Disability Narratives in Sports Communication: Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games’ Best Practices and Implications

Olga Kolotouchkina, Carmen Llorente-Barroso, María Luisa García-Guardia and Juan Pavón
Additional contact information
Olga Kolotouchkina: School of Humanities and Communication Sciences, University CEU San Pablo, Spain
Carmen Llorente-Barroso: Faculty of Information Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
María Luisa García-Guardia: Faculty of Information Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Juan Pavón: Institute of Knowledge Technology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

Media and Communication, 2021, vol. 9, issue 3, 101-111

Abstract: The Paralympic Games have become a relevant social and communication tool for the enhancement of global awareness and understanding of disability. The increasing visibility of this kind of global sports event, as well as the efforts of public authorities to make their host cities more accessible, evidence a relevant shift to new urban barrier-free experiences and discourses concerning disability. This research is guided by an exploratory case study approach to assess the disability representation and narratives within the context of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. The examination of some innovative communication strategies fostering the visibility of disability reveals a series of effective practices implemented in Japan. The focus on the personification of para-athletes, the celebration of public events to experience first-hand para-sports disciplines, as well as the engagement of school-children and young people in para-sports initiatives are predominant in the communication efforts of Tokyo 2020 in the pre-games period.

Keywords: disability; Paralympic Games; media; sports communication; Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games; Japan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/4043 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:101-111

DOI: 10.17645/mac.v9i3.4043

Access Statistics for this article

Media and Communication is currently edited by Raquel Silva

More articles in Media and Communication from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().