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VANCOUVER, B.C. - The International Paralympic Committee has a produced a guide to help reporters on the delicate assignment of covering the Paralympics.
The three-page document on the IPC's website lists about a dozen tips and a short glossary of words to avoid.
The document urges reporters to avoid words such as crippled or victim and to emphasize the athlete before his or her disability.
The guide urges reporters to avoid portraying athletes as "extraordinary" or referring to their "tragic" lives, and says some stories require only a passing reference to an athlete's disability, if it needs to be mentioned at all.
The committee's Steffi Klein says many journalists covering the Games are doing so for the first time and might have little experience reporting on or even interacting with people with disabilities.
Mary Hums, who teaches sport management at the University of Louisville, says the most important issue is ensuring media coverage focuses on scores and medals instead of how long an athlete has used a wheelchair.
