Paradigm repair and the hero myth in sports journalism: An analysis of lance armstrong coverage

When journalism routines result in erroneous reporting, journalists often engage in paradigm repair by demonstrating that the rules of the paradigm are reliable but were violated. When cyclist Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he used PEDs, his confession came after years of sports journalists framing him as a hero for being a cancer survivor and a Tour de France winner. An analysis of sports journalists’ reactions to Armstrong’s confession show that despite the role sports journalists had perpetuating Armstrong’s hero narrative, sports journalists did not see Armstrong’s fall from grace as threatening to their professional paradigm.