Rada TV channel featured a big story about people on the autistic spectrum as part of the national telethon. This is reported by Detector Media citing journalist, writer, and mother of an autistic child, consultant of projects for children on the autistic spectrum of the Voices of Children Foundation Olena Pshenychna.
It was prepared by news presenter and journalist of the channel Olha Nemtseva, who, back in October last year, compared Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to people on the autistic spectrum. In response, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics made a statement about the inadmissibility of spreading hate speech against people on the spectrum. The Commission emphasized that autism spectrum disorders are not a disease, but a condition that arises as a result of specific brain development and is characterized by an innate and comprehensive deficit in social interaction and communication. In addition, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics called on the Rada TV channel, and host Olha Nemtseva to publicly apologize for mentioning autism on air and to implement relevant non-discrimination policies in the content.
According to Olena Pshenychna, on the same day, she received a call from Olha Nemtseva, who apologized.
“We talked for a long time. Olia was really sincere in her words. We reached the conclusion that such statements are still possible because there are still a lot of myths about autism and just plain ignorance,” the journalist wrote.
Then, according to Pshenychna, the presenter suggested making a big story about autism in the telethon. The story aired as part of the telethon on April 3, 2023, during the Autism Acceptance Week.
The story was almost 30 minutes. It contains personal accounts of several people on the spectrum, including children, conversations with them and their parents. Commentary for the story was provided by a few experts, including psychologist Vanui Martyrosian, employee of the Inclusion and Resource Center Liudmyla Shamsudynova, a karate coach Maksym Nistor, who works with children on the spectrum.
“This is an excellent material. Olia did a titanic job, collected and processed a lot of information, interviews, looked into the smallest details and made a really informative, but at the same time, very human and ethical video about autism and people on the autistic spectrum.
This is a story about how you can and should recognize your mistakes with dignity. This requires humanity and courage. Olia definitely has them. Thank you, Olia,” wrote Pshenychna.
The Commission on Journalistic Ethics welcomes the work carried out by the Rada TV channel and journalist Olha Nemtseva. Everyone can make mistakes, but the important thing is recognizing one’s mistake and making an effort to fix things.
We remind you that on October 18, 2023, live on United News telethon, journalist of the Rada TV channel Olha Nemtseva said that the behavior of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was “very similar to autism”. This caused a public outcry on social media. Olena Pshenychna also responded to it by publishing an article on hromadske. Later, Olha Nemtseva apologized on the air, calling her remark “inappropriate” but not specifying which remark she meant.
* A note on language: due to the current preference among English-speaking people on the autistic spectrum to be referred to as such, or as “on the spectrum” or as “autistic people,” reflecting that autism is part of their identity rather than something “external,” this publication has been written in a way to reflect this.