Note: At least some Americans still look to their news media to perform their watchdog function, looking over the shoulder of government to help keep things reasonably honest. Sometimes, however, our journalists fall down on this part of their job, usually for money. Others fall prey to the tensions of their work, the need to constantly produce, and slip into fabrication and/or plagiarism--firing offenses for reporters. A few others, in the manner of self-important politicians, develop heads so big it's a wonder they can get in the office door; some such individuals are given to ill-advised romantic trysts. Some journalists who undergo disgrace recover quickly; others are forever finished in the news business.
In the years leading up to 2005, nationally syndicated columnist, conservative television commentator and PR agency owner Armstrong Williams appeared to have the word by the tail.
Williams, one of only a few prominent conservative African American media figures, who liked to introduce himself as a third-generation Republican, was doing well financially and was a darling of the Far Right.
Tribune Media Services dropped his column in 2005, however, after reports that Armstrong had accepted $240,000 from the George W. Bush administration to push Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative. Williams took in these funds, which were of dubious legality to begin with, through his PR agency, but his greater mistake was not revealing it to his newspaper and TV audiences. What he did was a blatant conflict of interest.
The Bush administration, of course, got away with paying a journalist to be a shill, but Williams' career as a columnist came to a screeching halt. Radio and TV, having fewer qualms about journalistic ethics, stuck by him, and needless to say, his Graham Williams Group PR firm rolls on.
Other reports revealed that around the same time, two more columnists had accepted smaller amounts of Bush administration money to push for Bush's marriage initiative, which should have been called W's "Just Say I Do Plan." These individuals were Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus (whose column, ironically, was titled "Ethics & Religion"). These two columnists managed to survive their indiscretions.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Disgraced media figure Mike Barnicle
Columnist and commentator Mike Barnicle has bounced back very nicely from having been forced to resign from the Boston Globe in 1998 over charges of fabrication and plagiarism.
Barnicle had been with the Globe since 1973 and had succeeded in becoming one of those relatively few columnists who BECAME their city, so to speak. He was and remains a sharp observer, a gifted writer, a quotable columnist with a good sense of humor. Consequently, his column was highly popular during his 25 years with that paper.
Even under a journalistic cloud of doubt, he was almost immediately snapped up by two other papers: the Boston Herald and the New York Daily News.
Later, he expanded his efforts into radio and television commentary. His early-morning radio show Barnicle's View and his work on Hardball and Morning Joe on morning TV have made him familiar to a still larger audience, and he is also popular (and well paid) on the speaker circuit.
Barnicle no longer does his Daily News column but has continued the one in the Boston Herald.
Barnicle had been with the Globe since 1973 and had succeeded in becoming one of those relatively few columnists who BECAME their city, so to speak. He was and remains a sharp observer, a gifted writer, a quotable columnist with a good sense of humor. Consequently, his column was highly popular during his 25 years with that paper.
Even under a journalistic cloud of doubt, he was almost immediately snapped up by two other papers: the Boston Herald and the New York Daily News.
Later, he expanded his efforts into radio and television commentary. His early-morning radio show Barnicle's View and his work on Hardball and Morning Joe on morning TV have made him familiar to a still larger audience, and he is also popular (and well paid) on the speaker circuit.
Barnicle no longer does his Daily News column but has continued the one in the Boston Herald.
Disgraced media figure Jayson Blair
A personable young repoter on the fast track at the New York Times was Jayson Blair, who in 2003 was busted for fabricating and plagiarizing various kinds of information in his news stories.
The 27-year-old Blair had been an Affirmative Action hire, and opponents of such programs lost no time in making him a one-man argument to do away with preferential treatment in hiring and retention.
The venerable Times, which over the decades has made very strong efforts to fact-check its news and feature copy, suffered considerable embarrassment from the Blair affair.
An internal investigation found a surprisingly large number of instances of these transgressions, and two of Blair's bosses also parted company with the Times: Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd, who resigned under pressure a few weeks after Blair's departure.
In 2004, Blair told his side of these events in a book, blaming his troubles on drug problems in his early years and on depression. A year earlier, he had launched a company called Azure Entertainment in Centreville, Virginia.
The 27-year-old Blair had been an Affirmative Action hire, and opponents of such programs lost no time in making him a one-man argument to do away with preferential treatment in hiring and retention.
The venerable Times, which over the decades has made very strong efforts to fact-check its news and feature copy, suffered considerable embarrassment from the Blair affair.
An internal investigation found a surprisingly large number of instances of these transgressions, and two of Blair's bosses also parted company with the Times: Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd, who resigned under pressure a few weeks after Blair's departure.
In 2004, Blair told his side of these events in a book, blaming his troubles on drug problems in his early years and on depression. A year earlier, he had launched a company called Azure Entertainment in Centreville, Virginia.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Disgraced media figure Janet Cooke
Not often do Pulitzer Prize winners have that prize immediately taken away, but such was the case in 1981 with Washington Post attractive African American rising star reporter Janet Cooke.
The story that landed her in trouble was about an 8-year-old African American boy, identified simply as Jimmy, who lived on the rough streets of the nation's capital and who had become a heroin addict. Readers shuttered with sympathy upon reading the story's description of this poor child with needle marks pocking his tiny arms.
Public outcry was such that Mayor Marion Barry launched an unsuccessful search for little Jimmy. As it turned out, this was because there was no Jimmy, just many other children who were in similar predicaments.
Finally, Cooke admitted that "Jimmy" was a sort of composite character who represented other ghetto children she had encountered. This revelation of less than literal truth embarrassed her paper and her managing editor, Bob Woodward, who had nominated her for the Pulitzer. She was forced to resign, and the Pulitzer was straightway returned to sender.
It also came to light that some of the credentials on Cooke's resume had been distortions of truth. She did not, in fact, speak four languages, had not completed a degree at Vassar, and had not studied at the Sorbonne as claimed.
Later, Cooke married a lawyer, and the couple lived for a time in Paris. They divorced, and she dropped out of the media radar for years. Then in 1966, she did an interview story that appeared in GQ magazine. It was written by her former Post colleague and one-time boyfriend Mike Sagar. The two received a $1.6 million payment for movie rights to the Cooke story.
The story that landed her in trouble was about an 8-year-old African American boy, identified simply as Jimmy, who lived on the rough streets of the nation's capital and who had become a heroin addict. Readers shuttered with sympathy upon reading the story's description of this poor child with needle marks pocking his tiny arms.
Public outcry was such that Mayor Marion Barry launched an unsuccessful search for little Jimmy. As it turned out, this was because there was no Jimmy, just many other children who were in similar predicaments.
Finally, Cooke admitted that "Jimmy" was a sort of composite character who represented other ghetto children she had encountered. This revelation of less than literal truth embarrassed her paper and her managing editor, Bob Woodward, who had nominated her for the Pulitzer. She was forced to resign, and the Pulitzer was straightway returned to sender.
It also came to light that some of the credentials on Cooke's resume had been distortions of truth. She did not, in fact, speak four languages, had not completed a degree at Vassar, and had not studied at the Sorbonne as claimed.
Later, Cooke married a lawyer, and the couple lived for a time in Paris. They divorced, and she dropped out of the media radar for years. Then in 1966, she did an interview story that appeared in GQ magazine. It was written by her former Post colleague and one-time boyfriend Mike Sagar. The two received a $1.6 million payment for movie rights to the Cooke story.
Disgraced media figure Jay Forman
Out-of-control youthful indiscretion might be the best way to view what happened to young writer Jay Forman, who more than likely was given more journalistic luggage than he could swim with.
Foreman was writing for Slate.com when, in 2001, he posted a highly colorful story titled, simply, "Monkeyfishing." This story got him fired from further work for Slate.
His first-person account told of an island, Lois Key,on which researchers had created a colony of rhesus monkeys, left there to breed for future use in research projects.
The story told of a boat trip to that island, where from the boat, "fishermen" used heavy tackle to cast fruit-baited hooks in the direction of the monkeys in order to hook them in the manner of hooking fish.
Young Mr. Forman expressed shock at the cruelty of the practice and no doubt assumed that animal-rights activists and other readers would feel likewise. The story was filled with convincing detail.
Respected Washington Post columnist Michael Kinsley, who is Slate's founding editor, began to question the story. Eventually, Forman admitted the the entire account was fabricated and that it contained a few other irregularities, as well. Thereupon, Forman and Slate parted company. There actually were monkeys on Lois Key, but they have been removed due to the embarrassment of the Forman affair.
Foreman was writing for Slate.com when, in 2001, he posted a highly colorful story titled, simply, "Monkeyfishing." This story got him fired from further work for Slate.
His first-person account told of an island, Lois Key,on which researchers had created a colony of rhesus monkeys, left there to breed for future use in research projects.
The story told of a boat trip to that island, where from the boat, "fishermen" used heavy tackle to cast fruit-baited hooks in the direction of the monkeys in order to hook them in the manner of hooking fish.
Young Mr. Forman expressed shock at the cruelty of the practice and no doubt assumed that animal-rights activists and other readers would feel likewise. The story was filled with convincing detail.
Respected Washington Post columnist Michael Kinsley, who is Slate's founding editor, began to question the story. Eventually, Forman admitted the the entire account was fabricated and that it contained a few other irregularities, as well. Thereupon, Forman and Slate parted company. There actually were monkeys on Lois Key, but they have been removed due to the embarrassment of the Forman affair.
Disgraced media figure James Guckert
An absolutely stomach-turning story from George W. Bush's years in the White House was that of James Dale Guckert, who posed as a White House reporter at Bush press conferences, where he tossed softball questions to the president or his press secretary.
For this assignment, Guckert used the alias Jeff Gannnon, and he managed to do this from 2003 until 2005 when he was unmasked as a plant and a phony.
Also in 2005, news surfaced that Mr. Guckert's suggestive photo appeared on the websites of gay escort services in the Washington area. This revelation did not fit entirely well with the GOP's family-values image.
Around the same time, several actual journalists were shown to have been paid substantial sums by the administration to write or broadcast the GOP party line, but without revealing these payments to their readers--another appalling ethical violation.
To give "Gannon" the appearance of legitimacy, the sham news agency Talon News was created, for which the bogus reporter was nominal Washington Bureau Chief.
After 2005, Guckert came out of the closet and began writing a column for the Washington Blade, a newspaper for that city's gay community.
For this assignment, Guckert used the alias Jeff Gannnon, and he managed to do this from 2003 until 2005 when he was unmasked as a plant and a phony.
Also in 2005, news surfaced that Mr. Guckert's suggestive photo appeared on the websites of gay escort services in the Washington area. This revelation did not fit entirely well with the GOP's family-values image.
Around the same time, several actual journalists were shown to have been paid substantial sums by the administration to write or broadcast the GOP party line, but without revealing these payments to their readers--another appalling ethical violation.
To give "Gannon" the appearance of legitimacy, the sham news agency Talon News was created, for which the bogus reporter was nominal Washington Bureau Chief.
After 2005, Guckert came out of the closet and began writing a column for the Washington Blade, a newspaper for that city's gay community.
Disgraced media figure Stephen Glass
In 1998, young star writer Stephen Glass was fired by The New Republic magazine for having fabricated facts, quotes and sources for stories. Despite this huge setback, Glass has managed to begin a new career and appears headed for success in it.
The Chicago native first came to the nation's attention while editing the student newspaper at Pennsylvania University during a time of especially touchy race relations. A group of African American students had confiscated most copies of one issue of that paper due to a story they disliked. The school's administration caved in to political correctness, and the only person to get into trouble for the incident was a hapless security guard who had tried to stop the removal of some copies of the paper.
Glass' troubles at The New Republic began in 1998 with a story he had written about a money-hungry 15-year-old computer hacker. As do so many stories that get journalistic writers into ethical trouble, this one depended on the use of anonymous sources. The story also contained what the magazine concluded were invented quotations.
Nothing if not versatile, Glass did stand-up comedy for a short while, published a book based on his firing, saw a movie made about his story, and finished at Georgetown Law School.
The Chicago native first came to the nation's attention while editing the student newspaper at Pennsylvania University during a time of especially touchy race relations. A group of African American students had confiscated most copies of one issue of that paper due to a story they disliked. The school's administration caved in to political correctness, and the only person to get into trouble for the incident was a hapless security guard who had tried to stop the removal of some copies of the paper.
Glass' troubles at The New Republic began in 1998 with a story he had written about a money-hungry 15-year-old computer hacker. As do so many stories that get journalistic writers into ethical trouble, this one depended on the use of anonymous sources. The story also contained what the magazine concluded were invented quotations.
Nothing if not versatile, Glass did stand-up comedy for a short while, published a book based on his firing, saw a movie made about his story, and finished at Georgetown Law School.
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