Jayson Blair: Difference between revisions
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Blair was born in [[Columbia, Maryland]], son of a federal worker and a schoolteacher. While at [[Centreville High School (Virginia)|Centreville High School]], in [[Clifton, Virginia]] he showed interest in [[journalism]]. He attended [[University of Maryland, College Park]] (UM) as a journalism major. He was a student intern at the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' and ''[[The Washington Post]]''. |
Blair was born in [[Columbia, Maryland|Columbia]], [[Howard County, Maryland]], son of a federal worker and a schoolteacher. While at [[Centreville High School (Virginia)|Centreville High School]], in [[Clifton, Virginia]] he showed interest in [[journalism]]. He attended [[University of Maryland, College Park]] (UM) as a journalism major. He was a student intern at the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' and ''[[The Washington Post]]''. |
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Blair was the [[editor in chief]] of the independent student newspaper, ''[[University of Maryland, College Park#The Diamondback|The Diamondback]]'' for the 1996-1997 school year. During his tenure as editor the paper became the first to publish the strip ''[[The Boondocks]]'' by [[Aaron McGruder]]. According to a letter later signed by 30 staffers, Blair made four serious errors as a reporter and editor that questioned his integrity, and that questions about those errors were ignored by the board who owns the paper. Among the alleged errors they cite an award-winning story about a student who died of a cocaine overdose, who was subsequently found to have actually died of a heart complication. The criticism was deemed overblown by some supporters of Blair who note that the story only stated that a rare on-campus cocaine arrest had been made outside the fraternity house where the death occurred on the same night that the student died. Despite these criticisms by colleagues, some of which were aired at the time, the College of Journalism (technically unaffiliated with the paper) gave him a positive recommendation. |
Blair was the [[editor in chief]] of the independent student newspaper, ''[[University of Maryland, College Park#The Diamondback|The Diamondback]]'' for the 1996-1997 school year. During his tenure as editor the paper became the first to publish the strip ''[[The Boondocks]]'' by [[Aaron McGruder]]. According to a letter later signed by 30 staffers, Blair made four serious errors as a reporter and editor that questioned his integrity, and that questions about those errors were ignored by the board who owns the paper. Among the alleged errors they cite an award-winning story about a student who died of a cocaine overdose, who was subsequently found to have actually died of a heart complication. The criticism was deemed overblown by some supporters of Blair who note that the story only stated that a rare on-campus cocaine arrest had been made outside the fraternity house where the death occurred on the same night that the student died. Despite these criticisms by colleagues, some of which were aired at the time, the College of Journalism (technically unaffiliated with the paper) gave him a positive recommendation. |
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Revision as of 03:24, 16 May 2006
Jayson Thomas Blair (born 23 March 1976) is a former New York Times reporter disgraced for committing repeated journalistic fraud. It was discovered in 2003 that he had faked quotes and even entire interviews, plagiarized from other newspapers, and submitted false expense records to deceive the paper about his whereabouts.
Biography
Blair was born in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland, son of a federal worker and a schoolteacher. While at Centreville High School, in Clifton, Virginia he showed interest in journalism. He attended University of Maryland, College Park (UM) as a journalism major. He was a student intern at the Boston Globe and The Washington Post.
Blair was the editor in chief of the independent student newspaper, The Diamondback for the 1996-1997 school year. During his tenure as editor the paper became the first to publish the strip The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder. According to a letter later signed by 30 staffers, Blair made four serious errors as a reporter and editor that questioned his integrity, and that questions about those errors were ignored by the board who owns the paper. Among the alleged errors they cite an award-winning story about a student who died of a cocaine overdose, who was subsequently found to have actually died of a heart complication. The criticism was deemed overblown by some supporters of Blair who note that the story only stated that a rare on-campus cocaine arrest had been made outside the fraternity house where the death occurred on the same night that the student died. Despite these criticisms by colleagues, some of which were aired at the time, the College of Journalism (technically unaffiliated with the paper) gave him a positive recommendation.
Blair became a summer intern at The New York Times in 1998, and at the conclusion was offered an extended internship. He indicated that he had to first complete some coursework before his graduation, and the Times agreed to defer it. He returned in January of 1999 and the paper's staff assumed, without checking, that he had graduated, when in fact he had not. By November 1999 he became an "intermediate reporter." A year later his editors were rebuking him for the high error rate in his articles and his sloppy work habits, but in January 2001 he became a full-time staff reporter. Newsweek reporter Seth Mnookin, believes that Blair was fast-tracked because of the Times's desire for a more diverse workforce.
Despite recurring questions about his performance he was assigned to the Beltway sniper attacks, in particular because he knew the area and because he seemed "hungry". He made two reporting errors which were so serious that one became part of the story itself and another led a prosecutor to hold a press conference to denounce it. The error rate of Blair's material again became an issue internally.
On April 26, 2003, the San Antonio Express-News caught him plagiarizing one of its stories. Blair submitted his resignation letter to the Times on May 1, 2003, and later it was discovered that he had faked quotes and even entire interviews, plagiarized from other newspapers, and submitted false expense records to deceive the paper about his whereabouts.
Among the fraudulent stories that Blair filed was an interview with the parents of former Iraqi prisoner of war Jessica Lynch, which was later found to have been entirely falsified. Lynch's parents said that they never spoke to Blair and that he made references in his article to "nonexistent tobacco fields and cattle". [1] In another case he conducted an interview with a soldier's mother via phone, then concocted a dateline and lengthy physical description as if he had done it in person. Though largely fictional, it was so nicely-written that the subjects wrote a letter thanking the Times without mentioning the fabrications.[2]
The Times called the Blair scandal "a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper" and has admitted to 36 instances of journalism fraud committed by Blair. Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd, considered partially culpable for Blair's indiscretions, resigned about a month after Blair over the scandal. In response to the scandal, the Times created the position of Public Editor, whose critiques of the paper's own reporters, techniques and culture are published twice every month.
Blair authored the book Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at the New York Times (ISBN 193240726X), released on March 6, 2004. In the book, he accused the Times of racism, and described his ethical lapses as resultant from previous drug problems and bipolar disorder.
"When I look into the future, I cannot honestly tell you what my dreams are beyond continuing in my recovery, which has become the bright candle in the darkness, allowing me to smile when I think about the future," Blair wrote in the Spring 2005 issue of BP, a magazine for those coping with bipolar disorder.
After resigning from the Times, Blair returned to college and said he planned to go into human resources, adding, "I want to help protect employees who find themselves in situations like the one I was in." He has since been critical of his former employer for eliminating its Employee Assistance Program.
"An in-house counselor knows the departments and managers who are most likely to resist help," he wrote in a letter to Jim Romenesko's online blog, MediaNews. "The outside counselors available by phone ... might have a difficult time understanding the demands of the production department and advertising sales, or why a front-page story means so much, and creates so much anxiety in a reporter."
In the letter, Blair wrote that the newspaper's employee assistance program "provided counseling that saved my life."
Blair remains a controversal figure, but has gained some public acceptance as an advocate for the mentally ill. Blair has made efforts to start support groups, counsel families and those with mental illnesses and spoken in front of college and business audiences about both mental health and substance abuse.
Chronology of the scandal
Saturday, April 26, 2003: The Times runs a Blair story about Juanita Anguiano and her son, Edward. At that time, Edward Anguiano was the only US soldier in Iraq listed "missing in action" by the military.
Several people notice similarities between this story and a piece by another reporter, Macarena Hernandez, that appeared recently in the San Antonio Express-News. Ms. Hernandez herself notices (and she knew Blair — they had been in the same internship program at the Times). So does her editor, Robert Rivard, and so does a Washington Post reporter, Manuel Roig-Franzia while working on his own piece on the Anguianos.
Monday, April 28: After talking with Rivard, Hernandez contacts Sheila Rule, the New York Times recruiter who supervised the internship program where she and Blair met. Rule then talks to Gerald Boyd, the managing editor. Boyd talks to Jim Roberts, editor of the national desk, and Roberts asks Blair for an explanation.
Blair calls Hernandez, tells her he hadn't read her piece before writing his. He says that Mrs. Anguianos' daughter, who had "translated" for interviewers, must have given them both the same quotes. This is the moment when Hernandez becomes persuaded that this was more than sloppiness—it was plagiarism. Mrs. Anguiano didn't use her daughter as a translator. She spoke fluent English herself. Had Blair actually been to their home he would have known that.
Howard Kurtz, the media critic for the Washington Post, hears about the similarities of the two stories from Roig-Franzia. He calls the Times for a reaction.
The same day, Jim Roberts calls Blair and officially takes him off an unrelated but very high visibility story he was then covering (the Beltway sniper investigation), while an internal inquiry into the plagiarism charge gets underway.
Tuesday, April 29: Rivard, of the Express-News, calls Howard Kurtz. Kurtz then talks to Blair, decides his explanations don't add up, and posts his story on the apparent plagiarism on-line.
Wednesday, April 30: Blair meets with his union rep, Lena Williams, and with associate managing editor Bill Schmidt. Schmidt wants confirming details about Blair's alleged trip to Texas. Blair tells Schmidt that the Avis and Hertz desks were both closed when he got to the San Antonio International Airport, so he rented a car from a third outfit. Schmidt checks immediately; both the Avis and Hertz counters are open 24 hours a day. The third outfit would have been closed when Blair supposedly got there, though. Schmidt decides that Blair must be fired.
Thursday, May 1: Morning, Blair resigns. Boyd and executive editor Howell Raines, both of whom would be forced to resign shortly after, agree to create a team of reporters to retrace Blair's recent stories, find out what else has been faked.
Friday, May 2: The Times runs its first story on Blair's departure, by its own media critic, Jacques Steinberg.
Also this morning, Boyd's secretary calls Adam Liptak, the paper's legal correspondent, to the managing editor's office. Liptak joins the team looking into the Jayson Blair mess.
Saturday, May 3: The seven team members (five reporters, two research assistants) meet in their assigned quarters on 11th floor. At this point, they expect to have a 2,500 word piece ready for Tuesday or Wednesday. The material they were to discover would soon expand both the word count and the time required.
Friday, May 9: The team finally has a draft ready for the Sunday paper; it's more than 7,000 words long.
See also
References
- N.Y. Times Uncovers Dozens Of Faked Stories by Reporter. Washington Post. May 11, 2003.
- New York Times executives Howell Raines, Gerald Boyd resign. Associated Press. June 5, 2003.
- Making a Turnaround." "BP". Spring 2005.
- Jayson Blair searches for new life, reflects on legacy. Times Community Newspapers. June 9, 2005.
- Blair: Why NYT should keep employee in-house. Romensko Media News. June 15, 2005.
- Blair J. Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at the New York Times. 2004: New Millennium ISBN 193240726X.