This book focuses on the ground-breaking coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games by the UK’s publicly owned but commercially funded Channel 4 network, coverage which seemed to deliver a transformational shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities. It sheds important new light on our understanding of media production and its complex interactions with sport and wider society. Drawing on political economy and cultural studies, the book explores why and how a marginalised group was brought into the mainstream by the media, and the key influencing factors and decision-making processes. Featuring interviews with key people involved in the television and digital production structures, as well as organisational archives, it helps us to understand the interplay between creativity and commerce, between editorial and marketing workflows, and about the making of meaning. The book also looks at coverage of the Rio Paralympics, and ahead to the Tokyo Games, and at changing global perceptions of disability through sport. This is fascinating reading for any advanced students, researchers, or sport management or media professionals looking to better understand the media production process or the significance of sport and disability in wider society.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games - the biggest, most accessible and best-attended games in the Paralympics' 64-year history - came with an explicit aim to "transform the perception of disabled people in society," and use sport to contribute to "a better world for all people with a disability." This social agenda offered the potential to re-frame disability; to symbolically challenge "ableist" ideology and to offer a reinvention of the (dis)abled body and a redefinition of the possible. This edited collection investigates what has and is happening in relation to these ambitions. The book is structured around three key questions: 1. What were the predominant mediated narratives surrounding the Paralympics, and what are the associated meanings attached to them? 2. How were the Paralympics experienced by media audiences (both disabled and non-disabled)? 3. To what extent did the 2012 Paralympics inspire social change? Each section of this book is interspersed with authentic "voices" from outside academia: broadcasters, athletes and disabled schoolchildren.

Every four years, hundreds of disabled athletes from around the world gather together to compete in the largest sporting event of its kind - the Paralympic Games. Yet there is always one question which overshadows the Games - does the Paralympics empower individuals with disability, or is it simply a sop to the major Olympic event? Divided into five specific areas of study - Public and Media Perceptions; Inside the Paralympic Games; Olympics vs. Paralympics; Cultural Diversity; and Future Directions - this thoroughly researched volume attempts to bring this discussion out into the open and, if not provide an answer, then to pave the way for future investigation that might.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games - the biggest, most accessible and best-attended games in the Paralympics' 64-year history - came with an explicit aim to "transform the perception of disabled people in society," and use sport to contribute to "a better world for all people with a disability." This social agenda offered the potential to re-frame disability; to symbolically challenge "ableist" ideology and to offer a reinvention of the (dis)abled body and a redefinition of the possible. This edited collection investigates what has and is happening in relation to these ambitions. The book is structured around three key questions: 1. What were the predominant mediated narratives surrounding the Paralympics, and what are the associated meanings attached to them? 2. How were the Paralympics experienced by media audiences (both disabled and non-disabled)? 3. To what extent did the 2012 Paralympics inspire social change? Each section of this book is interspersed with authentic "voices" from outside academia: broadcasters, athletes and disabled schoolchildren.

The Paralympic Games is the second largest multi-sport festival on earth and an event which poses profound and challenging questions about the nature of sport, disability and society. The Paralympic Games Explained is the first complete introduction to the Paralympic phenomenon, exploring every key aspect and issue, from the history and development of the Paralympic movement to the economic and social impact of the contemporary Games. The book introduces the three most important theoretical models of disability (medical, social and bio-social), to enable the reader to fully understand the Paralympics in the context of wider discussions of disability in society. It also offers a straightforward explanation of the importance of language and terminology in shaping our understanding of disability and disability sport. Including international examples and comparative material throughout, the book offers detailed and broad-ranging discussion of key issues such as: how societal attitudes influence disability sport the governance of Paralympic and elite disability sport the relationship between the Paralympics and the Olympics drugs and technology in disability sport classification in disability sport. Containing useful features throughout, such as review questions, study activities, web links and guides to further reading, The Paralympic Games Explained is the most accessible, comprehensive and thoughtful guide to the Paralympics currently available. It is essential reading for all students with an interest in disability sport, sporting mega-events, the politics of sport, or disability in society.

Raising questions and debates crucial to students of social and disability studies, this book queries the Paralympic games' development as a positive one, and questions its role as a vehicle for the empowerment of the disabled community.