A multi-country and region comparison of the news coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games

Abstract

The study analysed news coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games in newspapers in 17 countries or regions (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Portugal, Chinese Taipei, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam). In addition, Facebook posts of the respective newspaper organisations were also analysed. This is a quantitative study and offers an extensive comparative overview of trends and patterns in media representation of the Games in different parts of the world. The results showed that the total number of articles and photographs varied greatly between countries and regions. Analysis of the Facebook posts showed a similar trend to newspapers. The subject of interest is predominantly still the male athletes, and particularly those competing in wheelchairs. In nearly all the publications sampled, media coverage featured more content of their local athletes than foreigners. Overall, there appears to be a great disparity in terms of coverage and content of the Paralympic Games between the 17 countries or regions.