fyi
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"No one can make you feel inferior without your
permission." --Eleanor Roosevelt
Karen M. Turner
Chair & Associate Professor
Department of Journalism, Public Relations & Advertising
2020 N. 13th Street, 2nd floor
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215.204.8386 (voicemail)/ 215.204.1974 (fax)
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From: Nightline <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nightline <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 12:14:36 -0700
To: "Nightline Mailing List" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: NIGHTLINE: THE JAYSON BLAIR STORY: Charges of Favoritism
TONIGHT'S FOCUS: When a reporter for the most prestigious newspaper in
the country is exposed as a liar and a fraud, everyone in journalism is
hurt. The necessary trust between reader and reporter or between source
and reporter is diminished. Our industry as a whole is tarnished. But
when that reporter is a minority, is the already devastating impact even
worse? Does it matter that The New York Times' Jayson Blair is African
American? Did it ever?
----
When Stephen Glass committed the worst kind of plagiarism at the New
Republic magazine several years ago, journalists were angry. Here was a
young reporter given great opportunity at a highly prestigious publication
and he squandered it. How had his fraud gone unnoticed by his managers,
we wondered? Why had he done it? But journalists did not speculate
about whether his race played a role in the opportunities he was given.
Journalists did not discuss whether his failures would somehow haunt other
young journalists. Stephen Glass is white.
When it was revealed last week that Jayson Blair, a young reporter for The
New York Times, had committed chronic plagiarism and fraud at the most
important newspaper in the country, there was also a lot of anger. The
New York Times recognized the magnitude of the events by devoting four
pages to a chronicle of Blair's violations in last Sunday's paper. That
amount of ink is almost unheard of, reserved for cataclysmic world events.
Commentary and conversation about Jayson Blair has returned often in
recent days to whether Blair's opportunities at The New York Times were
due in part to affirmative action.
Richard Cohen in the The Washington Post, 5/13/03 "...not only was Blair
not stopped, he was promoted to the national staff and ultimately given
more responsibilities. Why? The answer appears to be precisely what the
Times denies: favoritism based on race. Blair is black and the Times,
like other media organizations, is intent on achieving diversity.
Sometimes this noble and essential goal comes down to a parody of
affirmative action."
Marvin Kalb on NPR 5/14/03: "Jayson Blair, a minority intern, quickly
raised to the status of reporter blew it big time....They wanted this
bright and energetic liar to succeed, his blatant shortcomings not
withstanding. The Times believed in racial diversity and that is a good
thing. But a reporter's race ought not be as crucial as a consideration as
his competence, his honesty and integrity."
Yesterday The New York Times publisher and top editors held a rare
staff-wide meeting. According to reports of the meeting, executive editor
Howell Raines is quoted as saying:
"Our paper has a commitment to diversity and by all accounts he appeared
to be a promising young minority reporter," Mr. Raines said. "I believe in
aggressively providing hiring and career opportunities for minorities."
"Does that mean I personally favored Jayson?" he added, a moment later.
"Not consciously. But you have a right to ask if I, as a white man from
Alabama, with those convictions, gave him one chance too many by not
stopping his appointment to the sniper team. When I look into my heart for
the truth of that, the answer is yes."
While there is still much that we do not know about Jayson Blair's career,
one thing is clear. As the Supreme Court is set to make a potentially
historic ruling on affirmative action in the next few weeks, the reaction
to his story exposes some of the fault lines in this country's attitudes
on race. So tonight, ABC's Bob Jamieson will report on the rise and fall
of Jayson Blair. Chris Bury will gather with a group of journalists to
talk about the impact and the implications.
We hope you'll join us.
Sara Just and the Nighline Staff
ABC News Nightline
Washington Bureau
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