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

Thomas, Nigel; Smith, Andrew W.

doi:10.1123/apaq.20.2.166

Cited by 91 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Recent disability studies and media representation scholarship, using more critical social science perspectives, have provided nuanced and detailed analysis of disability sport, in particular the Paralympics Games (Thomas & Smith, 2003;Ellis, 2009;Purdue & Howe, 2012). There are three related critical issues from this literature -representations of the Paralympic Games and Paralympians, the Paralympic Paradox (Howe 2008), and representations of gender and disability.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than Sport: Representations of Ability and Gender by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) of the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games

Quinn

Yoshida

2016

CJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: To examine the CBC's television coverage of two highlighted Canadian Paralympic athletes who participated at the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games held in Athens, Greece. This analysis focuses on representations of ability and gender to consider the repercussions of these representations for Paralympians, people living with physical difference, and spectators. Methods: Informed by disability studies theory and Garland- Thomson's (2000) work, qualitative research methods were used to analyze segments of CBC's television coverage of two Canadian Paralympians, one male and one female, for dominant and recurring themes. Results: Multiple positive representations of athletes were presented in the data. The dominant theme was the athletic. Though a positive alternative to negative stereotypes of ability this representation is used solely for the female athlete in this case study. The analysis of the male athlete revealed a more nuanced, complex representation. Within this analysis, the asexuality of female athletes with a physical difference is perpetuated and male hegemony within sport is reinforced. Conclusions: Media has a powerful role in the construction of social perceptions of people with physical difference. Based on this analysis, the CBC coverage promoted a more fully human portrayal of the highlighted male Paralympian. However, its representation of the female athlete continued to reinforce ableist assumptions regarding ability and the asexuality of women with a disability. Sport journalism is a powerful medium that constructs representations of people with physical difference. However, critical analyses of these representations are necessary to reinforce those that are positive and realistic representations of people with physical difference.

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than Sport: Representations of Ability and Gender by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) of the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games

Quinn

Yoshida

2016

CJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These comments highlight the issue that in the media coverage of Paralympic sport there is a disproportionate emphasis around impairment compared to sporting achievement (Thomas and Smith 2003). For some of our participants the sport and impairment relationship is problematic when Paralympic athletes are represented through the eyes of the media in such a way.…”

Section: Part Of This Narrative Is Whatmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…This fits with Peers' (2009) view that Paralympic athletes are made anonymous, and reinforces the long held view of disabled activists that attitudes towards disabled people are 'paternal' (Coleridge 1993;Davis 1994). Much of the Paralympic coverage is focused on the patronizing language around disablement (Smith and Thomas 2005;Thomas and Smith 2003). Moreover the paternalistic nature of the Paralympics was mentioned by our participants in a wider context.…”

Section: Part Of This Narrative Is Whatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Firstly, the representation of disabled people in the Paralympics -this was based on non-disabled people controlling the portrayal of disabled people (Campbell and Oliver 1996;Peers 2009;Shakespeare 2000); secondly, Paralympic athletes as role models -based on the portrayal of disabled people as passive, anonymous and heroic (Peers 2009;Shakespeare 2000); thirdly, media coverage of the Paralympic Gamesfrom the distorted media view of disabled people (Barnes 1991, 207;Barnes and Mercer 2011;Peers 2009;Thomas and Smith 2003); fourthly, what impact these issues might have on people's views of disability -based on the dominant view 'that disability is a tragic happening,' and the Paralympic Movement reproduces disabled people as 'tragic' (Oliver 1996, 32;Peers 2009). …”

Section: Methodsologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

‘A mockery of equality’: an exploratory investigation into disabled activists’ views of the Paralympic Games

Braye

Dixon²,

Gibbons³

2013

Disability & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…and 'swept along' as, once engaged, the unfolding of the event gripped the spectator (Thomas and Smith 2003). The focus on the sporting spectacle is, for many, regarded a more appropriate and desirable form of engagement with such mediated coverage (Purdue and Howe 2012).…”

Section: Analysis and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From awww to awe factor: UK audience meaning-making of the 2012 Paralympics as mediated spectacle

Hodges

Scullion

Jackson

2015

Journal of Popular Television, The

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article considers UK audiences' meaning-making of television coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. As an elite sporting event, the Paralympics has been categorized alongside other high-profile media spectacles. Yet, an analysis of the 'spectacle' has further significance here in relation to what Mitchell and Snyder conceptualize as 'fascination with spectacles of difference', which encourages audiences to view the disabled person through their impairment, rather than as a human being. Inspirational 'supercrip' stories that glorify 'special achievement' fuel perceptions that disabled athletes have extraordinary, heroic qualities, and coverage of the 2012 Paralympics was no different. The spectacle is created through everyday talk. Therefore, we utilize in-depth interviews supported by netnography-inspired methods to consider to what extent media representations appropriated disability into 'spectacle', consequently perpetuating ablest discourses, whilst also addressing the intended social agenda by facilitating greater understanding. Our findings suggest an unexpected emotional engagement with the (mostly) sporting spectacle, with audience narratives moving from 'awww' to 'awe' as sporting achievement was celebrated. The disabled sporting 'hero' as 'superhero' is, we argue, further evidence of the influence of discourses that attempt to transform a stigmatized identity, i.e. disability, into a revered one -athleticism, thus reinforcing existing hierarchies of ability/disability.

show abstract

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

Cited by 91 publications

References 27 publications

More than Sport: Representations of Ability and Gender by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) of the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games

More than Sport: Representations of Ability and Gender by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) of the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games

‘A mockery of equality’: an exploratory investigation into disabled activists’ views of the Paralympic Games

From awww to awe factor: UK audience meaning-making of the 2012 Paralympics as mediated spectacle

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About