Disabilities in the Media

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(Channel 4 Tokyo 2020 Paralympics campaign)

    Media portrayal of disabilities has traditionally been very negative and has created harmful stereotypes about people with disabilities. From TV shows and movies to newscasts and articles, the same few tropes and narratives have been used, which have enforced negative stigmas towards disabilities. Because of this portrayal and the fact that people with disabilities have always been looked down upon, media coverage of the Paralympics is not what it should be for how common disabilities are in the world today. There have been many different ideas on how to increase and change media coverage of disabled sports and portrayal of disabilities, but there is still a lot that needs to change. 

 

Portrayal of Disabilities in the Media

    While media portrayal of disabilities is beginning to become normalized, showing them more accurately, it began with them being shown in a very negative light and is still seen today in many TV shows and movies. One of the most obvious portrayals is villains in TV shows and movies.  Captain Hook, an amputee; Darth Vader, an amputee and burn survivor; and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, wheelchair user, all teach viewers to fear those who appear different. Because so much of media coverage of disabilities is negative, it teaches people that those with disabilities are inferior to those without disabilities.

     

    The “supercrip” is another harmful trope. This trope is harmful because it tells non-disabled people that those with disabilities need to overcome their disability, usually in superhuman ways, to be recognized and worthy. It says that unless the person is "superhuman," then they have failed at "overcoming" their disability. However, a disability is not something that needs to be overcome. Those with disabilities may need assistance or accommodations, but that is very different than the need to "overcome" their disability. Characters with disabilities are also often portrayed as a victim of their disability. This trope is harmful because it tells non-disabled people that people with disabilities are helpless and should be pitied. The “victim” trope inaccurately represents the daily life of a person with a disability. Because so much of media coverage of disabilities is negative, it teaches people that those with disabilities are inferior to those without disabilities. They are either evil, helpless, or have to overachieve to be worthy.

Media Coverage of Disabled Sports

    The Paralympics are the third largest sporting event in the world, however, the media coverage is not what it should be for an event of that magnitude. Two of the problems are the lack of media coverage and the inaccuracy of the coverage. The first time the Paralympics were covered on a major US network was in 2021. The AP news article said NBC would only show 3 athletes that were performing. NBC is a very large news network that could have put a lot more effort and money into their Paralympic coverage. It was difficult to find data on the disparity of media coverage between the Olympics and the Paralympics because not a lot of research has been done on the disparity of media coverage between the two. Specifically on NBC, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics averaged 15.6 millions views per night, while the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics had 14 million viewers over the course of the games.  The accuracy problem comes into play because Paralympians are often portrayed as “inspiration porn.” They are looked at as inspirational because they have a disability but participate in competitive sport, instead of being inspirational because they are skilled in their sport. While a disability may shape some parts of a person's life, it is important that their disability is not used to draw sympathy or pity during Paralympic campaigns. Much of the coverage shows Paralympians as the “supercrip” trope that is also seen on TV and in movies. Other narratives specifically studied in Paralympic media coverage are extraordinary normalcy, ableist rehabilitation, and sporting able-nationalism (Pullen, et al., 2020). Most of the narratives in Paralympic media coverage overlook the skill, talent, and hard work the athlete has and instead make their disability as the center focus. 

    The Paralympics are the third largest sporting event in the world, however, the media coverage is not what it should be for an event of that magnitude. Two of the problems are the lack of media coverage and the inaccuracy of the coverage. The first time the Paralympics were covered on a major US network was in 2021. The AP news article said NBC would only show 3 athletes that were performing. NBC is a very large news network that could have put a lot more effort and money into their Paralympic coverage. It was difficult to find data on the disparity of media coverage between the Olympics and the Paralympics because not a lot of research has been done on the disparity of media coverage between the two. Specifically on NBC, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics averaged 15.6 millions views per night, while the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics had 14 million viewers over the course of the games.  The accuracy problem comes into play because Paralympians are often portrayed as “inspiration porn.” They are looked at as inspirational because they have a disability but participate in competitive sport, instead of being inspirational because hey are skilled in their sport. While a disability may shape some parts of a person's life, it is important that their disability is not used to draw sympathy or pity during Paralympic campaigns. Much of the coverage shows Paralympians as the “supercrip” trope that is also seen on TV and in movies. Other narratives specifically studied in Paralympic media coverage are extraordinary normalcy, ableist rehabilitation, and sporting able-nationalism (Pullen, et al., 2020). Most of the narratives in Paralympic media coverage overlook the skill, talent, and hard work the athlete has and instead make their disability as the center focus. 


Changing Media Coverage of Disabled Sports
The Paralympics and other disabled sports, such as the Special Olympics and the Deaflympics, are vital in ensuring equal opportunity and fairness in sports, so it is very important for representation of disabilities in the media to majorly improve. Bigger news networks need to cover the Paralympics, with better accuracy, more effort, and increased funding. Channel 4’s coverage of the 2012 London Paralympics showed the success of this. They increased the number of commercials with disabilities featured, increased the amount of presenters with disabilities, increased the coverage of Paralympians in the media, and increased the awareness of the Paralympics from 16% to 77% (Ford Foundation, 2019). Channel 4’s coverage of the London 2012 Paralympics contributed to the growth from 10.6 million viewers for the Athens 2004 games to 31.6 million viewers for the 2016 Rio games (Kolotouchkina, et all 2020). Furthermore, they changed the narrative, so the presentation and portrayal of the Paralympians was accurate and not just falling into one of the tropes. Furthermore, all of Channel 4’s Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games presenters had disabilities. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics sign, "It's Rude Not to Stare," is an example of how Channel 4 is changing the narrative because it turned the conversation around on the topic of disabilities (IPC). Channel 4’s work in covering the Paralympics proves that increasing media coverage and changing the way Paralympians are portrayed increases the awareness, inclusivity, and equality surrounding disabilities and sports.

  

Disabilities also need to be represented more accurately in the media. There needs to be a shift from the narrative “they play sports despite being disabled” to “they play sports, and they are disabled.” One major way to improve disability portrayal is to stop portraying villains, supercrips, or victims with disabilities. The negative connotations that come from these overused tropes are harmful to everyone with disabilities. It is crucial that disabilities in the media are portrayed accurately so that people in real life with disabilities are not seen as a villain, a victim, or something to be pitied.


References

Heumann, Judith E., Salinas, Katherine, and Hess, Michellie (2019). Road Map for Inclusion: 

Changing the Face of Disability in the Media. FordFoundation. 

https://www.fordfoundation.org/media/4276/judyheumann_report_2019_final.pdf. 

Kolotouchkina, Olga & Barroso, Carmen & Pavón, Juan & Guardia, M Luisa. (2020). Disability, 

Sport, and Television: Media Visibility and Representation of Paralympic Games in News 

Programs. Sustainability. 13. 10.3390/su13010256. 

Pullen, E., Jackson, D., Silk, M., Howe, P.D., and Silva, C.F. (2020). Extraordinary normalcy, 

ableist rehabilitation, and sporting ablenationalism: The cultural (re-)production of 

Paralympic disability narratives. Sociology of Sport Journal. 

       http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34664/3/SSJ%20Supercrip%20paper%20for%20web.pdf







 

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