Sports Medias Negative Approach

Ernest Culler

COM 150

10 November 2012
Janice Prince Betian

Sports Medias Negative Approach

In the late 1980s and early 1990s many professional athletes were viewed as positive role models. During this time sports media found it hard to report about the negative accounts of the professional athlete. It was not until the early 1990s when Mike Tyson became the first prominent athlete to gain negative reports aired on national television. Before the 1990s Mike was known as the greatest boxer in the world after he was convicted of rape he was known as a criminal. While Sports media believes they report about the positive athletes as much if not more than they do the negative athletes, the bias approach taken towards role models is unequal.

Sports media has chosen to take a radical approach in reporting about the favorite role models of children in today’s society. Over the past three years sports reporters have driven Lance Armstrong from atop the cycling world, they have taken an approach that has tarnished both his career and personal life. Michael Pearson reports that Lance Armstrong has stepped down as Chair of the Live Strong Cancer charity. In a CNN report Pearson (2012) writes that “Nike, which initially stood by Armstrong, dropped him October 17, 2012 with a terse statement citing what it called seemingly insurmountable evidence that he participated in doping.” Pearson has chosen only to give partial information throughout his report about Lance Armstrong. At no time during the article does Pearson ever mention what Lance has done for the community and for the world of cycling, if it was not for Lance and his Seven Tour titles the youth cycling organizations of the United States would not have any dreams to follow. Reporters are not the only individuals that have tarnished Lance Armstrong’s