{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.018534863195057368, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02118270079435128, 'mean_word_length': 5.335195530726257, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Representing Paralympians: The ‘Other’ Athletes in Canadian Print Media Coverage of London 2012

Abstract In our highly mediated society, media culture plays a critical role in socialization and offers a conduit for the naturalization of ideas. By this reasoning, stories told by the media about Paralympic athletes have the potential to influence our understanding of disability. This study reveals the representation of Paralympic athletes in Canada’s two national newspapers the National Post and the Globe and Mail surrounding the London 2012 Paralympic Games. A total of 88 articles were collected over a 40-day period from 15 August 2012 to 23 September 2012. A critical disability studies lens guided methods of media frames analysis. Results demonstrated that coverage favoured an athletic frame, but medicalization and ‘supercrip’ stories remained highly pervasive. The presence of these underlying messages indicates that disability is still viewed as a problem to be solved or a situation to be overcome. These ideas are discussed as forms of 'Othering', problematizing representations that the media continues to present.