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Seasons greetings from Lens15

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Seasons greetings from Lens15

Wrapping up 2022 with a look back and ahead

Jason Strother
Dec 29, 2022
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Seasons greetings from Lens15

lens15.substack.com

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy holiday season and a great start to the new year!

This time of year beckons a look back at the accomplishments and hopefully not too many shortcomings of the past year. I’m a diligent list-maker and in this edition of the newsletter I want to jot down some of 2022’s most important stories for New Jersey’s disabled community as well as benchmarks for Lens15 Media.     

Looking Back

People with a disability in NJ faced some of the greatest challenges brought on by COVID19. But, while the pandemic seems like a thing of the past to many in our state, the disease still poses significant risks for those with chronic health, mobility or intellectual impairments as well as other conditions. COVID isn’t in the rear view mirror yet and we are still experiencing the fallout from what was often a botched response by the authorities. There’s no doubt these consequences will continue to be felt in 2023.   

  • Following numerous COVID deaths, New Jersey’s formerly largest nursing home closes 

But, it wasn’t all bad news. 

  • The Department of Transportation  published what it calls the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. :I wrote about this for my recent Lens Into NJ column for TAPinto.

    Those are:

  1. The Right to Be Treated with Dignity and Respect.

  2. The Right to Receive Information About Services and Aircraft Capabilities and Limitations.

  3.  The Right to Receive Information in an Accessible Format.

  4. The Right to Accessible Airport Facilities.

  5. The Right to Assistance at Airports.

  6. The Right to Assistance on the Aircraft.

  7. The Right to Travel with an Assistive Device or Service Animal.

  8. The Right to Receive Seating Accommodations.

  9. The Right to Accessible Aircraft Features.

  10. The Right to Resolution of a Disability-Related Issue.

  • Long overdue federal infrastructure funding will be used to make five NJ rail stations more accessible. 

  • NJ Transit also pledged to make accessibility improvements at another five  of its rail stations as well as improve Access Link- after being sued for violating the ADA. 

  • Legislation that could make disaster management more inclusive cleared more hurdles in the NJ State House. 

 A woman in a power wheelchair is seated at an outdoor patio. Ahead of her is a man seated in a chair and a woman standing behind a camera that is mounted to a tripod.
Jason and Keeley interview Timika Cheek at Project Freedom in Robinsville

This was also Lens15 Media’s nascent year in which it grew from just a bunch of ideas I had about pivoting my  career to a focus on disability to a fully fledged company in NJ’s local news ecosystem. In chronological order, here are some memorable moments:  

  • February: I complete CUNY’s Entrepreneurial Journalism Program, a 100-day crash course on starting a niche media business. 

  • March: I file the paperwork to form Lens15 Media, LLC.

  • April: The NJ Civic Information Consortium

  •  and NJ Health Initiatives awards Lens15 Media with a generous grant to help launch.

  • June: I start the Lens Into NJ column for TAPinto, which is picked-up by around 70 affiliates across the state. This humble newsletter also begins.

  • September: Lens15.com goes live. Big thanks to Stephen Revere at Intercultural Communications. 

  • October:  To coincide with the 10- year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Lens15 produces video reports on how the superstorm impacted people with disabilities in NJ. We also launch our YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok accounts.

  • November: I present Lens15 during a lightning talk session at the NJ Local News Summit 

  • December: I speak to journalism students at Montclair State University about finding the disability angle in every news story.

Looking Ahead

While Lens15 will continue to focus on news concerning people with a disability in New Jersey, we’re going to zoom-out a bit for a more global perspective. I’m leaving the Garden State at the end of January to start a seven-month research project in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. I was awarded a Fulbright Regional Research grant to report on how climate change affects people with disabilities in those countries and build on my previous work on these concerns in the Philippines, Bangladesh and NJ. So, future newsletters will also include some updates from my fieldwork. And Keeley Giblin, Lens15’s first intern, will become our first Social Media Coordinator.    

Sad Goodbyes

Lens15’s social media accounts could not have been launched without the help of Montclair State University seniors Jessica Reyes and Susan O’Sullivan. The two came to me via Hawk Communications, a course taught by Professor Keith Green that gives students hands-on experience  working with  small, local companies.

In a classroom, two women stand near a lectern adjacent to a projection screen. On the screen are the words social media campaign
Jessica Reyes (left) and Susan O’Sullivan (right) present their work on Lens15’s social media platforms to their class at Montclair State Univeristy

Jessica and Susan recently gave a presentation on their work with Lens15 and highlighted the growth in our online presence. It was great working with both of them and I hope they land jobs in PR as they near graduation next spring. 


Reads

A curated list of recent news stories that concern NJ’s disabled community. 

  • Advocates demand cameras in homes for developmentally disabled adults to reduce abuse

    New Jersey Monitor

  • Murphy signs bipartisan polstina-gopal-zwicker bill allowing disabled veterans to discharge student loans tax free

    Senatenj.com

  • Easterseals New Jersey appoints three NJ business and nonprofit leaders to its board of directors 

    New Jersey Stage

  • NJ’s special education ombudsman has not filed annual reports, as required by law

    Northjersey.com

  • Kean University highlights disability justice at human rights conference

    Tapinto.net

  • Advocates urge state to ensure schools address students with disabilities who missed services during pandemic

    NJ Spotlight News

  • Developer of Pokémon GO sued by NJ man claiming lack of accessibility for the visually impaired

    NorthJersey.com

  • Somebody should care about these patients

    NJ.com

  • U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches ADA Settlement with Educational Testing Service

    Department of Justice

  • Old NJ Transit, PATH stations will get accessibility upgrades using federal grants

    NJ.com 

  • JDKD Enterprises Will Pay $100,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

    US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

  • U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches Settlement with New Jersey Transit to Ensure New Jersey Transit’s Paratransit System Complies with Americans with Disabilities Act 

    Department of Justice

Keeley Giblin contributed to this newsletter.

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