Countering Ableism In The Paralympics And Disability Sport Coverage

Journalist Aman Misra on mainstreaming non-ableist coverage of Paralympics, acceptance of psychosocial disabilities in newsrooms, WhatsApp accessibility, and recommendations

Dear Readers,

Last week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s breakfast weather presenter Nate Byrne had a panic attack while he was on live television. He told the viewers what he was experiencing, handed over to his co-presenter, and left to take care of himself. For a lot of journalists worldwide, this is not a familiar experience. They often don’t find support for their disability in their newsrooms.

It wasn’t the first time Nate had experienced a panic attack while broadcasting. Previously, he had received enormous support in such a situation from his audiences too, some of whom felt seen and heard. 

In a 2022 article, Nate wrote how important it is for him to be able to be open about his anxiety: “Talking about my anxiety and seeking treatment mean that it's something I can live with and manage. And it means I can keep doing the thing I love.”

One important tip he shared: “Making sure your support network knows that you sometimes need assistance, and how they can support you, is essential.”

Is your newsroom or workplace supportive of your disability? Hit reply to let me know, or leave a comment. 

For all new subscribers, I’m Priti Salian, the creator of this newsletter.

Are you as excited about the Paralympics as I am? Not many people know that the Paralympics are being held in Paris from 28th August to September 8th, two and half weeks after the Olympics ended, and for the first time, all 22 Paralympic events will receive some live coverage. 

As one of the biggest gatherings of people with disabilities, the Paralympics play a key role in shaping society's understanding and perception of disability. In an interview with Reframing Disability, Aman Misra talks about the ableism in Paralympics and disability sport coverage, especially in India, and what journalists can do to counter it.

Aman is a deaf Indian journalist, currently a PhD scholar and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His area of research is in the media perception of sports for persons with disabilities and public memory in sport. Aman is part of a team from the University of Tennessee comprising undergraduates and tenured faculty members, where he will be advising and guiding undergraduates covering the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Aman wears hearing aids that help him perceive nearby sounds. He says he can comfortably listen to phone calls and conversations in small classrooms where he teaches undergraduate students. However, in larger spaces where sound dissipates, he relies on lip-reading to understand what people say. When he briefly worked for Indian newsrooms such as the Indian Express, ESPN, Golf Digest, etc., he used to depend on lip-reading and asking folks to repeat what they said. 

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“In India, we haven't even reached a point where there is consistency and continuity in the coverage of disability”

What are some key ableist themes you have found in the media coverage of the Paralympics and disability sport?

For a lot of people worldwide, Paralympics is the first introduction to disability at the mainstream level. Therefore, the media perception of the Paralympics is extremely important. 

But journalistic organisations across the planet, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, have stereotypical ways in which they cover disability. It is written in every academic text that we need to be reframing and rethinking disability not as a disadvantage, but rather as a separate identity itself that is no longer defined as the opposite of able-bodied.

There are common themes that come up in media coverage, like, the #SuperCrip concept, with a focus on how the person has “overcome their disability”. If someone has a visible disability and a sexy-looking prosthetic or hearing aids, they are accepted back into society as somebody who has “overcome their disability” and achieved something “despite their disability”. 

This historically ties back to the idea that women athletes with disabilities, disabled athletes from lesser-known sports or lesser-known countries outside the Global North, and athletes with higher support needs have been given much less coverage when compared to athletes with visible disabilities.

Even when persons with disabilities are interviewed, they are not given the opportunity to convey their identity to audiences because the communicator uses pity messages and condescending stories to convey disability through the media. 

Sometimes, though, the elements of a story that contribute to framing are beyond the control of a journalist. For example, headlines written by others in the editorial team that could have different meanings from what the person with a disability and journalist are trying to convey and impact how readers define and understand broader constructs of disability.

Overall, focusing on their athletic ability rather than the disability, and replacing the framing of disability as sick, frail, weak and defective, with its newer notions of equality, belonging, and participation, are some things the media should do. 

How we understand and explain disability, matters.

What kind of stories are missing in the Indian coverage of Paralympics and disability sport? What would you like to see more of?

[Newsrooms need to do a reality check] about whether they are covering only elite sports events such as the Paralympics and only certain major, important, elite disabled athletes. There are a lot of other para sport events happening around the year which need coverage, Indian disabled athletes who play around the world and also athletes who are trying to get to international tournaments by virtue of their results at state and national level competitions in the country. 

One of the important things to talk about is how the classification system excludes certain disabilities. Disability is still under surveillance by able bodied people such as medical and sport administrators who decide what a disabled person can or cannot do with their bodies.

Harper's Bazaar India’s August issue has featured Paralympian Aruna Tanwar on the cover, which is great. I love that just before the Paralympics, they're talking about an athlete with a disability. But why does Harper’s Bazaar or any feminist-minded neoliberal magazine in South Asia, have to wait for the Paralympics to put all of these athletes on the cover? I don't see them doing it again in the next four years. They're going to wait for the next Paralympics to feature the next one.

Then, do these same newsrooms cover topics, for example, about women with disabilities in rural India who are not allowed to leave their homes? Do we have accessible sporting facilities for them? Do we have places where they can go and just hang out and chill and not have to spend money on a beer or coffee? 

I haven't seen an opinion piece by an Indian journalist such as if the Paralympics are integrated into the Olympics, would it introduce the rest of the world to disability the way it does as a standalone event currently? Or an investigation into disability injustices in state sports in Haryana? Or an article about how Indian Paralympics women athletes are practising disability activism and using social media to amplify their voices at a time when the mainstream media is still ignoring disability sport. Those perspectives, I feel, are still theoretical constructs in India.

In India, we haven't even reached a point where there is consistency and continuity in the coverage of disability. The disability movement is still not a part of mainstream discourse in India. Some para-athletes have told me that journalists only reach out to them when they find their social media posts about a medal they have won or on days like International Women’s Day. News organisations are still looking at the coverage of disability sport from the “news value” point of view.

Identity politics within the disability movement is lacking and unless that happens, it's not going to become continuous in Indian culture/discourse. In India, disability is seen as a feel-good, non-political entity that is stuck in a mix of a charity-pity-social model. Despite the existence of a federal disability law which was reinforced and reintroduced in 2016, persons with disabilities do not have any political say, except for a small selective group of upper caste well-educated Indians.

What can we do to motivate journalists for more and better coverage of disability sport? 

We know that newsrooms are not investing in disability. But I think, to improve, one of the clues lies in that nine-point agenda you wrote [as a fellow of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism]. India still needs its own version of the 1970s San Francisco ‘curb-cutting’ movement when wheelchair users poured concrete to create ramps off pavements which can be argued as one of the foundational events that eventually led to the disability civil rights movement and the creation of the 504 disability law. Basically, it became political in the US. 

There needs to be a push from the disability community to make the disability movement more political in India. Unless that happens, the news value of disability is not going to increase. We have to give journalists a reason to cover disability right now. Does that mean asking for quotas? Does that mean asking for more accessible buildings? Does that mean asking for more social or welfare benefits for persons with disabilities the way they do for other minority groups in the country? Does that mean essentially demanding for the same kind of facilities for para athletes as able bodied athletes? 

We also need to talk about how there are constructs of disability everywhere. I walk into a store here in the US, the guy sees my hearing aids, and says, “I have a steel rod in my back and hands.” He sees me sending golf books to someone by post and asks, “Do you play? I used to love playing, but now I can't play because of my disability. I keep watching golf on TV. I have to keep my back straight.” When I'm walking to campus, I find somebody who is looking for someone to help them get down three steps so that they can get into their car. So, I help them down these steps. When I'm helping them to their car, they say, “Don't worry, I can drive home. The only problem is sometimes getting down those three steps because of my arthritis.” 

So, disability is everywhere. It's pervasive. Everywhere you look, there are constructs of it. But are we accepting these things as the norm? Are we constructing our architecture, both [in] discourse and real buildings/streets with disability in mind?

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Tips to make WhatsApp posts accessible

WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging apps worldwide, but we often forget to ensure the accessibility of our posts. Below are a few tips I shared on LinkedIn, and here they are for you:

Use text alternatives for images: When sending images, add a description below the image that explains the content to visually impaired users who rely on screen readers. These are called image descriptions.

Use emojis sparingly: Again, for the sake of screen reader users and those who may lose focus easily, do not bombard people with emojis. One or two that add value to your message should be enough in a post.

Clear and simple language: Avoid jargon and use clear and straightforward language to convey your message. When sharing posts in different languages in a group, provide a gist of the content. It’s human tendency to ignore messages that need translation.

Share intent: Shared content would also make more sense to other members if you added a comment about why you’re sharing it.

Avoid flashing media: Steer clear of sending media with flashing or strobing, for the sake of individuals who have photosensitivity. This includes emojis and GIFs.

Use voice messages considerately: While voice messages are accessible to many, and preferable to some blind folx, they can be challenging for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Provide a text summary or a transcript for important voice messages.

Closed captions and audio descriptions: If sharing video content, opt for videos that include closed captions for those who are deaf or hard of hearing and audio descriptions for blind and visually impaired screen reader users.

Trigger warning: When sharing sensitive content on violence, abuse, suicide, addiction, etc., provide a trigger warning so that people can take a call on whether or not to consume the content.

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Recommendations 

Listen

In WeThe15’s podcast, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons and one of the most decorated Paralympians of her generation, US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden, discuss how para sport drives change for persons with disabilities.

Watch

In Rising Phoenix, a documentary on Netflix, elite athletes and insiders reflect on the Paralympic Games and examine how they impact a global understanding of disability, diversity and excellence.

Rising Phoenix: Road to Tokyo, a series on YouTube, follows the stories of 12 athletes from 11 countries as they strive to get ahead of their competitors and train through a global pandemic to make it to Tokyo 2020, the Paralympic Games that almost never happened. Witness their triumphs and defeats, elation and heartbreak – and see first-hand the dedication, skill and resilience required to make it to the Paralympics.

Read

A history of Paralympics and a British media guide for covering disability sport.

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That’s all for today, folx! Thank you for reading this issue of Reframing Disability! Keep writing to share your thoughts. Your messages warm my heart and I always write back. Let’s also connect on LinkedIn and Twitter!

Warmly,

Priti