While broadcast coverage of events like the Paralympics will always leave some wanting more, we are fortunate to live in an age when anyone can add their two cents to the international conversation via blogging. Let’s look at some of man and woman-on-the-street accounts from netizens celebrating the achievements of people with disabilities.
Traditional media figured out how to leverage bloggers to enhance their online products long ago. Sometimes readers relate to the point of view of a non-journalist, who has license to inject more personal emotion into his or her writing.
Case in point is Kim Masters, a young South African who planned on doing her Paralympic reporting for the Metro from the comforts of her own living room. Then her friend scored two tickets to the Sunday night events, and suddenly Kim was set to have an experience she said was “only second to her wedding day”:
After yummy food and a bit of Olympic retail therapy we made our way into the Athletics stadium. It felt really surreal to be standing in front of the Stadium which we had seen on the TV almost every night since the beginning of the Olympics… Being in the Stadium with 80,000 other people, who are all directing their support and love to the Paralympians competing before them, is something you can’t put into words. This is something you have to experience for yourself.
Bloggers who aren’t affiliated with media outlets have stepped up their coverage of the Paralympics, too. OurAbility.com, which helps people with disabilities locate resources for employment and career training, dispatched two correspondents who are collecting stories from the games for later video release, but are providing some great observations of the action like this September 4 post about the volleyball match between Brazil and host Great Britain:
First set Brazil looks faster with hands. That’s important here with no leg movement. As the rules state, a part of your body from tail bone to neck must be touching the floor. There is a lot of sliding on long socks… Crowd does the wave between sets. Second set starts the same as the first, quick Brazil lead 8-2. They wear long sweats and GB wears shorts. It seems like its easier to slide on long pants?
Another Britsh blogger, Clare Kirwan, was going to games even though she confessed to her readers on Broken Biro that she doesn’t have much interest in sports; but she is a fan of humor and shares some of the athlete’s deprecating humor before concluding with her revelation:
I was skeptical about talk of ‘inspiring a generation’, too, but now I believe — and hope — that the coverage of these games will change public perceptions here and overseas. It all comes back again and again to Ludwig Guttman whose work at Stoke Mandeville Hospital’s spinal injuries unit in the 1940’s began the paralympic movement. What a hero!
Go back and read the rest of the coverage from any of these excellent blogs to find more about how the Paralympics are making life matter for people with disabilities. Or share your favorite blogs posts in the Comments section below.
Image by Darren Glanville.