[newgeezer]

ping

[Salman]

He crossed the line of outright plagiarism, and chiseled on his expense account.

In short he embarrassed and stole from his boss.

Had he just stuck with making up stories, he would have never been brought to account.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this!

[Grampa Dave]

FYI

[lilylangtree]

Why didn't the people in charge do something before now on his Blair? Landman pointed out problems with Blair and his work but no one believed him. In fact Blair received promotions instead when his work was already substandard. Since Blair's supervisor was black, as was Blair, why didn't the supervisor do something about the problem early one? Was it because of the "racial diversity" issue that Blair was given free rein for so long?

[OldFriend]

How does someone who drops out of college in his senior year become someone who 'stands out'? Could it be that the only thing that stood out was the color of his skin, and merit or qualifications never entered into the equation?

[Paleo Conservative]

The Blair Witch Hunt Project

[randog]

If you look at a newspaper as a manufacturing operation (which a it is), then the NYT has a serious problem with quality control. If they manufactured widgets instead of newspapers there would be a swarm of lawyers surrounding the place with fists full of product liability lawsuits.

[aristeides]

I did a bit of googling to see what sorts of things Blair had been doing while he edited the Diamondback, the daily at the University of Maryland. I discovered the following that he coauthored on March 31, 1997:

Homophobia: Shocking but not Surprising (Special three-part article): Dorm abuse a reality, not a report; Strict policy does not deter harassment; Gay, lesbian and bisexual residents learn to cope in hostile environment: Campus senate to delay sexual policy decision; Kirwan appoints commission in response to LGBSFA report on sexual orientation.

link

Any wonder the management of the NY Times would have been interested in him?

[Lancey Howard]

BTTT

[Drango]

According to Newsday, the NY Times is starting to admit some culpability in this. No doubt due to the pressure from FR (grin)

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bznyt0513,0,6672883.story?coll=ny-business-headlines

---

By James T. Madore
Staff Writer

May 12, 2003, 8:46 PM EDT

Top brass at The New York Times Monday took responsibility for the plagiarism case that has damaged their paper's reputation and caused other news organizations to search their archives for problematic stories by the same reporter at the center of the scandal.

In a memo to employees, publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd also pledged to restore a system of checks and balances that could have prevented falsehoods from getting into the paper. A breakdown in communications among editors allowed reporter Jayson Blair to fabricate information in his coverage of national events despite a track record over several years of factual errors in local stories, according to a Times investigation made public Sunday in a front-page article.

"While we deplore Jayson's conduct, we also recognize that, however difficult it may be, it is the responsibility of the Times, its publisher, its executive editor and its managing editor to protect that bond of trust [with readers] and prevent such occurrences or, at the very least, uncover them rapidly,” said the memo from Sulzberger. "In the case of Jayson Blair, our organizational safeguards and our individual responses were insufficient. Howell, Gerald and I accept responsibility for that.”

The top executives also said they would "accept responsibility for thoroughly analyzing this incident and then designing and monitoring improved safeguards that will discourage a repetition of this problem.”

The memo came a day after Sulzberger was quoted in the Times as saying Blair was solely to blame for the plagiarism episode, which Sulzberger described as "a low point” in the paper's 152-year history. "The person who did this is Jayson Blair,” Sulzberger said in Sunday's edition. "Let's not begin to demonize our executives – either the desk editors or the executive editor or, dare I say, the publisher.”

Journalism experts Monday praised Times management for clarifying its role in the debacle that has rocked one of the nation's most influential papers. Still, the experts said the No. 3 daily must quickly back up the apology with corrective actions.

Paul Levinson, chairman of the communication and media studies department at Fordham University, said, "Now at least they are taking responsibility but I think there need to be actions to go along with those words.”

Blair, 27, could not be reached to comment Monday. On May 1, he resigned after editors confronted him with charges by the San Antonio Express-News that he stole information from one of its articles. A Times probe found fabrications in at least 36 of the 73 stories Blair wrote from October 2000 through last month.

The Virginia native joined the Times in 1998 as a summer intern and subsequently was hired as a beginning reporter. Previously, he had worked as an intern at the Boston Globe and contributed stories to the Washington Post while a student at the University of Maryland.

Thomas Kunkel, dean of Maryland's journalism school, Monday announced plans for a review of the 30 articles Blair wrote in 1995 for the school's Capital News Service.

The Globe also said it was investigating possible falsehoods in several of the 85 stories Blair authored during two internships. The paper, which is owned by The New York Times Co., began scrutinizing Blair's work after the Washington Post reported last week that he had stolen material from the Post for a Globe article about Washington's mayor.

Editor Martin Baron was quoted as saying, "The Globe has found a limited number of stories with problems. We will continue our inquiry, and meantime we will also examine our internal procedures

[cabbieguy]

I think this is by far the best example of why the Supreme Court should come down on the side of the Government in the US vs UofMichigan admissions policy. Giving underqualified students points for race is exactly what the NY Times did by hiring an unqualified reporter to advance diversity. This is the result.

[Timesink]

Schadenfreude

This is the New York Times Schadenfreude Ping List. Freepmail me to be added or dropped.

[martin_fierro]

"I told him [Blair] that he needed to find a different way to nourish himself than drinking scotch, smoking cigarettes and buying Cheez Doodles from the vending machine."

"Barkeep! Another bottle of Pinch (Sulsberger) scotch for my young friend Jayson!"

(I know, I'm milking it. So sue me.) <|:)~

[185JHP]

The Blair's actions were rational to him, if he has "black entitlement personality disorder." How many slaves, thrown overboard and eaten by sharks, does his wrongdoing really make up for? Wasn't this really just a kind of personal reparations operation?