Easy is the way down

Jayson Blair speaks with News Watch about his book, journalism, diversity and affirmative action.

by Lena-Nsomeka Gomes

Jayson Blair Former New York Times Reporter and author of Burning Down My Master's House: My Life at the New York Times. www.jayson-blair.com Q: How do you feel about your name constantly being associated with the poverty of journalism?
A: I donít read stories about myself and try to filter out most of the negative comments people make. I have learned that attempting to correct ill-informed notions is often not worth the anguish and is often fruitless. Q: Why do you think you have become for many the black poster child of plagiarism?
A: Using anyone to stereotype about a larger group of people is questionable, particularly when the facts do not support some broader harbinger. I cannot even guess why someone would make a broad conclusion about a large group of people based on one personís actions. Q: Do you think your experience at The New York Times is being unfairly targeted and used as a reference point? If so, why do you think that is?
A: Some people are clearly attempting to use it to stereotype against whatever groups they have an axe to grind with ñ people who support affirmative action, blacks, minorities and young journalists. I donít believe my case provided these people with any fresh revelations. I believe they are simply using my actions to support conclusions that they had already come to ñ some without much merit ñ before I was known. Q: How do you see race and class connect with the public discourse on plagiarism in journalism?
A: I donít see it being connected and I have yet to see anyone lay down a logical, intellectual argument that plagiarism does not cross the color lines. Q: Do you think white journalists who have been caught fabricating and plagiarizing major stories, like Jack Kelly and Steven Glass, got treated differently than you? What are some of the factors, you think, created these differences in treatment?
A: Yes. I think people are less interested in how they got their jobs because there is a general psychological drive among some people to question why minorities are able to obtain positions of success. To those people, it is only natural that something untoward had to happen for a minority or a woman to reach certain levels of success. I also believe that the debate about affirmative action in America is still very intense, in part because it is a flawed system that exists because we have not come up with better alternatives, and it does not exist in the case of whites that end up getting into trouble in the business. That said, I do not object to the debate about affirmative action or people raising questions about the role it played in my case. I object to those who rush to judgments before the facts are in. Sadly, I have found that conservatives have been more likely to raise the questions and debate the issue, while liberals jump to a knee-jerk conclusion that affirmative action and race played no role. While I think affirmative action played a minimal role in my career it played no role in my deceptions. Q: Do you think your personal experience at The New York Times has created a negative wave for young journalists of color?
A: I hope not. Q: What do you think is the state of journalism today, especially for young aspiring journalists of color?
A: Journalism is a mess. Reporters, editors and producers are more interested in getting it fast than getting it right, and they are more interested in being entertaining than they are in delivering the news. The scoops and buzz-catching stories that reporters, editors and producers get are questionable. There is obviously a liberal bias in the media and an element of elitism that excludes blacks, Hispanics and other minorities from coverage. Although I do believe that some of the problems with race-coverage have to do with the fact that news organizations are marketing to the wealthy demographics that their advertisers desire, itís all sad to watch. This all brings me to a point. As much as people would like to view journalism as a higher calling, it is a market driven business. And all these things have more to do with marketing brands and increasing shareholder values than they have to do with getting at the truth. Q: What can you warn these journalists about? What lessons have you learned and come away with that you would like to impart to them?
A: I am actually working on a speech about the topic and will be posting something on my web site in the coming months. The speech is about the twelve lessons I felt I learned while working as a journalist. It was inspired by a quote from The Aeneid. ìEasy is the way down to the Underworld: by night and by Day dark Hadesí door stands Open; but to retrace oneís steps and to make a way out to the upper air, thatís the task, that is the labour.î In the speech I will deal with liberal and elitist bias in the news media; the debate over racial diversity and diversity of thought and ideas in newsrooms; the curse of unwarranted skepticism, sensationalism and scoops and how they can get in the way of the truth; hit-and-run journalism; competition and the pressures that it has created on the business that do not necessarily serve readers; the lack of accountability in the mainstream news media and the fact that journalists have the same human failings and flaws--despite internal perceptions within the business--as people in any other profession. Q: How was your book received? What were some of the positive and negative criticisms you got?
A: I wrote the book to help people [struggling journalists] and from the volume and content of e-mails I have received, I am happy to say that I feel I was able to achieve that goal to a great extent. You can check out my site at http://www.jayson-blair.com/comments.htm. There are some e-mail comments posted there. Initially I wondered whether that objective would be achieved. Later it became clear that many of the most critical comments came from those who had simply not read the book. Q: What did you learn from writing the book
A: That writing books are hard, and that I have a lot to learn, both about writing and myself. Q: Where do you go from here? Have you mapped out a journey for yourself?
A: Good question. I am not sure, but I am not worried.