Posted on 09/15/2004 4:54:38 PM PDT by Libloather
WSSU students question Blair's paid appearance
Former reporter, forced to resign from N.Y. Times, will speak, answer questions
By Mary Giunca
JOURNAL REPORTER
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Disgraced journalist Jayson Blair will speak at Winston-Salem State University on Wednesday, and some students are asking why the university is spending $3,000 to bring him there.
Ebonee Russell, a senior and a reporter for The News Argus, the school's paper, said she wonders whether Blair deserves any attention from the university at all. "What kind of role model is he? What kind of example is he setting for the students here?" she said. "If I had a choice, he wouldn't be my first choice."
Blair resigned from The New York Times last year after dozens of fabrications and examples of plagiarism were discovered in his stories over an eight-month period.
The scandal eventually led to the resignations of Howell Raines, the newspaper's executive editor, and Gerald Boyd, the managing editor.
The resignations generated a national debate about journalism ethics and race in the newsroom. Some people at the Times said they felt that Blair got kid-glove treatment because he is black. Others say they believed that the case was magnified because of his race.
Blair began a series of appearances in the winter after publishing his memoir, Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at The New York Times.
The book chronicles Blair's rise from a college intern to one of a team of reporters who covered the Washington-area sniper, among other stories. In the book, Blair talks about his addictions to alcohol and drugs, the pressures of working at the Times, his battles with bipolar disorder and his suicide attempt.
Blair will speak and take questions from the audience at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Reynolds building. The event is free to the public.
Russell said she is bothered that WSSU is one of the few schools in North Carolina that invited Blair to campus. Blair's Web site lists only one other college appearance - in October he will speak at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md.
Brian Blount, the chairman of the mass- communications department at WSSU, who booked Blair's appearance, said that the talk is about helping students develop critical-thinking skills. He said he sees Blair's session as a case study for students to learn how to discern the truth.
"As a reporter, if you have preconceived ideas or concepts or you believe something may have occurred, you still have to go in there with an open mind and become a critical thinker," he said.
It is unlikely that an unemployed reporter would agree to visit the campus for free, Blount said. The school has a budget for outside speakers. Stephen A. Smith, an alumni and an ESPN commentator, has been to the campus several times.
Blount said he checked into having Ed Bradley, a reporter from 60 Minutes, come to the school, but his fee was too high. Blair's $3,000 price is taking about half of the department's yearly budget, he said.
Blair has said he will donate $1,000 of his fee to a mental-health organization, Blount said.
Francine Madrey, the chairwoman of the faculty senate and an associate professor of education, said that the school has a mission to bring such speakers as Blair to campus.
"We ought to be able to broaden students' perspectives," she said. "One way to do that is to bring in people who are fairly controversial. How else would students learn other sides?
"That's one of the things we do in higher education - to encourage students to think about issues in a way they haven't in the past," Madrey said.
Blair's story offers lessons to students who will enter fields other than journalism, she said. His name came up recently in a student session about using the library to do research and attributing one's sources properly, she said.
Sharon F. Doorasamy, an instructor at the school and the adviser to The News Argus, said she has already held a session with the newspaper staff to discuss how to ask good questions and form their opinions about Blair.
"They're learning, I believe, about freedom of expression, even from liars," she said. "Freedom of speech is a privilege for all, so let him speak."
Janell Lewis, a senior and editor-in-chief of The News Argus, said she has mixed feelings about Blair.
"He's made it worse for up-and-coming black journalists," she said. "There's already a higher standard set for us in the workplace."
Bridget Taylor, a senior and the managing editor of The News Argus, said she also has mixed feelings.
"It would be nice to have a journalist who's won a Pulitzer Prize and has these great accomplishments," she said, "but I also think it's good to see some of the downfalls of journalism.
"I don't necessarily like the fact that he's getting paid, but I guess he has to eat."
He's another leftist hero. Let him speak...
Academia does its best to dumb down student moral discernment to faculty/administration level. It's no wonder we are where we are.
bump
"Sharon F. Doorasamy, an instructor at the school and the adviser to The News Argus, said she has already held a session with the newspaper staff to discuss how to ask good questions and form their opinions about Blair.
"They're learning, I believe, about freedom of expression, even from liars," she said. "Freedom of speech is a privilege for all, so let him speak." "
BS. This has nothing to do with "freedom of expression" Everyone, even liars, have a right to freedom of exrpession, but not a right to an audience. Notice I said "RIGHT" to freedom of expression. The dips**t instructor says it is a "privilege". It's not a privilege, it's a RIGHT.
Interview on the radio (WBT) today with Chair of Communications department-
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