From the distant sidelines: stories of engagement with the London 2012 Paralympics from disabled people.
Authors: Hodges, C., Jackson, D. and Scullion, R.
Editors: Molesworth, M.
Pages: 189-202
Publisher: Routledge
Place of Publication: London
Abstract:The chapter offers insight into the varied ways disabled people engaged with the 2012 Paralympic Games, both as sporting spectacle and as change agent. We consider the distance that might exist between symbolic and discursive media representations of disability and everyday life for the disabled people who consume them. The stories gathered from participants suggest that whilst the Games resulted in disability becoming, at least temporarily, a mainstream media item with ‘newsworthiness’, the Paralympics did not impact upon their lives in any meaningful way or change their perceptions of how disability is engaged with by the media outside of sport.
Source: Manual
Preferred by: Dan Jackson