Blair the exception, not the rule to journalism
This will be the last you hear from me on the Jayson Blair scandal.
Sadly, the name of Jayson Blair has become as recognizable as, I
don’t know, Chris Steel and Dick Nichols are for making strange
comments at council meetings.
Blair, if you don’t know, is the New York Times reporter who made
up stories and quotes in his meteoric rise to the top. And as I
reported last week, Daily Pilot staffers were also feeling the sting
of his actions like all others in the news profession.
I invited readers to comment and here’s what they had to say:
“What should have been the most troubling aspect of the NY Times
story was the question: Why didn’t all the people involved in the
fake stories speak up sooner?” said one reader. “People have doubted
the media for years,” he continued. “The silver lining you are
looking for might be the realization that in the current world it is
harder for papers to lie. One start would be to have more balance
among reporters, and to own up to our own biases.”
Then this same reader left me with this stunner:
“For instance, your (from last week’s column) hilarious comment:
‘there is a common misconception that minorities get handed jobs they
aren’t qualified for.’ Pretty funny! Obviously minorities are handed
jobs they aren’t qualified for; that is one of the lessons of the
Blair story -- he was only hired because he was black. I’m off the
subject now, but ‘diversity’ hiring merely causes everyone to assume
that minorities were not hired on merit, so all minorities, even the
qualified ones, are tainted by the assumption that they did not earn
their position.”
This comment stuns me for a couple of reasons. First, maybe I
missed it, but I’ve never read any news accounts in which New York
Times editors say they hired Blair because he was black. Instead, it
seems they were drawn to him because he is young and brash and had a
knack for telling and finding good stories (albeit fictional ones).
The reader’s comments that “minorities are handed jobs they aren’t
qualified for” just proves my point about misconception and carries
on an awful and ill-informed stereotype.
As an editor who has hired many journalists, minority or
otherwise, I can vouch that incompetence, like skill and talent,
flows rampant in every race and creed. Back to the reader responses.
Here’s another one from a different reader:
“We trust less as our options to news sources become smaller,” the
reader wrote. “Since large corporations have increasing control over
even small local news sources, and most sources (large and small)
play the same tune, we must become more critical -- skeptical -- of
what the media offers.”
Here’s another misconception I’d like to debunk. Many believe that
since the Daily Pilot is part of the Los Angeles Times Community News
Division, and The Times is owned in turn by the Chicago-based Tribune
Co. that somehow we take our marching orders from them.
That would be news to me and the Pilot staff. We are an autonomous
and independent operation.
Thus, the reason you will see stories on the same topic in The
Times and the Pilot from time to time. The difference is that we
write our stories from a Newport-Mesa perspective and The Times
writes from a regional perspective.
All news and business decisions at the Daily Pilot are made
locally, not in Los Angeles or Chicago. We certainly don’t discuss
stories among ourselves and nor would we ever discuss taking an angle
or a slant.
In fact, the objective in every mainstream and professional news
organization I know of is to present fair and balanced reporting.
The next reader began his e-mail by saying that in his 30 plus
years of reading the Pilot he had never had the occasion to write in.
Usually, when I read an opening line like that, I wince as I get
ready for a bomb blast.
But, not so this time:
“My sense of the Daily Pilot’s culture, starting with editor’s
from many years ago and continuing through your own reign is one
striving for accuracy, facts, and a minimum of spin,” he said. “While
I may not always like everything I read in the Pilot, it’s never
because of a lack of trustworthiness.”
That’s is good to know and thanks to that reader for the vote of
confidence. Now here’s the final take from another loyal reader:
“I was encouraged by your column today, because it told us of your
efforts to address the Jayson Blair issue with your staff,” the
e-mail said. “I would hope every news outlet in the country would do
the same thing -- but doubt if they did.”
I think the Daily Pilot does a good job of assuring accuracy in
its presentation of the news. I know there have been criticisms in
the past -- primarily by persons who received less than favorable
comments on these pages. When you have such a young staff, with lots
of talent but not much real experience, I’m sure it is necessary to
rein in their enthusiasm from time to time.”
While we try in the accuracy department, I must sadly admit that
we too often get things wrong, too much for my taste.
Usually they are minor errors of fact but still errors
nonetheless. And nobody gets more heartburn from that than me, as can
be witnessed by the empty jug of Rolaids sitting in the top drawer of
my desk.
That said, I promise to take up in a future column, our correction
policy and how readers can help us ensure accuracy.
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