| Blair Witch Hunt |
19 May 2003
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New York Times on the Ropes
Jayson Blair was an up and coming reporter with the New York Times, the most over-rated newspaper in history. Recently, it came to light that Mr. Blair was less-than-diligent in getting the facts straight. Charges of plagarism, deceit and the like have been bandied about throughout the media. Yet the editors appear not to know how to cope. Might one suggest resigning?
Howell Raines, the editorial grand pooh-bah, held a townhall style meeting with his staff to address the issue. No media were permitted, which included the New York Times' own reporter on the matter (he was given a tape to listen to later). What emerged, though, seems to be an editorial management decision to do their job better with the same befuddled folks who let Mr. Blair do as he did.
Trust is all that a newspaper, or any publishing entity including this one, has. The reader or viewer believes what gets printed or shown. When that is gone, journalism becomes a game -- what exactly does it mean when the story says "Comrade Stalin announced the success of . . . "?
No one is going to believe what the New York Times says in quite the way they used to do. It will take months, even years, for the mangement to regain the trust that was destroyed by Mr. Blair's actions and their inactions. If they were to quit, though, and let someone who had the public's trust take over, the paper would recover in a matter of days, weeks at most. Character is required to do that, though. Readers of the paper would do well to remember who let this mess happen, and to remember that they are still in place.