The Rise and Fall of Jayson Blair

The Times investigated Blair’s work over the four years he was a reporter for the paper. On May 11th, there were problems found in over 36 of the 73 articles Blair had written since his start on the national reporting beat only seven months earlier. Blair is guilty of a number of journalistic crimes. “He fabricated comments. He concocted scenes. He lifted material from other newspapers and wire services. He selected details from photographs to create the impression he had been somewhere or seen someone, when he had not, ” according to The New Yo

The article, Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception, included more than 150 interviews with various people who were somehow affected by Blair’s deviant actions. The article also listed several reason as to why Blair’s doings went unnoticed for so long, the biggest factor being that “no one saw his carelessness as a sign that he was capable of systematic fraud.”

Ethics are taught in every college and university throughout the nation. Ethics are very important to anyone who is even thinking about a career in the media. Ethics are what can make or break you in such a career. Ethics have to be known and followed tediously. Ethics are critical. Truth also applies.

Blair’s methods of writing went against many of the rules and guidelines journalists at The Times are prompted to follow. Among the many Blair ignored are: “When we use facts gathered by any other organization, we attribute them”; “writers at The Times are their own principal fact checkers and often their only ones”; “we should distinguish in print between personal interviews and telephone or e-mail interviews.” Another rule is that the newspaper only uses a dateline if the reporter has actually visited the place.

There is an entire chapter entitled “Truth and Honesty in Media Communications” in the text that covers the do’s and don’t’s. Truth has value . Value is something that media longs for. The media wants to be taken seriously, or else the job of reporting the news would be meaningless. The text defines deception as “the communication of messages intended to mislead others, to make them believe what we ourselves do not believe.” Jayson Blair’s actions are the epitome of that definition.

Blair led his career as a reporter and journalist for The New York Times fraudulently and carelessly. He repeatedly made errors, mistakes in articles and clashed with other reporters and editors at the paper. He was warned that he was too careless and sloppy in his work and appearance. He was constantly reprimanded, demoted for his continual sloppiness and even took two brief leaves from The Times. In January of 2002, Mr. Landman, the same man who sent the email about Blair before, sent Blair an evaluation stating that Blair’s correction rate was “extraordinarily high by the standards of the paper.” Employees of The Times made several attempts to assist Blair with his weaknesses in accuracy. “When he returned to the newsroom after a two-week break, efforts were made to help him focus on accuracy rather than productivity,”The Times said. The inaccuracies made a come back sooner than later.

A lack of honesty brings about nothing but negativity when working in the field of journalism. A journalists job is to report the news. A journalists job, however, is also to report the truth. A good reporter will go to any lengths to get the truth because that is what his or her job is. There is no sense in reporting something that is fal

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