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An Analysis of BBC Television Coverage of the 2014 Invictus Games

2017; Human Kinetics; Volume: 34; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1123/apaq.2016-0121

1543-2777

Celina H. Shirazipour, Madelaine Meehan, Amy E. Latimer‐Cheung,

Sports injuries and prevention

The Invictus Games are a parasport competition for service members and veterans with illnesses and injuries. The 2014 Games were aired by the BBC, for a total of 12 hr of coverage. This study aimed to investigate what messages were conveyed regarding parasport for veterans during the BBC’s Invictus Games broadcast. A content analysis was conducted. Five qualitative themes were identified: sport as rehabilitation, the promotion of ability over disability, the social environment, key outcomes of participation, and the importance of competition. Quantitative results indicated that 2 segment types accounted for the majority of the broadcast: sport coverage (50.57%) and athlete experiences (12.56%). Around half of the coverage focused on participants with a physical disability (51.62%). The findings demonstrate key similarities to and differences from previous explorations of parasport media coverage, with the needs of the event and athlete population potentially influencing the broadcast.