Jeff McKay, CNSNews.com
Thursday May 15, 2003

In an effort to deal with questions about its journalistic integrity, the so-called "newspaper of record" convened an emergency staff meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the damage inflicted by Jayson Blair, a young reporter who resigned in disgrace for alleged plagiarism, fabrication and fraud.

According to a report by The New York Times, some on the newspaper's editorial staff may have known for at least a year about Blair's questionable journalism ethics.

The two-hour-long meeting in New York was called by the Times' Executive Editor Howell Raines, who some staffers accuse of mismanagement. They blame Raines for allowing Blair to continue reporting, despite Blair's record of errors and questions about his ability.

In a statement released by the Times, Raines said the advice he received from fellow staffers set the tone for his response to the matter.

"The first thing I'm going to tell you is that I'm here to listen to your anger, wherever it's directed - to tell you that I know that our institution has been damaged, that I accept my responsibility for that, and I intend to fix it."

After the meeting, Times staffers would not answer any questions about what was said.

It appears there will not be a management shakeup at the Times, despite the fact that Blair's work had been questioned for a least a year prior to his forced resignation.

Editorial managers at The New York Times now appear to be distancing themselves from Blair, who spent four years reporting for the Times despite numerous internal complaints about errors in his articles, and questions about his reporting sources, even on high-profile stories such as the Beltway sniper case and the war on Iraq.

Some critics suggest the liberal newspaper may have been too eager to promote Blair, who is black, for the sake of workplace "diversity."

In a story called "Correcting the Record," Wednesday's New York Times called the 27-year-old Blair's reporting a "profound betrayal of trust."

Blair "violated the cardinal tenet of journalism," the newspaper said. "His tools of deceit were a cell phone and a laptop computer - which allowed him to blur his true whereabouts -- as well as round-the-clock access to databases of news articles from which he stole."

"We've never been particularly impressed by the accuracy of The New York Times," said Jim Naureckas, the editor of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a national media watchdog group.

"Even going back to Jeff Gerth on Whitewater and Judith Miller reporting in Iraq, whose story quotes were sourced to nobody and yet becomes front page news, the Times has been pretty forgiving of those who have broken ethical guidelines," he added.

The New York Times began a serious look into Blair's journalistic integrity a few weeks ago, after a San Antonio newspaper noted similarities in an April 26 story written by Blair and its own story, written one week earlier about a Texas woman waiting for word about her son, a soldier who was missing in Iraq.

The Times said it could not determine whether Blair had even traveled to Texas to cover the story. Just one week later, Blair resigned from the Times.

In an internal investigation released by the Times, concerns were raised in 36 of the 73 stories submitted by Blair since his promotion to the national news desk in October 2002.

Blair's promotion came despite a harsh rebuke by Times metropolitan editor Jonathan Landman. According to the newspaper's own investigation, an e-mail sent to several newsroom administrators by Landman in April 2002 stated, "We have to stop Jayson from writing for the Times. Right now."

In a March 27 datelined Palestine, West Virginia, Blair supposedly talked to the family of rescued POW Jessica Lynch. Although he quoted Lynch's relatives, none of them remember talking to Blair or even seeing him in Palestine. The Times now believes some of the material used by Blair was taken from the Associated Press.

Blair's reporting on the Beltway sniper is also suspect: Information in one story is now believed to be fabricated, and some quotes are similar to those used by The Washington Post .

The New York Times is not the only newspaper that will be looking into Blair's past.

His former employer, The Boston Globe, also announced that it will investigate all work submitted by Blair when he worked there as an intern and freelance reporter.

The Globe says one story Blair wrote in April 1999 about the mayor of Washington, D.C., may have borrowed quotes published in an earlier edition of the Washington Post.

Prior to working for the Globe, Blair was a student at the University of Maryland. This week, the school's dean of journalism sent a letter to alumni, faculty, and students. Thomas Kunkel said the school will investigate all reports written by Blair for the school newspaper and for the Capital News Service, a Maryland wire service that is staffed by journalism students.

In addition, the U.S. Attorney's office reportedly plans to investigate whether Blair violated the law by plagiarizing stories.

A spokesman for James Comey of the U.S. Attorney's office in New York City declined comment about any aspect of the investigation.

While Blair has yet to speak publicly, the damage he caused the newspaper may end up working to his own financial advantage, if he agrees to write a tell-all book.

"I think the book would be worth around seven figures," said Robert Gottlieb, a literary agent at Trident Media in a Fox News interview.

"Editors need to be less defensive about criticism, and tougher questions of reporters need to be asked," said Naureckas. "Anonymous sources should be questioned. It points to scrutiny. It would be a mistake to believe this is just a one-time phenomenon."

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