Aurel Savin

NY Times Reporter Faking Stories ...

Interesting and somewhat disturbing story in the Sunday NY Times today about a staff reporter that faked major stories for over 5 months.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast...ter/index.html


Something came to mind and there is a question I have for you after reading this story.

It is mentioned in the CNN article that the reporter was initially an Intern and was hired by the paper full time based on his claim that he finished college, when in reality he still had a year left before graduating.

I found this interesting as I am a college graduate and the few jobs I have had since graduation in 1993, I was always "asked" about my college studies, but was never asked to furnish proof of graduation.

Did any one of you have ever had to furnish proof of graduation for a job or most employers "just take your word for it" and look at your resume as gospel?

I know in certain countries in Europe you basically have to go to a job interview with a copy of your College Diploma.

Patrick McCart

I wonder if the reporter argued, "You take the pictures and I'll write the stories."

Tell The Weinstein Company to release Richard Williams' animated masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler on DVD in Panavision widescreen and uncut! See and hear what you're missing from their Bitsy Award winner of Worst Standard Edition DVD of 2006 on YouTube!

Cees Alons

That's exactly how it is in my country. Furthermore, the HR department will perform a further check on these diplomas if the person is proposed be hired.

Of course this practice really became "common" after a few shocking incidents.

Cees

Chris Lockwood

> Did any one of you have ever had to furnish proof of graduation

The employer is more likely to contact the school directly if they want to check. People could make themselves a fake diploma.

And CNN reporting on someone else's journalistic integrity is rather interesting.

Ricardo C

MikeAlletto

What I'd really like to know is how did the editor let these stories get printed in the first place? Do they not fact check anymore? I always thought the articles were submitted, researched, checked, and then the editor has the final say whether it gets printed or not. So how did blatently false articles get past the editor and all the other checks and balances? You would think the editor is also responsible.

Michael Alletto

Bill Kane

The full NYT website article lays it out: How a single newspaper reporter can dishonestly practice his craft in the field and submission of his work, staring his editor in the eye and lying. This can happen because daily newspapering operates on a basis of mutual trust and written or unwritten journalistic standards.

Most people want to regard “the media” as a monolithic enterprise. It is not. Speaking for newspapering, my former profession, the work of a reporter is almost akin to that of an independent scientific investigator, or perhaps a doctor, who adhere to a code of ethics, a set of standards, a sense of integrity that is personal but not enforced by any professional police.

Magazines like The New Yorker have enough lead time to employ actual fact checkers; newspapers do not. It is left to the reporter to do this and he/she is trusted. Remember that most newspapers operate in a hometown environment and it doesn’t take long for fact cheating to surface in the community of readers and newspaper editors who hear about it. The NYT however operates nationally, almost like the Associated Press service, here today, there tomorrow, a different story, different cast of characters each day. This is how the 27 yr-old- NYT reporter got away with his sloppy deceptions.

Unlike Science Publishing, there is no advance or even post-publication peer review. Each day brings a new story in newspapering.

It’s my opinion that this young man got into the big time before paying dues at smaller newspapers. He quickly felt the pressure of being part of a SERIOUS newspaper, a national leader as it were. When deadline pushed, he fudged and got away with it. It snowballed on him.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we begin to deceive.

He was (or is) a nice kid with a happy newsroom demeanor by all accounts. This just made it easier for his sloppy work (corrections of fact needed) to escalate to made-up “facts” Under deadline pressure.

What a tragedy for newspapering. But it exposes how honorably the majority of daily reporters go about their business of fact gathering and writing in a field of mutual trust.

Dennis Nicholls

Let's see, how much have I been investigated....

Job X: had to have transcripts of undergrad and grad degrees sent. Had to survive a security clearance check including a 6-hour "deep lifestyle" polygraph exam.

Current job: employer checked with my state bar and the PTO about my license status. Had to "pee in a cup" for drug testing.

Employers are getting much more into checking up on potential employees these days.

Feline videophiles Susie and Duke.
RIP Katie Kat and Fluffy Pumpkin.

Tommy Ceez

Unfortunatly, his deceptions, to a lesser extent, were known by the NYT editors for his full 4 years. At one point, a year ago, his editor at the city desk wrote an e-mail to the higher ups that said "Jason Blair should not be writing for the NYT". It seems upper managment was ignoring every sign that he was dishonest, even promoting him after alot of this information was coming to light. He was given front page stories on the sniper and the war after the e-mail was written!



Again he wasnt getting away with it, his deceptions were being ignored. A 27year old travels to Washington and Virgina, provides NO RECIEPTS for hotel, airfare, and expenses and no one says a word! This bodes VERY BAD for the NYT.

I am a NYT subscriber. I totally disagree with thier editorial position and thier slant of news (especially in thier "News Analysis" sections. "Johnny" Apple anyone?)to the point where I wont read the editorials. The only reason that I still read the paper is that it was unparalleled in the hard news section. Congress voted on it? Times wrote it. Supreme Court heared it? Times wrote it. Interesting story about a city council election in Des Moines or Jakarta? Times wrote it.

But heres the problem, if I cant trust the times for thier hard news reporting then I have no use for it. I will cancel my subscription tonight.

You may say, "But Tom, it was only one reporter and he's gone now!"
To that I respond "If a 27 year old as sloppy as Blair was get away with it in full view of Raines and senior staff then what could a 50 yr old with 20 yrs experience do?"

I cannot take that risk with what I find so valuable, my information.

As for the 7000 word mea culpa. It was admirable but it did not go far enough. Editors, senior managment, all the way up to Raines must be held responsible! One of his stories, totally made up, about John Muhammed became a national sensation and a near scandal.

The NYT in its article claimed that this was the low point in thier 127 year history (one may argue that the 1930's reporting on Uncle Josef Stalin being a stand up humanatarian who was not starving and murdering his people was a lower point) yet does not offer any solutions but a committee to investigate the issue. Raines must go, if he does I will renew my subscription.

For alot of detail and some good analysis of this story see http://www.andrewsullivan.com/ a former NYT writer and one of the best blogs out there.

Scott Strang