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84 • Sport, Media and Society

(Donohew, Helms and Haas 1989; Jensen, Gurber and Babcock 1987; Padwe 1989).
Arguably, however, it is the story of Ben Johnson’s positive drug test in the 100-metre
at the 1988 Olympics that most effectively encapsulated the media’s coverage of
performance-enhancing drug use, and Jackson (1998: 23) referred to the story as ‘the
genesis of the modern sport-steroid controversy’.
This case study draws on data from The New York Times to explore the charac-
teristics of the media’s coverage of the Ben Johnson story during 1988 and 1989.
One method of examining media stories is to analyse ‘events which are matters of
controversy or events which could attract a range of competing interpretations and
then to examine whether a variety of viewpoints is present in the reporting of such
events’ (Davies and Walton 1983: 8). Exploring the reporting of controversial issues
such as steroid use can help to provide insights into the ways that media coverage
adheres to and diverges from normative values and narratives. The Ben Johnson
story framed the issues around drug use in sport in relation to the vilifi cation of
athlete users, the role of governing bodies and the increasing threat of drugs to the
world of sport.

Cheating, the Nation and Sport

Stories on Ben Johnson highlighted the significance of the event in dramatic, even
hyperbolic terms for the runner, the nation and sport itself. Worrall (a Canadian IOC
member) was quoted as saying, ‘Ben Johnson has just been killed as an athlete,
and probably his complete life has been ruined.’ Coverage featured his transforma-
tion from a hero to a villain, a man whose ‘Stellar Career’ was ‘Abruptly Clouded’

(Goldaper 1988). Other signifiers of the ruined life of the athlete included specula-
tions about his potential financial losses: ‘[the positive test] will probably mean a

loss of several millions. It will definitely hurt his name, his image, his credibility, and

his future marketability’ (Caulkins, as cited in Burns 1988: D31).
The event was framed as having ramifications for his nation: a Canadian news

anchorman was reported to have said, ‘It is indeed a tragedy, not only for Ben John-
son, but for Canada’ (Burns 1988: D31). Olympic spectators were also portrayed as
distraught and betrayed. One technique that sports writers used for emphasis was
ironic juxtapositioning, which places together two extremes: ‘In one day, the watch-
ing world had been carried from shocking fraud [Ben Johnson] to genuine excellence
[Greg Louganis’s performance] and genuine tears’ (‘One Day’ 1988). Johnson’s posi-
tive test was portrayed as the opposite of ‘genuine’ sport. Similarly, Charles Dubin,
associate Chief Justice of Ontario, stated that ‘cheating is the antithesis of sports
competition, and it encourages a lack of moral values’ (Burns 1989: A29). Each of

these ways of describing the significance of the event distances Johnson, ‘the stained
symbol of steroid use’, from the world of sport and his country, differentiating be-
tween the villain and his victims (Anderson 1988: para. 20).