What’s in a news image? Framing people with disabilities in the changing society of China

The stereotype and stigma that disabled people experience is a communication proposition that deserves academic attention. How the media reports people with disabilities reflects society’s overall perception and evaluation of people with disabilities. This study uses content analysis to demonstrate how People’s Daily, the mainstream media in mainland China, has undergone a process in the designation of people with disabilities from canfei (disabled and waste) to canji (disabled and ill) to canzhang (people encountering obstacles). News reports related to the image of people with disabilities often relate to terms such as ‘heroes’, ‘role models’, ‘builders’, ‘beneficiaries’, and ‘free riders’.Points of interestHow the media reports people with disabilities reflects, to some extent, what society thinks and feels about people with disabilities.This study demonstrates how People’s Daily, the mainstream media in mainland China, has built and reproduced the image of people with disabilities in different historical periods since 1946.With the development of the Chinese society, People’s Daily has been going through a process of naming people with disabilities from canfei (disabled and waste) to canji (disabled and ill) to canzhang (people encountering obstacles).While highlighting the positive aspects of people with disabilities, they are also perceived as weak people who require help from all sectors of society.People with disabilities need to be understood from a ‘human’ perspective to establish approaches based on equality and pluralism to human values.