Communicating disability in sports media. Paralympic visibility and everyday journalistic practices

This article examines how disability is represented in sports media through the everyday practices of professionals covering Paralympic sport. European and international policy frameworks are considered as a normative backdrop against which media narratives are produced and negotiated. The study draws on thirteen qualitative interviews with Italian journalists, photographers, commentators, and camera operators involved in Paralympic coverage. The findings reveal a persistent tension between inclusion and differentiation: although professionals increasingly use more respectful language and emphasise athletic competence, media narratives continue to rely on emotionalisation, bodily visibility, and exceptional achievement. As a result, frames such as the supercrip narrative and more subtle paternalistic representations persist. The article argues that disability in sports media is shaped by the interaction of professional routines, organisational pressures, and broader cultural expectations, making Paralympic visibility a central yet ambivalent site of public representation.