If you have ever had a favourite TV show, content creator, artist or writer, you are interacting with the media. We have started a project that helps you shape it too!
Independent (Living) Media is a year-long project which started in January 2025 and is being implemented by the ENIL Youth Network, co-funded by the annual grant from Council of Europe’s European Youth Foundation (EYF). This project aims to tackle the representation, misrepresentation and stereotypes around disability in the media, through a series of activities for young people aged 16 to 35.
Our focus is on experiences, attitudes, exchanges and empowerment between two target groups:
- young disabled people,
- young people working in the media (journalists, presenters, filmmakers, reporters etc), students in those fields, or young content creators and influencers.
Why did we choose media as our topic?
Because everyone consumes some form of media. Enjoying films, series, podcasts, reading an article, a blog, the latest news, or simply scrolling through our socials: media is part of our everyday life. As soon as we post something, we create it as well! Why is it then that an entire community of up to 15% of the world’s population often cannot see themselves adequately represented? Together, we want to change narratives, empower young disabled people to take up more space in media, and enable young media professionals to present, create and tell the stories of disability with dignity and confidence. Fostering independent (unbiased and free from pressure) and living (adaptable and representative) media spaces is the key to this shift.
Over the course of the year, these are the activities taking place:
We conducted an online survey in the first 3 months of the year, gathering almost 60 responses from young people across Council of Europe Member States. Its results gave valuable insights and serve as a guide of our future actions.
Following the survey and based on its responses, we are organising a series of 3 online workshops in April and May, which cover an array of topics related to media representation, from ethics and rights-based language, to research, common stereotypes, and authentic storytelling. We will have diverse guests as facilitators and speakers, providing their perspectives and knowledge to what will hopefully be a motivated group of young media professionals and young disabled people.
An international in-person summer school on media representation will happen later this year, bringing together young disabled and non-disabled people from up to 10 European countries. For four days, these young people will have the opportunity to exchange, learn, and share their points of view and experiences with each other. Supported by the educational team, they will co-create a resource pack of guidelines on how to portray disability and disabled people in the media championing diversity, dignity, Human Rights and the UN CRPD!
Following the summer school, participants will have the opportunity to create and promote their own campaigns and initiatives as well, with guidance from the ENIL team. During this time, we will also be initiating conversations about representation with national, international and global stakeholders.
In parallel to all other activities, we will continue to publish a series of live and written interviews, collaborations, articles and other content on the dedicated Instagram account of this project, along with ENIL website and social media accounts.
By getting involved with this project, you will become part of a community of changemakers, lending their voices and skills to transform media spaces, on both sides of the lens!
So, if you’re a young disabled person or a young media professional, we encourage you to get in touch with us and help create a more inclusive, empowering and rights-based media landscape!
Keep up with us by following @independent_living_media on Instagram and Threads!
Contact:
Nina Portolan (project coordinator) nina.portolan@enil.eu
Laura Alčiauskaitė (lead trainer/facilitator) laura.alciauskaite@enil.eu