We worked in partnership with Chinese media professionals and a Chinese disability organisation to establish a sustainable radio production centre for disabled people in Beijing. We then trained visually impaired people to produce weekly radio programmes about disability issues in China.
Start date: January 2006
End date: April 2008
Media type: radio
Issue: health and livelihoods
Country: China
'In Touch for China' is a weekly radio programme produced by and for visually impaired people in China.
It is based on a BBC Radio programme, 'In Touch', which has served as a vital lifeline for blind people and their families in the United Kingdom for more than 40 years.
'In Touch' has helped widen horizons and improve opportunities for visually impaired people and has helped change social attitudes to blindness.
Context
China's disabled population, estimated at 83 million, is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Germany.
Around 12 million people in China are blind, giving the country the largest visually impaired population in the world.
Over 80% of disabled people in China live in the countryside and have very limited access to education, services and employment opportunities.
Prejudice and discrimination are widespread and blind people, in particular, are further handicapped by a lack of access to information.
Despite the rapid growth of China's economy, disabled people remain severely disadvantaged.
In Touch for China
'In Touch for China' is produced by a core team of six visually impaired Chinese radio producers and journalists in Beijing.
The weekly radio programme is broadcast on local radio stations throughout China. It aims to improve the lives of visually impaired people, while simultaneously increasing the public's understanding of disability issues.
It covers issues such as visually impaired people's access to health care and education; problems and solutions relating to mobility; the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and social attitudes to blindness.
It is the first time disabled people in China have been in control editorially.
Working in partnership
‘In Touch for China' is produced by a Chinese non-governmental organisation (NGO), One Plus One'.
One Plus One was set up by and for disabled people to represent the needs and aspirations of disabled people in China.
In 2006, we worked with a Chinese media organisation, the Beijing Beacon Fire Centre, to establish a sustainable radio production facility for disabled people in Beijing.
We then worked with the Beijing Beacon Fire Centre to build One Plus One's skills and capacity to use the studio to produce radio programmes about disability issues.
Disability equality
The course has given me the confidence to go back to my village
Zhang Chengfang, ‘Disability equity' course participant
We began by training 12 visually impaired people and two sighted people in ‘disability equality'.
The five day course was lead by a visually impaired trainer from the UK. It aimed to empower participants - personally, socially and politically. It covered:
- Basic self-esteem and self-assertion
- Group dynamics
- Communication skills
- Story-telling skills
- Overview of disability history in the West
- Disability theory
- The nine basic societal assumptions of disability
"The course has given me the confidence to go back to my village, be proud of disability and work to improve the lives of other blind people in the countryside."
Zhang Chengfang, ‘Disability equity' course participant.
The production team
Five of the course participants were later selected to undergo intensive training to become radio producers for the ‘In Touch' programme.
They were joined by a sixth member of the team, Yang Qingfeng. Born blind, Yang was already working as a radio presenter in China.
The training included workshops on radio production skills and radio journalism skills.
Ongoing training
We worked with One Plus One to train six more visually impaired people to become radio producers in 2007.
They are currently working as trainee producers on the ‘In Touch' programme.
A further 30 visually impaired people attended radio journalism courses in 2007.
The objective was to teach them the basic skills necessary to produce radio programmes locally and then send desptaches to One Plus One for broadcast.
Extending reach
In 2007, One Plus One signed a contract with a major national distributor to provide its radio programmes to at least 50 radio stations throughout China in January 2008.
During the last three months of 2007, a further 14 programmes made by One Plus relating to disability and disabled people's rights were broadcast by Baotou Radio in Inner Mongolia.
Two and a half hours of live and pre-recorded programming were also transmitted by Beijing People's Radio, Hebei People's Radio, Hubei People's Radio, Baotou People's Radio and other regional stations.
Website and publicity
A website was built for One Plus One and the ‘In Touch for China' programme: http://oneplusone.org.cn.
Visitors can listen to many of the ‘In Touch for China' radio programme via the website.
The website also includes features and forums on disability and other related issues.
The news section of the website links to a large number of newspapers, TV stations and other media outlets that have reported on One Plus One's activities.
These demonstrate a growing level of visibility for the ‘In Touch for China' programme, which is changing attitudes towards disabled people and raising public awareness.
Articles on the work of One Plus One have appeared in the China Daily, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Jingbao Times, China Youth Daily and other national papers.
Beijing TV has covered One Plus One's work in its news reports and these have been aired both terrestrially, via satellite and on buses in Beijing.
Mobile advice clinics
The radio programmes are supplemented by ‘mobile advice clinics', which provide direct information and assistance to visually impaired people and their families in rural areas.
The clinics cover issues relating to legal rights, eye health and personal counselling.