The recent New York Times plagiarism fiasco involving Jayson Blair has prompted articles and columns in newspapers, including the Free Press, magazines and online as well as TV reports. Most of them have been about what journalists think.
But what do newspaper readers think? A national project on newspaper credibility that includes the Free Press tried to find out.
Using e-mail, 16 newspapers asked about 3,000 readers why people fail to alert newspapers about inaccurate reporting.
Here is what several Free Press readers had to say:
Jerry Gillooly, Lambertville: “My advice to the newspapers engaged in this survey is to tend to your own credibility. Double-check your sources. Insist on thoroughness in investigation and accuracy in reporting. Editors, edit! Compete with one another to be the best. Don’t waste your time and talent on circling the wagons around the NYT. She’s big enough to take care of herself. And none of us really cares.”
Kathy Smith, Grand Blanc: “The good newspapers and reporters will rise above the occasional Jayson Blair; this incident won’t hurt them much if they remember to stay true to their craft. The ones who pander to the interests of people or corporations are the ones who should be worried; they’ll soon be keeping company with rags like the Enquirer and the Star.”
Ed Abraham, Grosse Pointe Farms: “The most significant ‘mistakes’ I’ve noticed in newspaper coverage of stories are generally errors of omission, where a significant and relevant piece of information is left out of the particular piece altogether.”
Mary-Lou Chall, Detroit: “A newspaper should set a goal for itself, such as for every 100 stories a reporter writes, a random 10 should be reviewed. I realize this would be expensive for the paper but it is the newspaper’s credibility that is at stake. A good newspaper also has an obligation to the community to make sure its readers are kept accurately informed. Inaccurate reporting will eventually lead to a decline in readership and advertising. I think I will take a closer look at stories I am interested in, especially those originating in other newspapers.”
Jonathan Swift, Bloomfield Hills: “Reflections of Orwell’s ’1984.’ Managed news! In Detroit, we are lucky we can watch the BBC news or the Canadian news on television, or even world newspapers on the Internet. I read the Free Press every day. For the most part, what I see seems to conform with news around the world.”
Nationally, readers said they failed to report errors for a variety of reasons: They doubted newspapers cared about mistakes or would listen to them. Errors were so obvious they felt someone would correct them. They thought errors were intentional because journalism glosses over the fine points and hypes storytelling.
The Blair incident and its aftermath is having a corrosive effect on media credibility, which was tarnished to start with. All journalists now must work to be more accurate and accountable, upholding the standards we espouse.
