Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post describes Jayson Blair’s depressingly pathetic book proposal about his victimization by the New York Times.
Whatever else can be said about the Blair scandal (and most of what is possible, and some of what is not, has been said), two things seem abundantly clear:
1. The Times did itself no favor by the slack it cut Blair in hiring and supervision;
2. That slack did Blair no favor either.
Blair seems pathetic, but so do the double standards that are responsible at least in part for his descent.
You used “pathetic” twice in that post. Maybe you should have thrown in a “bathetic”.
Blair couldn’t do more harm to the affirmative action cause if he tried. Unreal.
Think Mr. Blair may relate too much with Mr. Blair?
May 26, 2003
Lynch saga seems truly incredible
MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST
Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or email hidden; JavaScript is required
One of Jayson Blair’s most notorious fabrications was his bogus account from Palestine, W.Va. describing the father of former P.O.W. Jessica Lynch becoming “choked up as he stood on his porch here overlooking the tobacco fields and cattle pastures . . . .”
Now, the British Broadcasting Corp. suggests that the events surrounding Lynch’s rescue are as fanciful as Blair’s tobacco and cows.
The BBC report characterized the rescue as a public-relations stunt to bolster support for the war. It called the Lynch story “one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived.”
According to the report, the Iraqi doctors who cared for Lynch (in contrast to U.S. reports of her medical neglect) had arranged to hand her over to Americans. But the ambulance containing her was forced to flee when shot at by coalition troops. Two days later, special forces stormed the hospital – even though they had been told beforehand that Iraqi forces had fled and they would face no resistance.
“It was like a Hollywood film,” an Iraqi doctor told BBC of the rescue, which was filmed with night-vision cameras. “They cried ‘go, go, go’, with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital – action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan.” This version of events conflicts with the account of the Iraqi lawyer, since granted asylum here, who was credited with alerting U.S. forces to Lynch’s whereabouts.
And critics will note this is from BBC, called the “Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation” by conservatives.
In light of the BBC report, The Associated Press is investigating the Lynch story, as, no doubt, are other major news organizations. But let’s face it: Both the U.S. government and the media have a credibility problem here.
Lynch’s ordeal catapulted the 20-year-old supply clerk to heroic status. The public and media paid little attention as the story began to show cracks.
We were told that Lynch had shot several Iraqi soldiers before being captured in a fierce gunbattle and that she had been stabbed and shot.
“She was fighting to the death,” The Washington Post quoted an official as saying. “She did not want to be taken alive.”
“Saving Private Lynch” became The Story, with a movie in the works. But now it seems Lynch was neither shot nor stabbed, and her injuries might well have been sustained when her vehicle overturned. Because she reportedly has no memory of the event, we may never know what happened during the ambush that killed nine of her (largely ignored) fellow soldiers.
The Pentagon called allegations that it misrepresented the rescue “ridiculous.” And it blamed misinformation regarding Lynch’s saga on media speculation. Nevertheless, according to a report in The Washington Times, the Pentagon has launched its own investigation.
But this much is certain: Lynch’s story needs no hyping. Her courage is obvious; her pain, real. It should never have been exploited.
Nor should the country have allowed itself to be sold a war based on dubious, if not outlandishly false, claims.
Can’t handle the truth? It seems we can barely recognize it. Is it any wonder that Blair, for so long, pulled off his elaborate hoax?
Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or email hidden; JavaScript is required
This story can be found at: http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/vametro/MGB931MR5GD.html
Go Back To The Story
I don’t have the cites handy, but if you’ll go to Instapundit and scroll down and/or search, you’ll find a wealth of materials, with links, demolishing the BBC report.