Norway has the world’s first TV station that is run for and by people with learning disabilities.
All reporters at TV BRA, which translates to “TV Good”, are autistic or have learning disabilities. They host a weekly programme that covers various topics across news, entertainment, and sports. The hour-long show is broadcast on TV BRA’s app and website, and TV2 play, a major Norwegian streaming platform.
Specially curated for people with disabilities, the show has a slower pace and is presented in simple Norwegian. The show has a weekly viewership of 4,000 and 5,000 people.
The station has 10 reporters who work as local news correspondents from various locations across the country.
“I have to follow the script and not talk about personal stuff – because here is about the news. When I work here I have to be very professional,” said Emily Ann Riedel, who has Down’s Syndrome and works at Stavanger, according to BBC.
While Riedel and her colleagues, who have mild learning impairments, can speak English well and travel independently, some things remain a challenge for them.
“Sometimes it can be difficult to say what’s in the cue cards, so we have to do it again and again,” says Camilla Kvalheim, the managing editor of the station. Kvalheim also provides on-the-job training for her team as they did not study journalism at university before working at the station. She holds high expectations from her team.
Kvalheim, who used to work as a teacher for people with learning disabilities more than a decade ago, decided that she wanted to pursue her filmmaking passion. She noted that the dynamics of the people she was working with changed once they started working with the camera.
“Suddenly when we were working together on those films, we were a crew, we were a team. It wasn’t me over them – we were equal,” Kvalheim recalls.
She was encouraged to keep up her work when she realised her creative peers had much to say about the world. Now the station is a national network with a proper studio.
‘Talking about people with a disability’
Kvalheim admits that the reporters are paid less than those who work at other networks. While they receive funds from the state and revenue from the weekly show on TV2, they are on a tight budget.
In Norway and many other countries, people with learning disabilities are faced with various issues from low employment rates to access to housing and support. TV BRA empowers them to understand the news and help raise awareness about these issues.
“TV BRA is very important,” said Svein Andre Hofsø a reporter based in Oslo, who works with TV BRA. “Because we are talking about people with a disability, and what are our rights in real life.”
While there are other similar channels in Denmark and Iceland that focus on simplified programmes for people with learning disabilities, they are not presented by people who have learning disabilities.
“I think this TV station is really important for our community,” says Anne-Britt Ekerhovd, a fan of the station, who has a learning disability. “They explain things really well. In different news like NRK, they explain it too hard for us to understand. TV BRA is much easier to understand.”
(With inputs from agencies)
