to choose their own future” [33] (p.10). It was also possible to foresee in the same news stories an attempt to display empowered WwD. Again, Portuguese public TV news resonated with other studies in different international contexts when considering invisibility e.g., [22,23], giving the extreme underrepresentation in news items.

On the positive highlights, literature emphasises that positive images and narratives in the media have the potential to influence societal attitudes and behaviours toward PwD [10]. The moral judgement frame seemed overall understandable and consensual for viewers, as the causal discourse sequence—that the negligent doctor deserved to stop practising—matched the moral logic that offenders must be punished. A basis for this interpretation may be found in consonance news values of Galtung and Ruge [66].

While PwD and WwD stories tend to be told in indirect speech by other individuals (e.g., journalists, parents), as Heward et al. [4] pointed out, these stories “of people who are affected by conditions such as dementia or disabilities can have a positive impact by enabling the public to understand what it is really like to live with these conditions” (p. 238).

News items tended to portray the dependence on the caring mother (e.g., Diana’s, Martim’s, Diogo’s, and Filipa’s mothers), corroborating Cuelenaere et al.’s [37] statement that PwD are always fully dependent on the care of those in their close environment. The caring mother was another stereotype, though, also related to female attributes, that seemed to be emphasised in these few news items [27]. On the other hand, the portrayal of WwD as caregivers limits the visibility of WwD and also perpetuates stereotypes that undermine the agency and capabilities of PwD. Studies have indicated that media coverage tends to focus on able-bodied individuals, particularly women, providing care for PwD, while neglecting the achievements and experiences of WwD themselves [67]. It would be useful for the news to use privileged sources with disabilities to represent other people who have no voice. By incorporating the voices of sources with disabilities in news stories, the media might offer a genuine and insightful portrayal of their lives, struggles, and triumphs, contributing to a more inclusive and representative media landscape [63]. And using WwD also as sources would contribute to show the distinctive gendered perspectives of living with disabilities [68].

However, from the journalistic viewpoint, it should be noted that Telejornal did promote these news items using a formal highlight: broadcasted on weekdays, through reportage, on privileged places of the line-up to capture audiences’ attention and with duration above average for TV news. Furthermore, the preferred news angle was the public denunciation of acts and situations practised by institutions that were not fulfilling their obligations of caring for PwD, here children and elderly persons. This highlight may be considered positive within media social responsibility. Notwithstanding, the storytelling kept these persons in a secondary role and adopted the usual framing, portraying them as victims of negligence, exclusion and family drama, and focusing on impairment problems. This concurs with Rees et al. [10] about a lingering on disability frame and with Goethals et al. [29] about exclusionary frames.

It is common knowledge that editorial decision making is focused on negativity, from the timeless axiom that good news is bad news [69]. This serves sensationalist media to impact broader audiences with their information-product, as well as in a more utility service perspective to pressure the political and social solution of problems [70]. Despite the good intention inherent to this functional media perspective, it also reinforces in television public service the social construction of the person with disabilities always as a victim and dependent.

Moreover, Telejornal tended to cover this theme within the Society section, specifically within Health and Education, as Jones and Harwood [71] stated, and as also found in [43]. Therefore, the much richer lives of PwD, especially women, continued to be invisible in media representations.

It was also noted that PwD tended to be presented in a general manner, without specifying gender. Although it apparently could be a positive feature, it did not personalise stories, nor did it give women visibility. Arguably, in generalist news programs directed to big audiences, it might convey in public perception that men and women with disabilities would be equal in society, but many studies contradict this idea e.g., [3,8,22,37,43,71].

Furthermore, from an intersectional perspective [34], the few female characters in these stories were portrayed as women, white, and middle class. Additionally, these news items, written by women, focused either on children with disabilities or on older persons, depending on female health care, reinforcing the stereotype of women as caregivers. Moreover, the portrayed characters corresponded to traditional power relations. These relations privilege, first, people without disabilities, and second, males over females in the number of displayed characters. The portrayals were of white people, with no references to sexuality. They were related to middle to low social classes and dependent on state help. This aligns with the Western media norm that Montgomerie [22] asserted, which is male, heterosexual, cisgendered, white, and without disability [14].

Political intersectionality did not appear during this analysis period, nor was it ever cited. However, political decisions were embedded in editorial contexts. This news program’s editorial decisions involve competition among private television and must adhere to political pluralism. It also needs to convey major international news with global consequences within a fixed period e.g., [18]. These constraints were not felt in the Sports section, which maintained a relatively stable high proportion of news. As Cruz and Araújo [72] show, Sports is an editorial sector usually framed positively within Telejornal. This is because its news block focuses on the spectacle of sports, such as matches of major football clubs that attract television audiences, as well as players’ personal stories. Sports news that centre on corruption, violence, and scandals are usually produced by the social sector. This separation increases the positivity attached to the sports block [16,18]. Consequently, this sector is placed at the end of the program line-up. It aims to relieve the audience of hard news and to keep them engaged to watch the next program, which at RTP was still information and not entertainment as it happened with its direct competitors [72]. This would seemingly be a space to consider for the media portrayal of PwD in stories of positive personal cases, where WwD could show their world beyond their disabilities and out of the domestic context. This personal side was explored in one news item, the only one in which a WwD expressed her voice, though emphasising culinary gifts, i.e., within a domestic context.

Apart from an editorial decision focusing on macro values, which are important in public service, editors and journalists should be committed to an editorial decision making linked to edutainment [73], appealing for audiences and simultaneously for education [74]. News media play a crucial role in shaping public perceptions and understanding disability issues and individuals with disabilities, often perpetuating negative stereotypes and stigmas, but also offering opportunities for empowerment and social connection. By incorporating edutainment elements into news reporting on disability issues, editors and journalists may make the content more engaging and appealing to audiences. This approach may help capture the attention of readers or viewers, making complex information more accessible and understandable [75]. For example, by presenting information in an entertaining and interactive manner, such as through storytelling, visuals, or interactive formats, editors and journalists can effectively communicate key messages about disabilities in a way that resonates with the public. This would facilitate media representations, enabling a greater attention to WwD social representations regarding the complexities of their identity and multiple social roles [76].

5. Conclusions

This study focused on the representation of WwD on popular television news. Choosing a public service TV channel (RTP1) prime time news program—Telejornal—that targets general audiences, but still obeys to advertising demands, proved a salient feature.

Although RTP is, by definition, obliged to promote minority interests and respect gender equality, data revealed only five news items on PwD during the month of analysis. Combining an intersectional perspective with agenda-setting theory, and confronting other studies, a small number of news items contribute to invisibility that indicates issues related to PwD as of minor importance. Arguably, these news items were apparently respectful of gender equality, referring both men and women with disabilities, but this in fact accentuates social invisibility for WwD. WwD, in the few stories where they are portrayed, are thus not news protagonists, and other people assume this role. Protagonists are, in fact, mainly women who care for PwD, adults, or children. This also subtly conveys the traditional gender division and reinforces the stereotype of women as caregivers and more responsible for family issues, regardless of their professional positions. Likewise, journalists in charge of these news items were also women, thus contributing to the subtle yet continuing gender bias that links women with the caring sphere. Plus, all female characters in stories, either with or without disabilities, are white and middle-class persons.

Discourse analysis helped to perceive the prevalence of negativity in news values. It also revealed a framing focused on problem definition, which is associated with negativity, rather than on solutions. People with disabilities (PwD), especially women, are still deprived of news representation with a more positive or normalcy focus. Inclusion has yet to be promoted, and the few news items that do exist focus on exclusion problems. Consequently, although RTP’s Telejornal has shown some responsibility in constructing these news items, there are significant shortcomings. First, there is a lack of news items about PwD. Second, there is a lack of women as protagonists. Finally, there is a lack of positive stories on the daily lives of WwD. As established by the Convention for the Rights of PWD, these issues confirm that there is still a long way to go to fully overcome the invisibility of WwD in Portuguese popular television news.

Based on our study, we reflected on the invisibility, subordination, and negativity in news coverage of people with disabilities—particularly women with disabilities—and considered the social model of disability within our theoretical framework. Hence, we conclude with recommendations for best journalistic practices in covering disability and people with disabilities. Firstly, we consider there must be a focus on education and public awareness concerning this issue. Journalists should aim to promote a fair and inclusive portrayal of the diverse experiences of PwD, prioritising their voices either as protagonists or as privileged sources to ensure their perspectives are heard. It is essential to ensure that women with disabilities are represented and heard not merely as case studies, but as central characters in their own narratives.

While negativity can be significant in journalism that focuses on social intervention, the diversity of disabilities should also be depicted through positive narratives that highlight success and improvement stories in various areas, from public policies to culture and sports. This approach would enable newspapers to offer a more balanced repertoire, thereby dismantling stereotypes that depict people with disabilities as unfit for society. Moreover, it provides sufficient factual content to keep disability issues on the public agenda, which is crucial given the agenda-setting effect on public and political perceptions and priorities.

Another important consideration is that journalism needs to engage more closely with disability within its newsrooms. Hiring journalists and editors with disabilities may foster an environment that values diversity and inclusion. Such an environment would possibly be reflected in a more respectful representation of disability in news production, using language neither depreciative nor condescending towards PwD.

In summary, media organisations need change and should ensure that diversity and inclusion are strategic priorities to their organisational culture.

Future research should address how editors and journalists construct news framing and understand their perceptions on WwD. Additionally, understanding the views and decoding perspectives of audiences would also be important to perceive impacts on social constructions concerning disabilities. Finally, considering intersectionality, a deeper study of representations on news items, as well as in other television content considering gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability, would be important to kick off a training program designed for editors and other content producers. This would enable discussions on the existing layers of inequality for PwD in general, and WwD in particular.

As the transnational literature review revealed that there are studies on these representations in other informative media and in television entertainment, but almost none in television news, the present study also contributes to filling a research gap on the representation of PwD and WwD in television news.