fyi ************************************************* "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) ************************************************** -- ---------- 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 ----------- If you have questions or comments regarding this message or a recent "Nightline" broadcast, please do not hit reply; simply click on this link to send your message directly to the "Nightline" staff: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/Nightline/Nightline_email_form.html Or log on to the new "Nightline" Message Board: http://boards.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?LIST&room=nightline Chat with "Nightline" guests and find articles, transcripts and video excerpts on our Web site at: http://abcnews.go.com/Sections/Nightline/ You are currently subscribed as [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe from the "Nightline" e-mail, change your e-mail address, or sign up for other daily e-mails, visit our E-Mail Center at: http://login.mailpref.go.com/login Ask your friends to sign up! 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