On Jayson Blair

An article on the one-time New York Times reporter/serial plagarist was in yesterday's Boston Herald, noting that Blair had recently written for bp Hope. Blair, as some of you know, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder soon after the scandal about him stealing from other reporters--including a friend of mine from college who turned him in and got the ball rolling on the disclosure--came to light. I should note that the magazine is funded by pharma companies and refuses to publish articles that criticize meds by product or generic name. Stupid policy. Let's leave readers in the dark, shall we?

At times, I do feel sorry for Jayson. I've interviewed him before and he is quite smart. But I don't fancy his claim that bipolar disorder played a major role in his transgressions against journalism. I've been a reporter for a decade and have never found that bipolar disorder turned me into a liar or plagarist. In fact, it hasn't limited me at all. The most important bit of business with living with bipolar is knowing yourself and your limits, and not using the disorder as an excuse for bad character and dumb choices. To do so mocks the millions of Americans who get along quite well with this disorder, and do it without lying or stealing. And with far more nobility than Blair ever has.

The tasty irony for me is that I would've axe-murdered for a job at the Times, but they wouldn't consider me because I am white. Meanwhile, Jayson is a famous liar who's done a book and is rumored to be at work on another, while I quit my job last month because my paper's new editors felt it was a grand idea to publish fake news and dupe the public. Jayson has a job. I don't. Ah, life's parade of irony continues.