SELECTED ASPECTS OF THE PRESENTATION OF DISABILITY IN OPINION-FORMING MEDIA FROM POLAND ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE "WYDARZENIA" INFORMATION PROGRAM

<ns3:p>Disability is a phenomenon that affects the formation of social relations, and is also a current subject of social discourse. The rights of persons with disabilities and their social roles are both an inspiration for global activities and a new, developing trend in science. The activities undertaken focus, specifically on presenting people with disabilities, i.e., presenting their way of experiencing the world, eliminating barriers preventing them from satisfying their needs, equalizing opportunities on the labour market, etc. Attitudes towards this group have evolved in recent decades and a significant share of that should be attributed to the media, which, by influencing the awareness of recipients, help shape a new approach to the phenomenon of disability. This article describes and analyzes selected aspects of disability presented in the main broadcasts of "Wydarzenia" – an opinion-forming daily news program of Polsat television. In the selected and analyzed material empirical research, attention was paid to the moral dimension of the presented content like the way disability is presented, the ways of creating attitudes towards people with disabilities, how their needs were indicated, and the connotations they evoke. The analysis covered 90 main editions of "Wydarzenia" broadcast in autumn of 2020. The study used qualitative methods that are part of the broadly understood methods of content analysis. The analysis of the data allows us to conclude that Polsat's "Wydarzenia" can be called a medium conducive to social inclusion of people with disabilities.</ns3:p>