While his name has long been synonymous with journalistic malpractice, Jayson Blair has a chilling warning for America’s shrinking news operations: another major ethics scandal may be just “around the corner.”
The former New York Times reporter, who resigned in 2003 amid multiple incidents of plagiarism and fabrication, said persistent layoffs and declining resources have put the ravaged industry at increasing risk of ethical lapses with journalists under pressure to meet unchanged expectations.
“It reminds me—those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it,” Blair told the National Press Foundation’s Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship. “We haven’t had the giant Jayson Blair as of late, but I have a feeling it’s around the corner. So, part of what I wanted to at least talk to you guys about is: ‘How do you function in this environment where you have the same expectations we did, and less support? And so how do you manage the stress?’”
Blair, now managing partner of a consulting firm that specializes in career and mental health coaching, urged journalists to care for their mental well-being in a high-pressure work environment dictated by an unrelenting news cycle.
The former journalist said un-addressed mental health illness (he was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder) accelerated his own professional decline as newsrooms scrambled to respond to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Among his initial transgressions, Blair recalled lifting information for a story related to the attacks from the Associated Press at the time without including proper attribution.
“It’s presented in little moments where you make little compromises,” Blair said of his conduct.
“I really do believe I’m responsible for what I did. I certainly had mental health issues going on that made it a bit of a perfect storm. But I really think it comes down to character… and lack of integrity played a huge role in it for me,” he said.
After his transgressions were revealed, Blair said his emotions ran from anger, frustration to “absolute contrition.”
“And I think over time I feel like there was this moment during the Trump campaign where a lot crystallized to me. Donald Trump put out this tweet where he was attacking the New York Times, and he was using my name.
“One of the things that I think I feel more contrite for, or most contrite for is making it harder for journalists to be able to do their jobs. I think another thing I’m really contrite for is disappointing the people who cared about me.”
Access the full transcript.
