A critical discourse analysis of the dominant discourses being used to portray parasport coaches in the newspaper media

ABSTRACT

The media is a powerful outlet capable of influencing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours about a particular phenomenon, including parasport. Despite the limited empirical research, parasport coaches play an active role in raising awareness, education, and exposure for parasport, and thus it is important to study how they are portrayed in the media. The purpose was to examine how newspaper media portrayed dominant discourses surrounding parasport coaches. Data were collected using the LexisNexis Academic database to search for full-text newspaper articles from 1 January 1999 to 1 January 2019. Eighty-three articles were included for review from 66 print and online newspaper sources. We conducted a critical discourse analysis to examine the social, political, and/or cultural discourses surrounding parasport coaches in the media. Through an iterative analytical process, three discourses were revised over time. The first discourse offered contrasting views of what it meant to be an effective parasport coach. The second discourse encompassed the ways that parasport coaches were portrayed in terms of their personal characteristics and motives. The third discourse described the working environment for parasport coaches, including the challenges and facilitators for progressing the Paralympic Movement. Overall, our media analysis provided an overarching view of how the media shapes our perception of parasport coaches. We believe our results will raise awareness to the underrepresented voices of parasport coaches, which ultimately has the potential to promote parasport participation at recreational and competitive levels around the world.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability sport
• coaching
• media analysis
• parasport movement
• print media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC).

Notes on contributors

Danielle Alexander

Danielle Alexander is a doctoral candidate in Sport Psychology at McGill University studying parasport coaching. Her research interests revolve around effective strategies and behaviours of parasport coaches using various methods, including media analyses, scoping reviews, and qualitative interviewing. Danielle is currently a student member of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association, The North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Lindsay R. Duncan

Lindsay R. Duncan is an Associate Professor and William Dawson Research Scholar at McGill University with a research program centred on psychological and sociological aspects of sport, physical activity, and health. One area of focus for Dr. Duncan is on exploring the experiences of individuals who are traditionally underserved in sport, physical activity, and health, developing and testing programs to address inequities. In addition to her research, Dr. Duncan has been a coach and volunteer with local, provincial, and national level sport organisations.

Gordon A. Bloom

Gordon A. Bloom is a Full Professor of Sport Psychology at McGill University with expertise in the areas of coaching, mentoring, and parasport. Furthermore, Dr. Bloom has experience and knowledge of qualitative methods and intervention-based programs. Specific to parasport, his research has answered questions related to effective knowledge and behaviours employed by parasport coaches in terms of leadership practices and coaching styles that are used to develop successful and well-balanced athletes.