For me, this is the Paralympics. Whether I have heard of it before or not, I'm inspired, thrilled and completely emotional about its significance. When I watched the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, I was touched by the event and what it meant for the competitors. I knew those athletes have trained so hard and their bodies were in top condition. I may not be an athletic person, but I can value the dedication, strength and talent needed to perform at those levels.
But when I saw a preview for the 2012 Paralympics I was hit at a very profound level. Watch THIS VIDEO, an introduction to the Superhumans, thanks to Channel 4 in London, and tell me what you feel. (Please note, the video can't be embedded in blogs and such for legal purposes but SHARE IT!!!!! Copy the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKTamH__xuQ and share it!!!)
Is it just me, or does that video make you say "HOLY CRAP!" and question your outlook on your life and the world around you? Does it make you wonder what you think your limitations are and who or what is really holding you back? To me the Paralympics are freaking inspiring. The Olympics are a reminder of what our bodies are capable of achieving, but the Paralympics are a reminder that our limitations ARE NOT definitions of our capabilities, our determination, our strength.
BRIEF HISTORY OF PARALYMPICS
Although the history of athletic competition amongst the disabled reaches farther back, the currently operating Paralympics has been linked to the Olympics since 1988. From Wikipedia:
It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city, and using the same facilities. This set a precedent that was followed in 1992, 1996 and 2000. It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001.[10][12] The 1992 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics.
OPENING CEREMONY
Since I started following the Paralympics on Facebook and Twitter, I was alerted to the Opening Ceremony as a live feed. And as with the Olympics Opening Ceremony, seeing the happy, smiling, thrilled faces of the competitors representing their countries touched me so deeply. WATCH THE OPENING CEREMONY HERE. It starts at about 1:05 (one hour and five minutes) due to some technical glitch online? and runs for almost four hours. Professor Stephen Hawking and Sir Ian McKellen were involved too! Or READ ABOUT THE OPENING CEREMONY HERE. <----highly recommended to read the article if you need to save time. But please try to watch parts of the Opening Ceremony video! I haven't been able to watch the whole thing yet, but what I have seen has been SO INSPIRING!PARALYMPIC COVERAGE
Bookmark THIS SITE (http://www.paralympic.org/) to get all your biographies, the six disability categories, results, ranking, records, live feeds, sports schedules etc. Check your local listings. This year, more networks than ever are giving screen time to the Paralympics, but coverage in the U.S. will fall short. READ HERE. A quote:By contrast, NBC is not broadcasting any Paralympic events to U.S. audiences except for a highlights show on September 16 from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Network is showing the Paralympics for the first time. But the coverage is limited to four, hour-long programs on September 4, 5, 6 and 11, according to Adam Freifeld, vice president of communications for NBC Sports Group, in an email to me.
WHAT CAN YOU DO
If you are intrigued by the Paralympics, there is much you can do to promote it and inspire more news coverage:- Watch the live video feed on youtube!
Watch the live video feeds on the Paralympics webpage. - Follow any/all of the Paralympics pages on Facebook and Twitter. The links to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for the official Paralympics site are all available at the above link. Of course, you are encouraged to search for those resources to connect you to your favorite teams and athletes. Learn by searching (and share!)
- Use Twitter and Facebook to inform your followers and friends about what events you are watching, what athletes are inspiring you and who is leading in the medal count. The more people that hear about it, the more interest can be created for this amazing event.
- Talk about the Paralympics with everyone you meet! If you talked about the Olympics with co-workers, family members or even cashiers at the gas station, bring up the Paralympics! You'll never know what meaningful conversations can occur until you let your interest be known.
- Watch whatever coverage you can on your local stations. Invite friends and family to watch with you. If your area is lacking, as is mine, go to the next step:
- Contact your station producers/providers/programmers via facebook post, tweets, emails, website comments etc and tell them how excited you are about the Paralympics and how you are disappointed by the lack of coverage (if your country is lacking) but how you are VERY hopeful that the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi will get a considerable amount more coverage. OR if there is a lot of coverage, THANK THEM! Let them know you appreciate the coverage of such a wonderful, inspiring event and you hope to have just as much coverage, or more, the next time around. You've got to speak up so programmers KNOW what interests you!
- SIGN MY PETITION!
COPY ME!
For those of you in the U.S., feel free to copy and paste the content of my email text and send it to the email addresses listed below. TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME! If it's similar enough to your non-U.S. countries, adapt the text to reflect the message! :) And if you have some more leads for contact information, let me know in the comments!Emails I obtained from NBC website:
Questions about the Olympics?
Email to: nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com
Questions for NBC Sports
Email to: nbcsportshelp@nbcuni.com
To Whom It May Concern:
As you may or may not be aware, the 2012 Paralympics are under way in London! Per information from PBS and Adam Freifeld, vice president of communications for NBC Sports Group, I am aware that NBC will only be showing an hour and a half highlight show on September 16th and NBC Sports Network will show a total of four hours coverage. I am glad we will have even that much coverage but I beg for more exposure to the Paralympics! The athletes are incredibly inspiring, working past their limitations and proving that the human body is incredibly powerful and we, the viewers, WANT and NEED to be exposed to this uplifting reminder and motivation for greater, loftier goals and the outstanding capabilities of those who are differently-abled.
The Paralympics has been officially connected to the Olympics since 1988 and the events are completely deserving of the same amount of coverage. Not only are the athletes awe-inspiring, but their lives can be a learning tool for more exposure and understanding of those who are differently-abled from what is understood to be the norm. NBC has an opportunity to be the network to provide its viewers with the inspiration of the Paralympic athletes.
It would be incredibly amazing if there was an immediate change to the amount of programming that is allotted to the coverage of the 2012 Paralympics. It's never too late to help spread awareness of such a powerful and important event. Acting now to increase the coverage will set a loftier precedent and create a buzz for increased or full coverage in the future. Whatever increase of broadcast exposure can be set into motion at the current time is a build-up to create interest for the full coverage I implore you to provide beginning with the Winter Paralympics in Sochi from March 7th-16th, 2014.
Your viewers come from all walks of life and there are thousands upon thousands who can relate to the athletes, whether from their own physicality or their relationships to family and friends who face those daily challenges. NBC can be a leader in promoting exposure, understanding, dignity, and equality to those people who don't see themselves represented in the media, on television, or in movies. I implore you to take this opportunity to help your network and your viewers to grow and be inspired. See you at the Paralympics in Sochi 2014? I hope so!
Sincerely,
No comments:
Post a Comment