Everyone seems to really have their knickers in a twist about the NY Times/Jayson Blair scandal, and there is some obvious schadenfreude from a number of sources. My opinion of the NY Times has lessened since the scandal, but not really because of it.
The way I see it, the NY Times got screwed by a con-man- it could happen to anyone. However, is that any more damning than the institutional bias that will continue on irrespective of this scandal? Think about it- what is worse? Having one rogue reporter who made up stories, or having an entire staff that knows the truth but refuses or is not allowed to print it? I’ll take the rogue reporter, thank you.
Emperor Misha I
As far as I know, they not only got scammed, they were alerted to it, yet refused to do anything about it.
That’s the difference.
But, like you, my opinion of the Raines’ Times didn’t really drop all that much. Couldn’t drop much further anyway.