The Times airs its dirty laundry in agonizing detail. The article is frank about the extent of fabrication and plagiarism in ex-reporter Jayson Blair’s high-visibility national reporting on such issues as the Washington sniper attacks, the domestic reaction to the invasion of Iraq, and the rescue of Jessica Lynch. The crucial issue in this abrogation of the public trust in the Times, however — how he could get away with it for so long — is glossed over in one brief paragraph:
The investigation suggests several reasons Mr. Blair’s deceits went undetected for so long: a failure of communication among senior editors; few complaints from the subjects of his articles; his savviness and his ingenious ways of covering his tracks. Most of all, no one saw his carelessness as a sign that he was capable of systematic fraud.
(Sound of the wind blowing as The Times neatly sidesteps any corporate responsibility). In an accompanying editorial note, the mea culpa is similarly tight-lipped: “The Times regrets that it did not detect the journalistic deceptions sooner. A separate internal inquiry, by the management, will examine the newsroom’s processes for training, assignment and accountability.”
