Athletes with disabilities deserve equal coverage
Wheelchair sports appear to be finally getting their due. During The New York Times coverage of the U.S. Open in tennis, a picture of a wheelchair tennis player appeared next to the pictures of Venus Williams and other tennis stars. The Times also reported an in-depth story about the inaugural wheelchair competition at the U. S. Open. Eight men and eight women competed in the wheelchair tennis competition. (September 8, 2005, “Players in Wheelchairs Get Their Own Open,” by John Eligon, www.nytimes.com.)
I hope many others in the news media will begin covering local, regional and national disability sports and the Paralympics, which now occur immediately following the Olympics, www.paralympic.org. Studies show that the USA falls behind other countries when covering the Paralympics, meaning that U.S. reporters leave after the Olympics whereas reporters from many other countries stay to cover the Paralympians from their respective countries. Disabled athletes deserve equal news coverage to non-disabled athletes, in my opinion.
Beth Haller, Towson University