"Molympics"? Journalistic Discourse of Mormons in Relation to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games

During the 2002 Winter Olympics, many made the argument that attention on Salt Lake City provided an opportunity to reshape the Mormon image. Using discourse analysis of news magazine and newspaper articles, this article assesses whether media portrayals of Mormons shifted during the Olympics. It argues that a model minority discourse used by journalists in past decades to describe Mormons persisted in most fundamental respects. Some details changed, but larger stereotypical images were not challenged.