Mental Health Media Awards 2006
The organisers are looking for nominations for this year's awards in the following categories:
• Young people's television (a new category for this year)
• Television and radio news
• Television documentary
• Factual radio
• Single drama and drama serial
• Radio drama
• Soaps and drama series
• Survivor
The awards are described as
"...now in their 12th year, [they] recognise and celebrate the best portrayals of mental distress and reporting of mental health issues in the broadcast media. All the winning programmes successfully challenge the misinformation and stereotypes that surround mental health and, most importantly, include the voices of people who have experienced mental health problems.
"From dramas to documentaries; soaps to news items; young people’s television to raising awareness campaigns; local radio to digital TV - as long as the programme has been produced and transmitted on television or radio in the UK between 15th June 2005 - 14th June 2006 then it is eligible for the Mental Health Media Awards 2006."
You can find out whether the programme you want to nominate is eligible at . And once you've checked that out, you can make your nomination online .
• Visit .
Comments
Once again Mental Health Media has totally excluded journalists and broadcasters with mental disabilities who, against enormous odds and overwhelming prejudice, are trying to have normal careers in the media making normal programmes.
The Â鶹Éç to give one example almost totally excludes people with mental disabilities from their production staff, preferring to let people without disabilities make the programmes instead.
And what does Mental Health Media do but support this prejudice and ongoing discrimination towards people with mental disabilities in the media by showering rewards on the very organisations that exclude people with mental disabilities.
Why is there not a category that rewards people WITH mental disabilities for making programmes of any kind?
Why does Mental Health Media insist on seeing people with mental disabilities solely as contributors and survivors, instead of talented programme makers?
Why could Mental Health Media not make a REAL difference and start a trend of rewarding talented programme makers with mental disabilities?