JAYSON BLAIR AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
May 22, 2003

by Joe Sobran

     Howell Raines, executive editor of the NEW YORK 
TIMES, wanted to bring "diversity" to the great 
newspaper. Well, he certainly got it. More of it, much 
more, than he bargained for.

     A couple of years ago Raines was showing off a young 
black reporter named Jayson Blair as a prize example of 
the paper's commitment to "diversity." Today he wishes 
he'd never heard the name of Jayson Blair.

     Young Blair, 27, has turned out to be the greatest 
embarrassment in the TIMES's long history. He is a con 
man. He plagiarized stories from other papers, fabricated 
facts and quotes, even pretended to file stories from 
afar when he was actually writing them in his own home. 
Oddly enough, none of the people Blair misquoted -- or 
simply invented quotes for -- complained to the paper.

     Raines is a white Southern liberal, the sort who 
tends to be not only liberal, but liberal with a 
vengeance. He has tried to bring color to the Gray Lady 
in every sense, and it must be said that the TIMES has 
become markedly more readable under his regime, sometimes 
verging on hip. It used to be as staid as, say, the 
Encyclopedia Britannica. That's why they called it the 
Gray Lady. But now it risks becoming a scarlet woman.

     Other editors at the paper had been trying to warn 
Raines for months. They noticed that Blair's stories were 
full of errors requiring corrections and retractions. 
There was a general fishiness about his work. (One tip-
off: he didn't even file for travel expenses for some of 
his alleged trips.) But Haines ignored the red flags 
until Blair was caught early in May in a blatant theft 
from a San Antonio paper.

     Whoops! Suddenly the Gray Lady was blushing crimson. 
She was the laughingstock of journalism. The most self-
important paper in a self-important profession -- if 
journalism can be called a profession (and it does 
profess to be a profession) -- had created a mortifying 
sensation. This week Blair is on the covers of at least 
three weekly magazines.

     The TIMES, heedful of its claim to be the Conscience 
of Journalism, 'fessed up with a huge front-page account 
of Blair's fraudulent articles. Raines called a powwow of 
the paper's staffers -- some 500 of whom attended -- and 
announced his own contrition, not only for Blair, but for 
his own autocratic management style. He even offered to 
resign. (His loyal publisher said his resignation would 
not be accepted.) He welcomed criticism; the welkin rang 
with primal screams of disgruntled employees, as 
countless grievances were aired.

     How could this happen? *How could this happen?* That 
was the anguished question on everyone's lips. It was a 
journalistic 9/11.

     In short, everyone but Raines and a few other 
culprits was having a wonderful time. It's not every day 
that everyone in journalism gets to gloat over the NEW 
YORK TIMES. Conservatives moralized about how Blair 
illustrates the lowering of standards affirmative action 
leads to; liberals moralized about other stuff, as 
liberals will; everyone seemed to find his (or her, as 
the diversity code enjoins us to add) own moral.

     Even Blair has gotten into the act, commenting on 
his own story. In an interview with the NEW YORK 
OBSERVER, he portrayed himself as more sinned against 
than sinning. Specifically, he said it was hard to decide 
whether he had benefited more from racial preferences 
than suffered from racism at the TIMES. Raines must be 
learning a bitter lesson: nobody thanks a liberal.

     But that's not all. Blair isn't even sorry. "I 
fooled some of the most brilliant minds in journalism," 
he points out. "They're all so smart, but I was sitting 
right under their nose fooling them. If they're all so 
brilliant and I'm such an affirmative action hire, how 
come they didn't catch me?" He used the word "idiot" to 
describe some of them, and called the TIMES "a snake 
pit." Reading its correction of one of his yarns, he 
"just couldn't stop laughing."

     Some of Blair's former colleagues, recalling his 
charm and skill in ingratiating himself with superiors, 
are diagnosing him as a "sociopath." Sounds like there 
are few fond memories on either side.

     But have no fear. Jayson Blair will land on his 
feet. Disgrace is only a steppingstone to better things. 
He has already hired an agent and is -- of course! -- 
ready to entertain book and movie offers. Isn't that how 
all stories end in America nowadays?

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