CounterSpin – July 31, 2015

This week on CounterSpin: Puerto Rico’s governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, told the New York Times the island’s debt is “not payable.” The debt crisis has already meant closing schools, losing jobs and shutting off healthcare options, so what does it mean that on the mainland, what’s happening in Puerto Rico is just a business story–and not a story story? We hear about that from Ed Morales, author of Living in Spanglish and currently a lecturer at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

Also on the show: If media couldn’t use phrases like “despite big strides, barriers remain,” it’s not clear they could even report on the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The legislation made it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in accommodation, transportation and employment, in order to encourage independent living and economic self-sufficiency. But with only some 20 percent of people with disabilities in the workforce, it’s very clear that barriers remain–and less clear that media are really committed to talking about them. Joining us to talk about that is Beth Haller, professor of mass communication at Towson University and author of Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media.

And first, as usual, we take a look back at the week’s press, including Chinese foreign investment, the Samuel DuBose killing and the US’s failing grade on human rights.

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