Following the training organized in cooperation with the Serbian Journalists Association, journalism students had the opportunity to create original articles together with young people with disabilities who completed media training. These articles address topics related to equalizing conditions for people with disabilities in various spheres of society.
The students are the authors of the following texts:
Marija Nestorović’s article, “Equality as an Abstract Concept for Students with Disabilities,” can be found here:
Sara Panić’s article, “Is Unrestricted Mobility Available for Everyone in Serbia?” is available here:
https://www.uns.org.rs/desk/Mladi/159454/postoji-li-neometano-kretanje-za-sve-u-srbiji.html
Jovan Živković, journalism student, wrote two articles:
The first, “When University Becomes an Enemy,” is here:
https://www.uns.org.rs/desk/Mladi/159711/kada-fakultet-postane-neprijatelj.html
The second, “Students with Disabilities – A Systemic Problem Lacking Solutions and Empathy,” can be read here:
Slađana Dimitrijević discusses the employment challenges for people with disabilities and the alarming results of the 2022 population census.
Her article “The Employer Wants to Hire a Person with a Disability, But Without a Disability” is available here:
And “How Over 200,000 People with Disabilities Disappeared Between Two Censuses” is here:
The project “Youth and Media” also features an article by Jovana Damjanović, who, together with member of the Academic Inclusive Association Aleksa Kuzmanović, highlighted psychological and physical barriers faced by people with disabilities in tourism in their article “Is Tourism Accessible to Everyone?” The full article is here:
https://presscentar.uns.org.rs/info/5790/da-li-je-turizam-pristupacan-svima.html
The Serbian Journalists Association, within the “Youth and Journalists for Better Media Access to the Inclusion of People with Disabilities” project, published an article about the accessibility of programming on public broadcasters and commercial stations for people with disabilities. On public broadcasters, accessible programming is at the level of a statistical error, and on commercial TV stations, even less so. The full article can be found here:
Also published is an article titled “Person ‘with a Disability’ or ‘with a Handicap’ – Which Term Is More Appropriate?”
Milan Janković, Executive Director and Team Manager of the Academic Inclusive Association, advocates for the use of the term “persons with disabilities,” which implies striving to combat inequalities. He emphasizes the importance of using words that are not labeling, pejorative, or discriminatory but informative. By combining these two dimensions, correct terminology is reached.
In Serbia, the culturally most widespread term is “invalid,” which stigmatizes a person and strips away their dignity. This term, he explains, means “worthless,” “disabled,” or “harmful.”
The full article is available here:
Milan Janković also appeared on the Serbian Journalists Association podcast, discussing the importance of active participation of people with disabilities in society. He highlighted how crucial it is for all students with disabilities who achieve 36 ECTS credits to receive state-funded scholarships. More on this can be found here:
Aleksa Kuzmanović, a member of the Academic Inclusive Association, spoke to the FoNet agency about the most common mistakes people make in interacting with persons with disabilities, wrong and discriminatory expressions, and stressed the necessity of embracing diversity. The full segment is available here:
https://fonet.rs/tv/stigma/36429914/diskriminatorni-izrazi.html
