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The admission of The New York Times that one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, plagiarized other writers and concocted stories shocks those of us who rely on truth.
The facts also make the Times hypocritical in its exposure and blame of Blair, while assuming no management responsibility.
Savvy editors and editorial managers should have caught a sniff of what Blair was doing. For example, how could Blair be writing from location, and yet never turn in an expense report?
Blair said he was writing from location, but never traveled anywhere near where his stories took place. Wouldn’t seasoned editors pick up signs of this in the man’s submitted reports? More than 50 percent of his national coverage is now believed to have contained fictionalized accounts.
The Times, however, is relentless in attacking U.S. corporations, the Bush administration, and others without mercy. The Times does not give quarter. Those it attacks are not allowed to make “mistakes.”
Now, the Times management, admitting that Blair faked his stories, is looking out for itself. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger writes, “Let’s not demonize our executives.”
The Times also announced?”When you’re wrong in this profession, there is only one thing to do and that is to make it right as fast as you can.”
But shouldn’t the Times honestly say?”We really messed up. We created a lot of bad news. We hurt a lot of innocent people. We’re really sorry.”
In light of what happened, the Times needs to accept full blame. The newspaper owes the public more then just an “Oops! We made a mistake.” Often, the Times quotes “unnamed” sources in stories, how do we know these sources are any more reliable?
Just think?if the Bush administration put out false information, would the Times let the President get away with saying, “Sorry, we made a mistake?” Or would the Times instead leap to cut his public throat? The Times should know that violation of the public trust is unacceptable.
The Times needs to explain to the public?to those readers who pay their salaries?what new controls will be put in place to make sure this kind of editorial incompetence is not repeated. At the least, an effort at new controls would show that the staff is trying to be more careful about truthful reporting.
Steve Marr is the former CEO of the fourth largest import-export firm in the U.S., a company which facilitated international trade for many of the largest companies in America. Currently, Steve consults with with businesses and ministries utilizing ancient Biblical principles for success in today’s marketplace. Click here to contact Steve, or visit his website at www.businessproverbs.com.
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