Eliot Sherman: Sadly, racing to pass judgement

Much has been made of the recent New York Times imbroglio involving the scandelous reporting of Jayson Blair and the shake-up that followed. This incident has received attention for two main reasons, beyond journalism's natural inclination towards introspection: the first, of course, is that such a scandal occured at the Times, which has been and will continue to be the standard for the industry. The second undeniable reason for all the attention is that Mr. Blair is black.

That so much was made of the first reason reflects a certain amount of naivete. The New York Times is just like any other large corporation, employing thousands of people assigned to do a hundred different things. It should not be out of the realm of possibility that mistakes can, will, and do happen. However, that does not excuse or explain how Mr. Blair's guerilla war went undetected for years, which in turn begs the question of race.

In the case of Mr. Blair vs. Public Opinion, race is a double-edged sword. It is also judge, jury and executioner. It seems clear now that Mr. Blair benefited from the aggressive newsroom diversity program encouraged by the Times' publisher, young "Punch" Sulzberger. However, any slack he may have been cut in the "getting away with it" department came to a grinding halt and reversed once the cat was out of the bag.

The big picture? Mr. Blair may have single-handedly set back the cause of affirmative action half a decade. That is a conservative estimate; a black Washington bureau editor at the Times had it going at several hundred years.

Mr. Blair will become the rallying cry for all who oppose affirmative action, and the finger-pointing and citations of negligence will only increase as the Supreme Court's decision in the Michigan case draws closer. But the fervor of self-righteous indignation will only cloud the issue further.

The fact remains that there have been plenty of plagiarists plagiarists and print naer-do-wells of the caucasian persuasion (Mike Barnicle, Stephen Glass, and Doris Kearns Goodwin to name a few). Just so, there have been plenty of hard-working and intelligent people who have benefited from affirmative action and, unlike Blair, whose workplace has benefited from them. It is no more fair to allow the actions of Mr. Blair to reflect on black reporters everywhere than it would have been if the liberal black community had taken the Glass or Barnicle incidents as evidence that all white men in journalism are malicious fakers. Sadly, it seems that many in the industry fail to make this distinction.

The race issue also clouds the overall perception of how the paper is dealing with the whole fiasco. The fact that Mr. Blair is black should make no difference; black white or green, he was first and foremost a terrible reporter who broke all the rules and then blamed the Times for his own shortcomings. Unfortunately, it appears that history will focus on the color of Blair's skin, and how it led to him being favored by a liberal newsroom and editors who desperately wanted the young man to succeed in an industry that has long been resistant to change. It seems that, once again, the road to hell has been paved with the best of intentions.

To be fair, Mr. Blair has not exactly shied away from the spotlight that his actions have placed him in. Fanning the flames of scandal in a snide and sophomoric New York Observer interview, Mr. Blair also made it clear that a book deal on the incident was forthcoming. It is ironic, then, that the worst reporter of 2003 will no doubt end up being the best paid when all is said and done.

In the end it is fine to judge Jayson Blair by the content of his character and find him lacking; in fact, it seems hard to do otherwise. But to stigmatize an entire group of hardworking minority journalists or fault a newsroom that encouraged diversity is wrong. Hopefully, the hysteria will pass quickly, and the Times will be able to return to the business of excellent journalism, albeit a little wiser.

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