Re-presenting para-sport bodies: Disability and the cultural legacy of the Paralympic Games.

Abstract

This report provides data and recommendations drawn from the rst funded academic project to examine the implications of the rapid commercialisation of the Paralympic Games and the increasing visibility of disa- bility in the media; in uenced by the success of Channel 4’s entry as the United Kingdom’s o cial Paralympic broadcaster in 2012. Through an integrated methodological approach, we provide a joined-up evidence base that captures the intentions and practices of Channel 4’s (C4) broadcasting of the Rio 2016 Paralympics; the in uence of this on the content of Paralympic coverage and mediated forms of disability representation; and the wider impact on public attitudes toward disability. This approach allowed us to examine the important and in uential relationship between Paralympic production practices, progressive social change and cultural legacies.