When Janet Cooke did the exact thing at the Washington Post some years ago, it was because she was under extreme pressure to produce. There was a guy on "60 minutes" last Sunday who spoke about the same pressure. He knew what would make an exciting story, so he just wrote his stories in such a way that people would love him and his writing. It is true that journalists should not bend to these pressures. We cannot accept or excuse these actions. However, I think we also need to examine the pressures. Were they greater for Blair?. He could be a talented journalist who somehow lost the way. Sometimes having somone to talk to would have eliminated some of the pressure and stress. I think this is our problem. On Wed, 14 May 2003, amohamed wrote: > Dear MAC Members, > > Some in AEJMC are literally salivating at the possibility of tearing > Jayson Blair of the New York Times apart at Kansas City. > The way some folks are talking about it, you would think that plagiarism > has never been an issue in American journalism before. > What Jayson did is indefensible, but he is neither the first to engage > in plagiarism and unethical conduct nor will he be the last. > MAC will and should resist the temptation by some to demonize Jayson Blair > beyond what is warranted. > For example, here is a note by somebody calling for a special session devoted > to the Jayson Blair affair at the Kansas City program: > > “If we don't make this historic Jayson Blair NY Times scandal--with all its > implications for our industry, for our students and for us--a central part > of our session in Kansas City, than we are an irrelevant organization that > has no business saying it's involved with "journalism education” > > I think this is uncalled for. But I would like to hear what others in MAC > think of this before I commit our Division to a position. > Ali. > > >