Paralympic Media Coverage Now is gathering signatures to ask media corporations to cover the sports event for disabled athletes that follows the Olympics.
In looking at the media coverage of Paralympians in the last few months, I have noticed the UK, Canada and Australia giving lots of coverage to their disabled athletes. The USA, not so much. Australia even boasts that it will have the most TV coverage of the Beijing Paralympics in the world. Australian Broadcasting (ABC) says it will show more than 100 hours of action from the Games in September.
The Paralympic Media Coverage Now petition states:
To: Global Media Outlets
The Paralympic Games is the second largest sporting event held in the world. It is an event where athletes with physical disabilities represent their respective nations while competing for glory on the international stage. Individuals with mobility disabilities, amputees, visual disabilities and those with cerebral palsy participate on an international level. The Games are held every four years, following the Olympic Games, and are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Information about the Paralympic movement, including a list of sports, can be found at www.paralympic.org.
The quality of the competitions that make up the Paralympic Games is as high as those in the Olympics. We who support the amateur athletes who participate in adapted sports at this elite level would like to see these men and women receive mainstream coverage and recognition for their achievements. One step toward reaching this goal is to televise these events, fully and in real time – as the Olympics are televised, worldwide.
We urge media in all types of outlets to televise and cover Paralympic events as they would Olympic ones. These athletes work just as hard as able-bodied athletes and deserve the chance to show their skills and achievements to the world. The performances of Paralympians are equally exciting and sometimes more inspirational and motivating than their Olympian counterparts; the world deserves to see these athletes in action. Demonstrated by our signatures and support, in not televising the Paralympic Games to the same extent as the Olympic Games, media outlets are missing an incredible revenue opportunity.
