New York Times journalist Jayson Blair fired after history of plagiarism comes to light
Blair calls it the ‘perfect storm of events’
Journalist Jayson Blair was fired from the New York Times after an internal investigation into plagiarized and fabricated stories.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint from the San Antonio Express-News that Blair had plagiarized one of its stories; revealing that he had lied in most of his stories written between October 2002 and April 2003.
“I started with attempts to garner the truth and then just started cutting corners when I couldn’t get the truth,” says Blair.
These cut corners include describing events he’d never seen, quotes from people he’d never spoken to, and telling his editors he was on location when he hadn’t actually left his Brooklyn apartment.
This investigation and Blair’s resignation on May 1st, 2003, resulted in more scrutiny placed upon the paper’s writers, causing a ripple effect throughout the publication.
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rick Bragg resigned after admitting an intern had written a story about oyster fishers which Bragg had taken credit for. Writer Judith Miller was pushed to resign after questions around the accuracy of her stories about the Iraq war.
After initial refusal, executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd also resigned after accusations of favouritism towards Blair and losing the trust of their newsroom.
“…I do not feel a sense of trust and reassurance that judgments are properly made. People feel less led than bullied,” says Metro section deputy editor Joe Sexton.
Blair credits various personal hardships as leading to his professional downfall.
As a child, Blair suffered sexual abuse from a family member and in adulthood began abusing drugs and alcohol; even while working at the New York Times.
“I did coke when I was sad, and then I needed alcohol to go to sleep…Towards the end it was maintenance of life. I had to have the bottle of scotch in the apartment to make it to sleep at night, then I had to have the cocaine to make it through the day,” says Blair.
After rehab, Blair now believes his addictions were a form of self-medication for his then-undiagnosed manic depression.
“Without the self-medication and therapy, mental illness just whupped my arse,” says Blair.
It was at this point that Blair’s falsifications started growing.
Blair uses the D.C. sniper attacks as an example. After getting a call to travel to D.C. to cover the story, Blair says he didn’t want to. Blair would get info from Associated Press correspondents or other sources and use them in his stories, claiming he was actually there.
“…then it becomes, ‘What does it matter so long as the AP guy is in the courtroom?’ And finally, ‘What does it matter if anyone is in the courtroom?’ By then you’re into fiction,’ says Blair.
Blair’s lies not only damaged the integrity of the Times, but also hurt the trust readers hold in journalists.
There were many unethical aspects of Blair’s work for the New York Times; which all fall under the umbrella dishonesty and lack of accountability.
The first section in The Society for Professional Journalists Code of Ethics is titled ‘To Seek Truth and Report It’ and this was Blair’s most obvious ethical failure.
This section of the SPJ Code of Ethics has the following points which Blair broke:
- Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.
- Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.
- Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.
- Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.
- Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.
- Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate.
- Never plagiarize. Always attribute.
Blair neglected his due diligence as a journalist by not verifying information, fabricating sources, fabricating quotes, and using uncredited info from other publications.
Blair says when stories would break “really, really late”, that instead of traveling to the location again and interviewing those involved, he would call his sources and rewrite their information as his own; which is a failure to seek out subjects.
Blair and the New York Times as well failed to uphold most of the point under the accountability and transparency section:
- Respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.
- Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.
- Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations.
- Abide by the same high standards they expect of others.
While Blair was being dishonest and lacked transparency while faking sources and lying about being on location, the Times also failed to scrutinize the stories, sources, and information of Blair and other writers before publishing or they likely would have caught his deception much earlier.
Following Blair’s resignation, the New York Times issued a 14,000 word correction spanning four pages.
“The widespread fabrication and plagiarism represent a profound betrayal of trust and a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper.”
After Blair’s resignation, he left the journalism field and I think that was the correct course of action.
Journalists have a duty to report the truth and back it up with facts and testimonials. Blair failed to uphold the standards required of a journalist when he fabricated sources, stole information and cut corners.
Blair misled and lost the trust of his colleagues and the readers with his actions, and even if he were to attempt being a journalist again, I don’t see how any publication could hire him with his track record.
With how high profile this scandal was, if any publication were to hire him, it would significantly hurt their credibility.
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