This study examined the coverage of people with disabilities in Time magazine from 1991 to
2003. The results are as follow.
First, it shows that the number of articles dealing with people with disabilities increased over
year since the American Disabilities Act in 1990. However, far less than one percent articles
presented people with disabilities in Time magazines. Compared the population of the people with disabilities in the U.S., the proportion of less than 1 percent indicate the extreme under-representation.
Second, the stories with the people with disabilities were introduced in 17 categories. In spite
of the diverse sections in Time magazine, the disability issues were dealt in the limited areas.
Little attention has been paid to other critical issues such as education, which was only covered three times.
Third, Considering numerous types of disabilities, only ten types of disabilities were covered in the magazine. Forty six out of 76 stories were about the physical disability which is easily visualized.
Finally, there are questionable terminologies and stereotypical attitudes, which are the similar
answers from the previous analysis of other media such as newspaper, television and movie.
Although it was difficult to see progressive models such as civil rights and pluralism, an extremely negative view such as evil or warped villain is not seen either.