Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

By Michelle Diament © Disabilityscoop.com — Violent crimes committed based on a person’s disability would become federal hate crimes offenses under legislation approved by the House of Representatives Thursday. The measure builds upon the 1968 hate crimes act by adding disability, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected statuses. Current law includes protections for crimes committed based on a person’s race, color, religion or national origin. The move comes on the heels of a Justice Department study released earlier this month indicating that people with disabilities are 50 percent more likely to experience nonfatal violent crime as compared to their peers. Of crime victims with disabilities, the study indicated that about one in five said they thought their disability was the reason they were targeted…. READ ARTICLE

By Jason Miller © Federal News Radio, Washington, DC — For the first time, the White House is strongly recommending contractors and grantees join agencies in providing more employment opportunities for people with disabilities. President Obama Monday kicked off National Disability Employment Awareness Month by detailing several initiatives the federal government will lead…. READ ARTICLE

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University is the new home for the National Center on Disability & Journalism. The NCDJ provides resources, including a style guide and reporter tip sheet and source list, for journalists covering people with disabilities. The center’s Web site, hosted at the Cronkite School, also provides a forum for journalists and people with disabilities to share and comment on news coverage. The center was launched in 1998 in San Francisco as the Disability Media Project to raise awareness of how the news media cover people with disabilities. In 2000, the center’s name was changed to the National Center on Disability & Journalism, and it operated for a time out of Boston. In 2008, the center’s board decided to seek an affiliation with a university journalism program…. READ PRESS RELEASE