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TOM ZUCCOMembers of the National Association of Black Journalists say they don't want recent reporting scandals to hold them and others back.
ST. PETERSBURG - The offenses were the most serious a journalist can commit, they came to light within months of each other and they touched off a national debate about the credibility of newspapers.
Three reporters, Jayson Blair of the New York Times, Khalil Abdullah of the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph and Jack Kelley of USA Today, resigned or were fired recently after investigations revealed they either fabricated or plagiarized material for their newspapers.
But beyond issues of fact-checking, editor involvement and pressures to come up with a good story was the issue of race. Blair and Abdullah are black. Kelley is white.
In Friday's opening session of the National Association of Black Journalists 2004 regional conference at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, members addressed the topic head-on with a discussion titled "Accuracy, Credibility and Ethics: Why All the Fuss about Us?"
"I feel sorry for anybody who thought the only way to get ahead was by cheating," said Cindy George, a reporter for the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer. "But I'm also worried it would hold some of us back. So many of us do things right."
That Blair's case was the first of the three incidents, that it involved one of the oldest and most prestigious newspapers in the country and that Blair has appeared on national television to promote a book about his stay at the Times has made his story far more prominent than the other two.
In part because of that, several NABJ members said they fear being painted by the same brush simply because of their race.
"I am not Jayson Blair," George said.
But for some, Abdullah's case made the spotlight on black reporters even more intense.
NABJ member Mike McQueen, managing editor of the Macon Telegraph, said a number of white reporters at his newspaper were angry when they learned Abdullah previously had been fired by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after allegations he plagiarized there. But McQueen said he thought Abdullah showed promise and deserved a second chance.
"Khalil happened to be African-American," McQueen said. "Race had nothing to do with it (his hiring)."
Asked if he would hire someone with Abdullah's background again, McQueen quickly replied no.
"Well, maybe after a while," he said after a moment. "It's made us really gun shy."
To avoid similar problems, McQueen said, editors need to spend more time developing a stronger bond with their reporters.
"I don't think that bond is there anymore," he said. "And you have to go back to the system of challenging, prying, doing all you can."
Toward the end of the discussion, NABJ member Ray Metoyer, an executive producer with the Major Broadcasting Cable Network, rose from his seat and was handed a microphone.
"Questions are being asked about our qualifications," he said. "I want to know how we're going to deal with the Jayson Blair story and how it has been twisted into a negative commentary on affirmative action."
NABJ president Herbert Lowe provided a simple answer. Uphold the fundamental tenets of journalism and condemn any unethical behavior.
"I worked hard to get where I am," Lowe said. "We all did. And we need to tell that story and remember why we got into this business.
"That first line in your obit," he said, "is very important."