This past summer, countless Americans "oohed" and "ahhed" at the spectacular athletic feats that they watched during the London 2012 Olympic Games. They saw their favorite athletes triumph and bring gold medals home. Each evening, the games were broadcasted on NBC and this year, the London Olympics became the
most watched television event ever recorded in the US with more than 219.4 million viewers. This can not be said about the Paralympic Games. Unfortunately, NBC has decided not to do broadcasts of the games but instead "will screen a total of four 60-minute highlight packages on one of its most obscure cable TV channels" according to one
source. This article also describes that some other nations like the UK and Australia are offering live streaming of the games. As I have observed as an American, sometimes our culture is not very welcoming towards people with disabilities. Of course in a perfect world, everyone would be accepting of one another. This makes me wonder if somehow these "cultural ways" are related to the lack of awareness about the Paralympics. What is it about the ideals of the United States, as compared to other nations, disuades openness to differences? I was unaware that the Paralympic Games were even going on right now (August 29- September 9) until a friend told me about them at school the other day. How come NBC has decided not to broadcast the games in the US? Youtube has announced that they will be streaming the Paralympics in both the United States and Canada. This way, there will be at least some access for Americans but surely not as many people will be watching. Furthermore, many disability organizations are very displeased with the lack of coverage because they feel that more light needs to be shed on disability awareness. The IPC is the committee that is responsible for organizing the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. On their page on the
Paralympic website they state that,"The Paralympic Movement builds a bridge which links sport with social awareness thus contributing to the development of a more equitable society with respect and equal opportunities for all individuals." How can this be achieved if many Americans are not given the opportunity to experience the truly inspiring determination and success of Paralympic athletes?
I think this post is quite intriguing, and, for the most part, correct that we do not value the Paralympics as much as we do the Olympics. However, I am struck by the fact that the Paralympics are not being shown on NBC. This is interesting, because one of the members of the South African Track and Field Relay Team, Oscar Pistorius, was the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics. Oscar got an extreme amount of attention, for good reason. What shocks me is that we are so impressed by this man running in the Olympics, when there have been people like him running in the Paralympics for over 50 years. I don't mean to answer your question with a question, but why is it that we appreciate Oscar, a disabled man who runs with able-bodied men, and not those who are disabled who compete against other disabled competitors?
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteA great idea for a post. You could sharpen this by making it perhaps half the length or by dividing it into more manageable chunks. Feels like more of a focus on American ideals would be worth discussion. For example, is "openness to differences" the only ideal here? What about the profit motive? How does that drive decision-making at the TV network?