Media Coverage On the Paralympics

     There are a few things that I think could be done to increase Paralympic media coverage and all other disabled sports combined. First, I think that for more media coverage to be made, there must be more investment into media that covers disabled sports. Not only this, but encouragement should also be made toward larger networks and platforms to stream the Paralympics or Paralympic advertising. Ads are also a great way to bring the Paralympic games to people's attention, although you must be aware how these commercials frame the athletes. While watching the Paralympic commercials for this week's material, I found that they all stood out to me as showcasing the importance of the ability and the humanness of the athletes rather than focusing on the disability of the athlete. 

    I find that this type of media coverage for disabled people could further serve to address the issues of how people with disabilities are often portrayed in lights that negatively impact the disabled community. These types of portrayals include but are not limited to; painting disabled people as heroes, as victims, or helpless. By challenging this kind of stereotyping, we can help to bring this narrative about disabled people into a more neutral light. Disabled people are not superhuman because they have had to overcome physical obstacles, but rather they are super (exceedingly) human, prone to imperfections, just like everyone else is. People with disabilities have ambitions and goals that they fight for, and aren't any more or less special for reaching those goals. By not overly pitying or praising disabled people for doing everyday tasks, maybe we can all begin to look at each other from a more equal standing, which I believe is a good start to becoming a more inclusive society.

    By using one of our generation's biggest assets– social media, anyone can be involved in raising awareness or interest in the Paralympic games. Aside from that, you can educate people about disability awareness through many forms of media, and seek to amplify disabled people and athletes' voices and thoughts in the conversation. By fostering support for the community, there could be more efforts made into advocating for policy changes in the media and governmental support. Policy changes in media coverage could help younger or future Paralympians to truly get the type of respect and recognition that their abled Olympian counterparts have consistently had access to. By implementing these types of changes, I think that the general public could come to see the Paralympic games as something that they look forward to and are excited to watch because of the athleticism and competition.