The Paralympic Legacy

All the talk since the Olympic - and especially the Paralympic - Games has been about “the legacy". The question we are posing is directed at the news media: will the legacy be that newspapers, radio and television portray people with disabilities in a new and far more positive light? Nick Jones discusses the media's role in the great success of the Paralympics with Daniel Mazliah, head of media relations for the disabilities charity Scope.

Whatever the usual criticism of journalists for so often being negative in their coverage, that charge cannot be levelled against them for their reporting of the Paralympics; disabled people have been celebrated as never before, their impairments freely on show – a refreshing sense of public awareness of how even the most devastating disabilities can be overcome with determination and sporting prowess.