Who Is to Blame? An Examination of American Sports Journalists’ Lance Armstrong Hero Narrative and Post–Doping Confession Paradigm Repair

When journalism routines, like the practice of covering subjects “objectively” and not becoming personally involved with sources, result in erroneous reporting, journalists often engage in paradigm repair. Though past studies have explored paradigm repair in journalism, they have not examined industry-wide paradigm repair in sports journalism or how sports journalists engage in paradigm repair when multiple members of the profession help perpetuate a hero narrative that ultimately crumbles. An examination of American sports journalists’ coverage of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong found that whereas past research suggests journalists will isolate the journalist who erred as the “rogue,” sports journalists painted Armstrong as the rogue and scapegoat, voicing collective disappointment and betrayal in Armstrong and the world of sports at large instead of questioning their paradigm and the normative use of the hero narrative.