Local Response to National News

Jayson Blair, 27, made a lot of headlines in May when he resigned as a reporter for The New York Times after it was discovered that he had made up interviews, committed several acts of plagiarism and pretended to travel to different cities for stories when he actually was working from his apartment. His ethical misdeeds resulted in the resignations of Howell Raines as executive editor of The New York Times and Gerald M. Boyd, managing editor of The Times.

Boyd was the newspaper's first African American managing editor. Joseph Lelyveld, former executive editor of The Times, was named interim executive editor.

NABJ expressed its disappointment over Boyd leaving The Times. Boyd, a St. Louis native and University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism graduate, was named NABJ Journalist of the Year in 2001. He had lead the coverage for The Times' series, ``How Race is Lived in America,'' which was published in 2000 and was awarded a Pulitizer Prize for National Reporting the following year. Boyd joined The Times in 1983 following a 10-year career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1977 he founded the St. Louis Association of Black Journalists and served as its first president.

Ivan Carter, a KCABJ member and a sportswriter at The Kansas City Star covering the Kansas City Chiefs, wrote the following essay on Jayson Blair's acts:

Ivan Carter

I never met Jayson Blair.

To me, he looks like a slightly enlarged version of the sitcom character "Webster,'' the kind of cat I would pass on a city street without looking at twice. But almost from the moment I picked up the May 11 edition of The New York Times and read that through plagiarism Blair had become responsible for "the low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper'' I knew the little dude would become a big part of my life.

This point was driven home recently when I was in New York covering the NBA Finals and had an opportunity to hang out with several black sportswriters.

For a couple of hours one evening we let loose and did what young writers do: we sipped on brews, told stories about dealing with rich, arrogant athletes and not-so-rich, sometimes-as-arrogant editors and clowned with each other about the pickup basketball game we'd played earlier that day.

The good times lasted until someone brought up Jayson Blair.

The group went silent. Heads dropped. One colleague uttered a word that can't be repeated here and said something to the effect of: "I wish I could be alone in a room for five minutes with that sucker....''

He didn't finish. He didn't have to.

For myself and other young black journalists, Blair has become like an older brother who did something stupid and earned himself a ticket to jail. As his unwitting siblings, we know that no matter what we do in our own careers, the eyes of others will be on us.

We can almost hear the whispers: "Is he capable of doing what his brother did?''

It's a phenomena I always knew existed but never fully grasped until Blair made a fool of himself.

Like the time I scored my first touchdown at my mostly white, liberal arts college and the video guy stayed focused on me long after I hit the end zone.

"Why did you do that?'' I asked him.

"Because I was waiting to see if you were going to do a touchdown dance or something,'' he said with a shrug. "I know you guys like to do that.''

Or the time I transferred from a racially mixed inner-city high school to an all-white rural one and was asked by one of my classmates if I'd ever been in a gang.

"Actually, I play hockey,'' I replied.

Or the time as an intern I arrived at an exclusive country club to cover a golf tournament and was directed toward the kitchen. The guy assumed I was there to wait on the white, rich and famous, not to write about them.

You see, the Blair drama has offered me a painful lesson, one black professionals have been learning for years.

When a white person draws attention to himself in a negative way, he is an individual. When a person of color does the same thing, he represents an entire race.

In lifting quotes, making up scenes and lying about his activities, Blair fulfilled many of the negative stereotypes attributed to black people.

In reading and hearing account after account of Blair's misdeeds, I actually started thinking the dude's name was: "Jayson Blair, young black journalist from The New York Times.'' Try getting that on a birth certificate.

The truth is, Blair simply joined a long line of unscrupulous writers, many of whom happen to be white. Stephen Glass, Mike Barnicle and Stephen Ambrose are three of the more infamous plagiarists, and none of them look anything like Blair or me.

Yet in researching this topic I could find no examples of their race being mentioned along with their acts. Apparently, they committed colorless crimes.

Not so with Blair whose public lynching has been anything but individualized. Far from conservative columnists and commentators, the Blair case has become a rallying cry.

To them, Blair provides the proof that affirmative action programs lead to the mass hiring and promotion of unqualified persons of color. For anyone who dons a white robe on weekends or feels he has been passed over in the name of diversity, the Blair case provides an opportunity to say, "See what happens when you hire THEM.''

But the line that has been drawn between Blair's knuckleheadedness and fair-hiring practices is so shaky, it's comical. It's like saying no white male in his 50s should be named CEO or a major corporation because he may bilk investors out of their hard-earned money.

Also, it's funny that those who couldn't wait to bash The Times over Blair failed to bring up race when the paper -- which features a diverse reporting staff and whose former managing editor, Gerald Boyd, is black -- was winning seven Pulitizer Prizes for coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

I can only hope that publishers and editors across this country look past Jayson Blair's act of idiocy and have the guts to continue offering opportunities to deserving candidates of color and to those who happen to be women or women of color.

To them, I refer to the title of Spike Lee's best movie, "Do the Right Thing.''

Because long after Jayson Blair fades away, only a handful of hard truths will remain: A few future journalists will plagiarize, some wide receivers will celebrate touchdowns by acting a fool, a few Ivy League CEO's will cheat, and the small-minded people will continue to point at groups rather than placing blame where it really belongs: on the individual.

I've never met Jayson Blair. And he's no brother of mine.

KCABJ's '80s Party

That is the next big event on KCABJ's calendar. KCABJ member Jenee' Osterheldt reports:

"Glenn and I have hammered out the details, and the party is on and popping! As soon as we get tickets printed, I am requesting that everyone on the executive committee sell five tickets -- and you can count the ones you purchase for yourself -- so you are only selling four. The details are as follows, and for KCABJ Vice President/Broadcast Joi Preciphs and KCABJ President Anita Parran -- who said they would help make tickets and fliers -- here is the breaking news:

KCABJ presents a "Throwback Party, It's All 'Bout The '80s Baby!'' The date is Saturday, July 26. The doors open at 8 p.m. The party is on from 9 p.m. until.... It will be at Niecie's Lounge & Grill, 6201 Blue Parkway. The cost is $10 per ticket, and the food is included in the price if you get there early enough to get your grub and your dance on. Who's invited? KCABJ members, prospective KCABJ members and friends of KCABJ."

KCABJ Student Workshop

"The Talented 10'' high school and college students completed the two-week KCABJ Urban Student Journalism Workshop at Rockhurst University. The 10 were Rachel E. Jackson, a junior at St. Teresa's Academy; Ann Langworthy, a sophomore at St. Teresa's Academy; Ebony Burnside, a senior at Hogan Prep Academy; Jessica Brooks; a sophomore at F.L. Schlagle High School; Jasmine Taylor, a junior at Lincoln Academy Preparatory Academy; Tyler N. Yarbrough, a sophomore at St. Teresa's Academy; Lurleen Brinkman, a student at the Unity School of Christianity; Kara Edgerson, who graduated from the 2002 KCABJ workshop and will attend Hampton University in the fall; Wynter Rice, a junior at Grandview High School; and Courtney E. Brame, a freshman at Pembroke Hill School.

In their assessment, the students gave KCABJ high marks for the diversity of the speakers, the topics that were covered, the thoroughness and thoughtfulness that went into the program and the efficiency in which the workshop was run. Tanyanika Samuels, KCABJ vice president/print, ran the first week; Glenn Rice, KCABJ member and a past president, ran the broadcast week. KCABJ members at the June membership meeting discussed ways in which the program could be improved.

Final editing starts now on the stories the students produced for the annual KCABJ Journal, the workshop publication, which The Kansas City Star annually prints. Pamela Spencer, a KCABJ member who is a copy editor at The Star, has agreed to edit and lay out the paper.

KCABJ Media Awards

Entries are being accepted for the 12th Annual KCABJ Media Awards. The deadline is July 19. Several entries already have been received. Please check out the home page of this Web site for the application and information about the contest. For additional information call Lewis Diuguid at (816) 234-4723.

Careers & More

KC People