Self-identity and media discourses of disability in the digital sports press

Abstract

This research addresses the relationship between media and disability from the area of sports journalism with the Colombian digital press coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The study analyzed the meanings assigned by Colombian Paralympic athletes to the news published by the digital media about their participation, as well as the elements of such news and the way in which they influenced their media self-identification. From a critical-interpretative approach, the research was developed in two phases: in the first phase, a textual analysis of 559 digital news items published on the subject was carried out; in a second phase, the data obtained were confronted with the 45 protagonists of the news items through semi-structured interviews. It was found that most athletes lack knowledge and adoption of the progressive model of media representation of disability, so they value the “supercrip” media discourses with which they are represented as heroes or models of inspiration, not for their sporting achievements, but for their ability to cope “despite” disability. It is concluded that, to the extent that digital media show them as athletes, especially those who inspire other people with and without disabilities, they increase the chances of these athletes developing a media self-identity. In this sense, based on the positive or negative assessment of certain elements of the news, athletes felt media self-identified in an imposed, assumed, negotiated or rejected way.