Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Kinesiology

Supervisor

Misener, Laura

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how Paralympic athletes make meaning of discourses of disability within Paralympic media coverage. This involved semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews with eight Canadian Paralympic athletes. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data utilizing Foucault’s notions of discourse, power and technologies of the self. The findings demonstrate that Paralympic athletes made meaning of the discourses of disability within Paralympic media coverage by drawing on their lived and media experiences. Athletes with more media experience articulated problematizations of dominant discourses of disability in Paralympic media coverage and engagement in technologies of the self. Knowledge generated from this study offers media personnel an informed understanding of how Paralympic athletes understand representations of disability and disability sport. This knowledge may offer insight and inform future media approaches of disability sport and the Paralympic Games.

Summary for Lay Audience

The Paralympic Games are a mega sporting event for elite athletes with impairment. Media coverage of the Paralympic Games has a role in how elite athletes with impairment and disability sport are perceived by the public. In order to understand how media coverage may be a force for positive social change regarding disability, it is essential to understand how Paralympic athletes perceive Paralympic media representation. The purpose of this study was to examine how Paralympic athletes understand representations of disability within Paralympic media coverage of themselves and of other Paralympic athletes. This involved semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews with eight Canadian Paralympic athletes. Knowledge generated from this study offers media personnel an informed understanding of how Paralympic athletes understand representations of disability and disability sport. This knowledge may offer insight and inform future media approaches of disability sport and the Paralympic Games.

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