Plagiarism in The New York Times: The Jayson Blair Case
The Jayson Blair case has stirred discussions across the country about truth in journalism. The New York Times is known as the flagship of journalism, and if plagiarism can rock the Times, then other publications can sink. Much faith has been lost in the ability of journalists to be accurate and unbiased in their accounts of the news. Other journalists have paid consequences for what some would argue are minor errors of fact. Papers everywhere feel the need to institute or reinforce ethics policies and reassure their readers that they value fairness and accuracy in reporting.
This case is especially important to talk about because “never has an episode of journalism fraud been so broadly destructive of truth or occurred so high up the journalism food chain” (Lambrecht, 2003, p.2) It’s key to look the Times’ motivation for exposing itself, as well as its method of doing so.
Another intriguing aspect of this issue is the role of race. The mere facts that Mr. Blair is black and that the publication has a longstanding dedication to diversity in the newsroom immediately make race an issue.
Mainstream Press: Plagiarism; How the Times’ Fair Haired Boy went from Star Reporter to Content Thief
“Correcting the Record” is the Times own brand of PR. A guided news search of the Lexis-Nexis Database using the keywords: Jayson and Blair, under the headings of: general news in major papers, and adding the restriction: New York Times in the publication box returned 90 results, with “Correcting the Record” as the 51st result. The article, an impressive, two-part, “14,000 word saga” chronicles Jayson Blair’s career, his deception, the investigation into his conduct, and the repercussions of his actions for the Times’ staff (Lambrecht, 2003, p.1).
The article recounts a number of the stories that Blair was accused of plagiarizing and accurately quotes the people he either misquoted, or didn’t interview at all, in addition to the publication’s ideas about how he did it and how he got away with it for so long.
The following articles were obtained from the Lexis-Nexis database. Using the simple search, “Jayson Blair” was entered into the search box and resulted in 125 articles. The two most relevant and detailed articles-numbers five and thirty-six were chosen to be discussed in this essay.
“So Jayson Blair could live,: In an interview with Shridar Pappu, Jayson Blair, The New York Times’ plagiarist extraordinaire, tries to explain how he flamed out in above-the-fold fashion” is the result of an interview with Blair, one that focused on his, then recent, investigation and resignation.
Blair discussed his conduct, giving veiled answers to some questions, “refuting some claims, [and] confirming others” (“So Jayson could live. . . ,” 2003, p.5). He commented on parts of the famed “Correcting the Record” article, saying, “As much as I feel guilt for my role in it, I don’t feel bad for the Times’ position. . . . I felt they did it to themselves” (“So Jayson could live. . . ,” 2003, p.5).
“Journalism Takes a Hit; The Jayson Blair Scandal Shakes an Institution that Other Newspapers Look to for Leadership” is a candid look at how the Blair case affects the rest of the country’s journalists and newspapers. Mr. Lambrecht talks candidly about
the implication that journalism, as an institution, needs to reassess its ability to communicate internally. In his article, he quotes Geneva Overholster (Journalism Professor at the University of Missouri, and former editorial board member for the Times’) as saying, “We all talk about how we’re in the communications business, but we don’t communicate well” (Lambrecht, 2003, p.1).
It is interesting that the Times’ own article mentions the role of the Times in its own shame only in passing. Such an omission suggests that the publication was more interested in saving face with its readership, than fixing the breakdown within its organization that so obviously led to Blair’s continuous, successful deception. Less than one page of the massive opus deals with “the lessons,” and then the section is full of maybes and difficulties (Barry, Barstow, Glater, Liptak and Steinberg, 2003, p.1).
The second and third articles speak frankly about the Times’ role in this debacle. Blair admits that he is responsible for his actions, but also holds the paper and its staff partially responsible for the turn of events that led to his resignation. According to Professor Overholster(as quoted in Mr. Lambrecht’s article), “If the Times cannot detect a pattern of fabrication and plagiarism, it’s bound to have an effect on the profession as a whole” (Lambrecht, 2003, p.2).
Minority Press: Jayson Blair and the Attack of the Media Machine
My arrival at these three articles was somewhat perilous. Alt Press Watch returned no useable results, so I turned to Google. I entered the search terms “alternative media” and the first two results were what I was looking for. Alternative Media Watch has a list of alternative print publications on its front page. I clicked on many links until I got to The Village Voice, where, after using the search box to search for “Jayson Blair,” I found the first article. The second article came as the result of many more clicks to alternative media websites. I clicked on the Alternative Press Center’s link, which took me to their site, where I clicked on the “online directory” link and clicked some more links until I found another site (The American Prospect) that returned results when I entered my search terms. After clicking on some more of the links in the directory with no success, I returned to Google and clicked on the AlterNet link for my third article. I used the same method to search this site, and found an article that fit my criteria.
“Fear and Favor at The New York Times” is a serious look at the failed safety mechanisms that allowed Jayson Blair to go largely undetected for nearly five years. Schanberg, a former Times columnist, critically evaluates the paper’s policies and offers suggestions to prevent such infractions in the future. He suggests that the paper “demystify itself and thereby the journalism profession” (Schanburg, 2003 p.2). He calls for the paper to hire ombudspersons to field complaints and report more critically on itself and the rest of the journalism industry.
“Jay School; Some less-obvious lessons of the Jayson Blair episode” is another critical look at the way media institutions operate in contemporary society. Ms. Jones calls out media owners, saying that they treat “reporting less like a craft and more like a business” (Jones, 2003, p.1). She says that reporters are spread too thin and are likely to make more errors because of the recent trend toward consolidation. She suggests that, while Blair’s case was “of a more troubling variety,” an environment exists that is conducive to errors of fact, and even outright deception.
“The Truth Shall Set You Free” takes a slightly different approach to the Jayson Blair situation. The writer, Mike Oseroff, is a high school sophomore. He attributes the case to a larger social issue; the fast-paced, stressful environment, created by societal pressure to succeed. He says, “Honestly, I’m very surprised we don’t hear about this sort of thing happening more often” (Oseroff, 2003, p.1).
All three of these articles, in some form or other, decry the institution of the press and to some degree, the lack of government regulation for the Jayson Blair scandal. They each look toward some larger social issue or trend to critically assess the case. The three writers differ in their approach, but a major theme throughout all three is that an infraction of this magnitude could never have happened without the current cultural climate.
Conclusion: Jayson Blair, Villain or Victim?
In all, my findings were unanimous. The mainstream press called Blair the villain who deceived the nation, and the minority press, while qualifying their discussions with the statement, “Yes, by all means Jayson Blair . . . was doing the wrong thing,” insist he fell victim to a larger, more sinister socioeconomic climate. But one theme runs through them all, tell the truth (Oseroff, 2003, p.1).
As part of my introduction, I alluded to race as a consideration in this case, but I have yet to discuss it. Why? Because it fits neither in the mainstream press, nor in the minority press. Race applies to this essay, not as it is discussed in the articles I analyzed, but as it is exists relative to the color of Jayson Blair’s skin.
Jayson Blair is African American. In some form or other, this sentiment found its way into four of the six articles. It is troubling to realize that today, in 2003, race is still a factor in how we understand the world around us. I would be willing to bet that no article covering the case of Stephen Glass, a white reporter accused of similar infractions, so boldly touted, “Glass, who is white . . .”
While the four articles mentioned the race factor only as much to say that his ethnicity may be the reason his “crimes” went undetected, or ignored for so long, it is troubling that it needed to be mentioned at all. A friend pointed out that Blair made an issue of his race since he earned an internship that led to his job at the Times on the basis of race, but I contend that it was wrong when he did it, and it was wrong when the Times did it.
In agreement with the minority press’ ideas on the matter, I concluded that Jayson Blair was the victim of a broken system that failed him. However, the broken system is not the media machine or the current socioeconomic climate, it was the press’ failure to represent Blair as the plagiarist he is, race notwithstanding, and to take responsibility for its own role in the situation.
Barry, D., Barstow, D., Glater, J., Liptak, A. & Steinberg, (2003, May 11). Correcting the Record. The New York Times. p.1. 1-15. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from the Lexis-Nexis Database. Jones, Mary Lynn F. (2003). Jay School; Some less-obvious lessons of the Jayson Blair episode. American Prospect. Retrieved July, 21, 2003. http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2003/05/jones-m-05-19.html Lambrecht, Bill. Journalism Takes a Hit; The Jayson Blair Scandal Shakes an Institution that Other Newspapers Look to for Leadership. (2003, May 18). St Louis Post-Dispatch. p.B1. 1-4. Retrieved July, 21, 2003 from the Lexis-Nexis Database. Oseroff, Mike. (2003, June 9). The Truth Shall Set You Free. AlterNet. Retrieved July 21, 2003. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16114. Schanberg, Sydney H. Fear and Favor at The New York Times. (2003, June 11-17). Retrieved July 21, 2003. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0324/schanberg.php So Jayson Blair could live,: In an interview with Shridar Pappu, Jayson Blair, The New York Times’ plagiarist extraordinaire, tries to explain how he flamed out in above-the-fold fashion. (2003, May 24). The New York Observer. p.B2. 1-6. Retrieved July 21, 2003 from the Lexis-Nexis Database.
