Media Guide: How to Cover the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

In August 2021, the Paralympic Games, one of the greatest sporting events in the world, will take place in Tokyo. In order to promote a more inclusive and fairer coverage of sports for people with impairment, two U.K. based academics, Prof. Athanasios ‘Sakis’ Pappous from Bournemouth University and Dr. Ian Brittain from Coventry University, have joined forces and, with financial support from the Economic and Social Research Council (U.K) and the Japan Society for the promotion of Science (Japan) have produced this guide as part of the project ‘Building Japanese research capacity around disability studies and sport to positively impact he lives of people with disabilities - 2020 and beyond’. This guide is primarily aimed at professionals in the Japanese media so that they can promote a more inclusive image of people with impairment during Tokyo 2020 and beyond.

The Games represent a unique opportunity to educate
the public on different types of impairment and how to combat stereotypes related to the question of impairment. The fact that the Games will be taking place in Japan with excellent media coverage, will allow for the promotion of positive images of the Paralympic athletes and of impairment generally. In other words, the media can contribute to raising the profile and recognition of Paralympic athletes, which will help all people with impairment to overcome the challenges they face in terms of accessibility and inclusion.