Preoccupied with Able-Bodiedness? An Analysis of the British Media Coverage of the 2000 Paralympic Games

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Thomas ◽  
Andrew Smith
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Olympic Athletes ◽  
Perceptions Of Disability ◽  
Athletes With Disabilities ◽  
Paralympic Games

This study analyzed British newspaper coverage of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. Sixty-two articles from 4 British newspapers were examined for the terminology used to describe athletes’ disabilities and the language and images used to portray athletes’ performances. The results suggest a tendency to convey the achievements of Paralympic athletes using medicalized descriptions of disability and to compare them to athletes without disabilities. Photographic coverage tended to hide the athletes’ impairments, and female athletes were less likely to be photographed in active poses. Although coverage emphasized the sporting achievement of athletes with disabilities by comparing them to Olympic athletes and by deemphasizing disability, it may have inadvertently reinforced stereotypical perceptions of disability and reaffirmed a preoccupation with able-bodiedness.

Spotlight on Athletes with a Disability: Malaysian Newspaper Coverage of the 2012 London Paralympic Games

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jadeera Phaik Geok Cheong ◽  
Selina Khoo ◽  
Rizal Razman
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Paralympic Games ◽  
Newspaper Articles

This study analyzed newspaper coverage of the 2012 London Paralympic Games by 8 Malaysian newspapers. Articles and photographs from 4 English-language and 4 Malay-language newspapers were examined from August 28 (1 day before the Games) to September 10, 2012 (1 day after the Games closing). Tables, graphs, letters, fact boxes, and lists of events were excluded from analysis. A total of 132 articles and 131 photographs were analyzed. Content analysis of the newspaper articles revealed that most (62.8%) of the articles contained positive reference to the athletes with a disability. There were equal numbers (39.1%) of action and static shots of athletes. More articles and photographs of Malaysian (58%) than non-Malaysian (42%) athletes with a disability were identified. Only 14.9% of the articles and photographs were related to female athletes with a disability.

Framing Gender and Disability: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Photographs From the 2008 Paralympic Games

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Ann M. Buysse ◽  
Bria Borcherding
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theoretical Construct ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Athletes With Disabilities ◽  
Paralympic Games

DePauw’s (1997) theoretical construct of sport and how we view the body focuses on three socially constructed ideals of physicality, masculinity, and sexuality. Those who do not fit into these ideals are marginalized when it comes to sport participation and media coverage. In this study the authors examined photographs from 12 print newspapers in five countries during the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing to determine how Paralympic athletes were treated. They examined the number of photographs and the content of each to determine whether athletes with disabilities are portrayed as tokens who are marginalized or treated as elite athletes. The findings support DePauw’s construct and point to gender and disability differences and hierarchy in print-media photographs.

An Ideal Misconstrued: Newspaper Coverage of the Atlanta Paralympic Games in France and Germany

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto J. Schantz ◽  
Keith Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
German Press ◽  
The Press ◽  
News Value ◽  
Athletes With Disabilities ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
Paralympic Games ◽  
The Way

The purpose of this study was to analyze newspaper coverage of the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics by the French and German press. Drawing on media theories and critical concepts of exclusion and disability. 104 articles from 8 French and German nationwide newspapers were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. The results suggest that performances of athletes with disabilities are of little importance to the French and German sport press. Indeed, the way in which the newspapers reported on the Paralympics misconstrued the ideal of the Paralympic Games. Instead of reporting on the sporting and idealistic aspects of this meeting, the press chose the commercial logic of general news value and focused primarily on national success and medal rankings of the countries.

scholarly journals Potentially Prolonged Psychological Distress from Postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games during COVID-19—Career Uncertainty in Elite Athletes

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Anders Håkansson ◽  
Karin Moesch ◽  
Caroline Jönsson ◽  
Göran Kenttä
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Sporting Events ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Career Uncertainty ◽  
Paralympic Games

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on the world of sports due to periods of home quarantine, bans against public gatherings, travel restrictions, and a large number of postponed or canceled major sporting events. The literature hitherto is sparse, but early indications display signs of psychological impact on elite athletes due to the pandemic. However, beyond acute effects from lockdown and short-term interrupted athletic seasons, the postponed and still uncertain Olympic and Paralympic Games may represent a major career insecurity to many athletes world-wide, and may lead to severe changes to everyday lives and potentially prolonged psychological distress. Given the long-term perspective of these changes, researchers and stakeholders should address mental health and long-term job insecurity in athletes, including a specific focus on those with small financial margins, such as many female athletes, parasports athletes, athletes in smaller sports, and athletes from developing countries. Implications and the need for research are discussed.

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on athletes with disabilities preparing for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Urbański ◽  
Łukasz Szeliga ◽  
Tomasz Tasiemski
Keyword(s):  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Training Time ◽  
Weekly Training ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Athletes With Disabilities ◽  
Sport Facilities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Paralympic Games ◽  
At Home

Abstract Objective The main aim of the study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on athletes preparing for the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games during 1 month of lockdown in Poland. The study involved 166 athletes (106 male, 66 female), members of either the Polish Paralympic Committee or the Polish Sports Association for the Disabled’Start’, two organizations responsible for managing and regulating sports played by persons with disabilities in Poland. Results Athletes with disabilities have been strongly affected by the pandemic and the resultant lockdown. The majority of respondents reported that they trained at home (88.6%), whereas 60.2% of athletes trained outdoors, and 12% suspended their training regimens altogether. Only 5.4% of athletes had some access to sport facilities. The athletes reduced their weekly training time by almost half (9.4 h/week vs. 5.3 h/week), a statistically significant difference (t = 16.261, p < 0.001).

Access for all: the rise of the Paralympic Games

2007 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Gold ◽  
Margaret M. Gold
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Opening Ceremony ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
Athletes With Disabilities ◽  
International Participation ◽  
Central Arena ◽  
Changing Attitudes ◽  
Therapeutic Competition ◽  
Second World ◽  
Paralympic Games

The Paralympic, or Parallel, Games for athletes with disabilities have played a major role over the past half century in changing attitudes towards disability and accelerating the agenda for inclusion. This article charts their development from small beginnings as a competition for disabled ex-servicemen and women in England founded shortly after the Second World War to the present day ambulatory international festival of Summer and Winter Games organized in conjunction with the Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games trace their origins to the work of Dr (later Sir) Ludwig Guttmann at the National Spinal Injuries Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire who used sport as an integral part of the treatment of paraplegic patients. A sports competition was held at the hospital to coincide with the Opening Ceremony of the London Games in July 1948. This became an annual event attracting the first international participation in 1952, after which it became the International Stoke Mandeville Games. From 1960 onwards attempts were made to hold every fourth Games in the Olympic host city. Despite initial success in staging the 1960 Games in Rome and the 1964 Games in Tokyo, subsequent host cities refused to host the competitions and alternative locations were found where a package of official support, finance and suitable venues could be assembled. In 1976, the scope of the Games was widened to accept other disabilities. From 1988 onwards, a process of convergence took place that saw the Paralympics brought into the central arena of the Olympics, both literally and figuratively. In the process they have embraced new sports, have encompassed a wider range of disabilities, and helped give credence to the belief that access to sport is available to all. The Paralympics also underline the change from sport as therapeutic competition to that of elite events that carry intrinsic prestige, with growing rivalry over medal tables. For the future, however, questions remain as to whether the current arrangements of separate but supposedly equal festivals assist the continuing development of the Paralympics or perpetuate difference.

The Social Construction of Corporate Violence: Media Coverage of the Imperial Food Products Fire

1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Wright ◽  
Francis T. Cullen ◽  
Michael B. Blankenship
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Food Products ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Processing Plant ◽  
Criminal Convictions ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media

Although investigative reports have contributed to the social movement against white-collar crime, few studies assess the extent to which the media socially construct corporate violence as a “crime.” We examine this issue through a content analysis of newspaper coverage of the fire-related deaths of 25 workers at the Imperial Food Products chicken-processing plant, which resulted in the company's owner pleading guilty to manslaughter. The analysis revealed that newspaper reports largely attributed the deaths to the lax enforcement of safety regulations but did not initially construct the deaths as a crime or subsequently publicize the criminal convictions.

Deuce or advantage? Examining gender bias in online coverage of professional tennis

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 517-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Yip
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Gender Representations ◽  
Tennis Players ◽  
Gender Beliefs ◽  
Professional Tennis ◽  
Official Site ◽  
Gender Specific

Despite the increasing popularity of women’s sports, it has generally been found that female athletes receive less media coverage and are portrayed negatively with myriad gender-specific descriptors. Such biased representations warrant attention as they construct and reinforce traditional gender beliefs. This study compared the representations of female and male tennis players on the official site of the Australian Open 2015 and ESPN. A total of 357 articles were analysed using content analysis. The findings showed that gender representations on the two media outlets were quite similar as they both portrayed female players more negatively than male players by focusing on a few areas directly or indirectly: athletic weaknesses, negative skills, mental weaknesses and non-competitive roles (including appearance, attire, family and personal relationship). However, the use of certain descriptors might indicate the possibility of more gender-neutral representations of athletes in the future. It was concluded that while hegemonic masculinity was challenged at times, stereotypical beliefs about females were largely reinforced in the mediated gender representations on the two websites.

The Funhouse Mirror

2012 ◽  
pp. 55-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Hardin ◽  
Bu Zhong ◽  
Thomas F. Corrigan
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Professional Sports ◽  
Federally Funded ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Education Amendments Of 1972 ◽  
Sports Commentary ◽  
Masculine Hegemony

Depictions of professional sports and athletes in U.S. mainstream media have generally been indicted for reinforcing masculine hegemony and ignoring women’s and amateur sports. This study explored the attitudes and values of independent sports bloggers in relationship to gender and, more specifically, to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded institutions. A survey of 200 independent sports bloggers was conducted to determine whether the sports blogosphere provides an alternative to depictions of sports offered through mainstream media coverage. Survey results demonstrate that the sports blogosphere has yet to become a truly alternative, egalitarian space for sports commentary. The analysis suggests that increased participation of female bloggers who are willing to cover female athletes and advocate for women’s sports can alleviate the situation. Otherwise, the sports blogosphere will merely replicate old-media values.

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