Alice Wong in the studio being interviewed by Lateef McLeod at KPFA radio, Berkeley, CA
Alice Wong is a radio producer who lives with a neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy. In her manifesto, Alice writes, “On radio, I want to hear people who lisp, stutter, make noises when they talk, use computer-generated speech, communicate, enunciate, and pronounce differently.”
She calls us out on an important omission. When we talk about diversity in radio we often talk in terms of race or class. Less often do we talk about how to be more inclusive of people with disabilities.
In her Transom manifesto, she shares examples from her own experience and issues public radio a challenge: Open our ears and our newsrooms to people with disabilities. Consider how we might make the tools of making radio more accessible. Alice asks, how inclusive are we? Click here for an important addition to the conversation on diversity in public media.
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