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Always_lurking
Newbie Poster
Username: Always_lurking
Post Number: 13
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 10:39 am: | 
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Leonard Pitts Jr. | Cloud cast over white journalists
An open letter to my colleagues in the news business. The silence is getting loud.
It's been nearly four months since the scandal broke. Four months since Jack Kelley, former star foreign correspondent for USA Today, was found to have lied his way through his professional life for the last 13 years.
He lied about where he had been, what he had seen, who he had talked to, what they had said. He lied so much I'm only half convinced "Jack Kelley" is his real name.
Yet you, my colleagues, have not asked the most important question:
What does this mean for the future of white journalism?
Granted, you've pontificated about our damaged credibility. You've felled forests with your weighty ruminations about what this portends for the future of our profession. But, evidently cowed by political correctness, you've ignored the most vital issues.
Did USA Today advance a moderately capable journalist because he was white?
Did some white editor mentor him out of racial solidarity even though Kelley was unqualified?
In light of this fiasco, should we re-examine the de facto affirmative action that gives white men preferential treatment in our newsrooms?
Certainly, no one had to beg for these questions to be asked a year ago, when Jayson Blair got his sorry backside in hot water.
Blair, as you hardly need to be reminded, was a black reporter who initially came to the New York Times via a slot in an internship program the paper was using to increase newsroom diversity. It turned out that the only diversity Blair represented was that which is to be found between lies and damned lies.
Still, some observers felt the circumstances of his hiring were almost as important as the reason for his firing. Columnist Andrew Sullivan claimed Blair got away with snookering the Times because his editors feared offending a black journalist. Columnist Richard Cohen told us Blair enjoyed "favoritism based on race."
Jennifer Harper, a reporter for the conservative Washington Times, wrote that the Blair episode made the New York paper a "case study on the effects of affirmative action in the newsroom."
A computer search Friday indicates that Sullivan, Cohen and Harper have thus far been silent on the racial dimensions of the Kelley incident.
In fairness to those worthies, I'm sure they're warming up their laptops even as we speak.
While we await the results, let me, in the interest of full disclosure, admit that I didn't think up today's column on my own. Rather, it was inspired by remarks Gwen Ifill of PBS made last week at an awards dinner. Truth to tell, though, she only crystallized what I -- and, I dare say, many other journalists of color -- have been thinking ever since Kelley's deceptions were uncovered.
Namely, that this is (with apologies to the Four Tops) the same old song. When a white person screws up, it ignites a debate on the screw-up.
When a black person screws up, it ignites a debate on race.
So, loath though I am to position myself as a spokesman, I feel confident in saying one thing on behalf of black journalists everywhere: When and if our industry decides to deal with the issues raised by Kelley's transgressions, we stand ready to help.
Need someone to handle outreach to journalism programs at HWCUs (historically white colleges and universities)? Want to discuss whether hiring whites requires us to lower our standards?
Looking for ideas of how to make whites feel more welcome?
We're standing by.
All you have to do is call.
Because doggone it, white journalism has a long, proud history -- Edward R. Murrow, Mike Royko ... Matt Drudge. We cannot allow one bad apple to sully that.
So I'll be over here waiting for the discussion of these issues to begin.
I'm thinking I should pack a lunch.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/opinion/8516764.htm |
Always_lurking
Newbie Poster
Username: Always_lurking
Post Number: 14
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 10:42 am: |
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I agree wholeheartedly with this article. Why couldn't the discussion be about journalistic intergrity. Instead it was about race, race, race, and solely race. Now, you don't even hear a word about Jack Kelley's fall from grace. |
Eviana
Regular Poster
Username: Eviana
Post Number: 35
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 02:38 pm: |
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Always_lurking,
You don't hear Jack Kelley fall from grace, because he in not going around saying that the reason he lied was because he was black and he needed to lie to be competitive in the white world of journalism.
Jason Blair was not man enough to say that he wasn't good enough for the job. He had to make a black thing out of his failures.
After reading his book, I have no respect at all for Jason Blair. He lied about himself and on others and now he's looking for a way out by saying I did all of this because I'm black and no one appreciated the hard work I did, so I had to lie to make what I was doing better.
Jason Blair needs to get real with himself first and accept who he really is and stop making a complete fool out of himself.
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Solomonjones
Newbie Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 14
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 11:18 pm: |
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Eviana -
I've been a black journalist for 11 years. Having been in and around mainstream newsrooms for more than a decade, I can assure you without fear of fact-based contradiction that the reason you don't hear about Jack Kelley's fall from grace is because he, like the vast majority of journalists in mainstream newsrooms, is white. Period. End of story.
I agree that Jason Blair must take responsibility for his actions. But the mainstream media must also take responsibility for its inaction concerning Jack Kelley. If we as journalists were as objective as we portray ourselves to be, then Kelley's race would be as much a part of the discussion as Blair's.
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Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 185
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 11:24 am: |
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Eviana:
Looks like Jason Blair is not the only one who needs to get real.
It is not about the crime. It is about who stands accused of committing it.
What do you think about Jack Kelly? Do you think he is better than Blair? And why? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 343
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 11:57 am: |
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Well, Jayson did have an excuse. He was incompetent. From all indications, Jack Kelly was arrogant and dishonest. |
Always_lurking
Newbie Poster
Username: Always_lurking
Post Number: 15
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 02:04 pm: |
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Eviana:
Come on . . . This thing with Kelley happened weeks ago and not a peep has come out about it. When JB was found out, the whole world found out also. This goes beyond JB talking about it in the media. It was being talked about anyway. Granted as Solomonjones states, JB needs to take responsibility, but what's going on with Kelley? We don't know. Also, you can't tell me that when you heard about JB, you weren't praying that it wasn't a brother. That's an automatic reflex with Black folks even if we don't want to do it  . Now then, you know that the mainstream is also seeing the color first and the infraction second. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't always have to strive to be better at everything we decide to do. |
Eviana
Regular Poster
Username: Eviana
Post Number: 36
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 05:14 pm: |
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Kelly is not the only white person to have been found to be a liar in this profession. But the difference is you don't hear any of these other journalist screaming I lied because I am black. They have accepted the fact that they were caught and will quietly move on. If Jason Blair wasn't out trying to get paid for what he did, than I sure he wouldn't be in the media as he is today.
Also, even though I don't all of the details surrounding Kelley, I do know that Jason was responsible for the firing of another brother, Gerald Boyd because of his inept of being a reporter.
I don't think that Kelley is any better than Blair, but I do believe he's taking full responsibility for his action and he's handling the matter in a dignified way which is not to bring undue attention to what he's done.
Solomonjones,
That's my point. Because Kelley is white, you won't hear much about him because he won't use the race card to scream look at what they made me do because of my race. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 187
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 05:29 pm: |
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Eviana:
Race card. Like this is some kind of game. Well, he don't have to play a guard the game is stacked in his favor.
Like Robert Blake admitted he shot his wife. Like George Bush admitted he went AWOL from the Guard. Like Bill Clinton admitted he had sex with Monica Lewinsky.
Oh these wonderful honorable honest white liars and plagiarists!
No,he will make excuses and say he didn't lie or make up anything at all is what he'll do-- |
Eviana
Regular Poster
Username: Eviana
Post Number: 38
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 11:04 pm: |
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Chris,
I may be wrong and please correct me if I am, but I don't remember Clinton saying to the American people I lied to all of you about Monica because I'm white and my colleagues of other races put too much pressure on me and because of this I shouldn't be the President. I remember him saying in a sense I lied to all of you because what happened between Monica and me was personal it had nothing to do with my Presidential status.
And I don't follow what George Bush has done in the past, because I think he's crazy, but I can tell you that he won't say he did something because he's white. Nor will Robert Blake.
White people do what they want to do simply because they want to do it. They might say I was insane, but they won't say I did it because I'm white. Same as black people. Jason Blair lied because he wanted to. Not because he's black and he shouldn't have used that excuse when he was discovered. |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 227
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 12:52 am: |
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The point is that black folk are consider incompetent from the door, so the entire "race" is discussed when one person is disingenuous. On the other hand, since white folk are considered competent, then a white person's misdeeds are only related to that individual not the entire "race."
Consequently, race is as much a factor for whites as it is for blacks, but since white competency is normalized and black's irresponsiblity and incompetence is normalization then the evocation of race is deployed differently. |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 228
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 12:59 am: |
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The real issue, I think, is white folk are judged as humans, fallible, diverse individuals. Black folk are judged as a subhuman, inferior, homogenious race....we are all the same, no individuality...statistically criminal, educationally inferior, culturally backward... |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 229
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 11:24 am: |
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Leonard Pitts:
"When a white person screws up, it ignites a debate on the screw up. When a black person screws up, it ignites a debate on race."
You don't have to play the race card when it IS inscribed on your body, in this culture, institutions, and all places of power....
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Solomonjones
Newbie Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 17
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 03:56 pm: |
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Yukio -
Amen. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 189
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 10:32 am: |
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Eviana:
You don't get it. Let me spell it out for you. I'm saying none of those powerful white men even admitted they did anything, they got to lying immediately.
White people don't have to even verbalize the fact that they do stuff cuz they are white. It goes without saying. In their country clubs, for instance, they don't have to tell the other members not to propose any black people for membership. They know not to bring any in there.
Blair can say whatever he wants to say, just like the person who kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan. Anybody else can say what they want to say when and if they get caught doing wrong.
I get tired of folks like you trying to hang any black that does something wrong around my neck. When you are ready to let me hang Jeffery Dahmer around your neck, I'll be ready to wear a Jayson Blair necklace.
Yukio:
Who judges black people as inferior, etc? Are you inferior or subhuman? Is that what you think of yourself? It is a free country, you may. I don't, no matter what you, or anybody else will do.
Stop saying this "race card" (something white people made up) like this is some kind of game. There is no race card inscribed on my body.
There seems to be one inscribed on a lot of people's brains. |
Eviana
Regular Poster
Username: Eviana
Post Number: 42
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 12:34 pm: |
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Chris,
You don't get it, so I'll spell it out for YOU. People do what they want to do because they want to do it. Just like I said before. It does not matter if they are white or black they want to do it. And as far as hanging black people for what they do, what are you talking about? I said people should take responsibiltiy for their actions no matter the color. If the spotlight is so bright on black people as a race then why do they deliberately bring shame on the entire race? Jayson could have avoided all of this simply by changing his profession. It's not until that individual puts the entire race into their downfall that we all share the light.
And I'd like to see you wear Jason around your neck, that would pretty funny.
And BTW, Clinton did admit to lying. |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 232
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 02:37 pm: |
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chrishayden:
I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny, but my post has nothing to do with me and black people see themselves(though I'm sure some black folk have an inferiority complex). So, I'm talking about how this country treats and judges black people. In addition, I see myself as a human(fallible) and especially as part of the black world. This black world is fighting for not only the survival of our bodies, but of our culture, land, and minds. Consequently, what we do is always in relationship to the larger world, which we all participate in and with, regardless of one wants to take an individualist postion. In other words, what they do and think of us does affect our life chances, as it does any other citizen in the US.
Police brutality(DWB) means that we are not free. the patriot act means that many of us are not free. These informal and formal policies are based on the idea and assumption that we are criminal and/or guilty of lawlessness a priori. Being free is subterfuge...it is only part of liberal political theory, but no one is really free, neither colonized or colonizer, slave or master, so let us drop the bull.
Let me TRY to inform you of how I understand Euro-American countries, particularly those that have colonized the Americas and Africa.
Their political, economic, and social structures and institutions are based upon euro-american values that are based on the superiority of their values, knowledge, and political system.
With that said, the substance of Blair's situation had to do with him being an affirmative action recipient. The assumption among whites and Americans in general is that these recipients are incompetent. Yet, if we really consider affirmative action it is another element used to determine if a person receives a job and/or access to an education. Now, if this is so, then we can also argue that whiteness and class enabled many white males access to employment and educational facilities that were not afforded to minorities(including white women) who had the same or greater expertise or efficiency in skills or education. In other words, white men have always received affirmative action, although it was not called so(In fact, Philip Rubio's book, The History of Affirmative Action, 1619-2000, expertly makes this point). Now, since this particular policy as related to white men has never been questioned or challenged, it was/is still a normal occurrence. In other words, it is normal to assume that all white men( and now white women although their probably the largest affirmative action recipients who also, by the way, contribute to the white family) are qualified or competent. On the other hand, as stated above, black folk are believed to be unqualified, even if they aren't affirmative action recipients.
Race card, as u know, is a metaphor. You are a poet. So if we work with the metaphor, race is of course inscribed on your body...I've never seen you, but as soon as you walk into the elevator, department store, holding your hand out in the rain anxiously waiting for a cab to stop, criminality is written on your face, eyes, hands--your body. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 344
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 04:04 pm: |
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chrishayden will never "get it" because he continues to think like a black person. I would think he'd realize by now that black people have to know how to think like white people in order to try and out wit them in any given situation. This is a tactic that dates back to slavery days. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 138
Registered: 04-2004
Rating:
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 04:07 pm: |
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First...Bravo Eviana! I have enjoyed how you have asserted your opinions on this subject.
Solomonjones,
It is it is as much YOUR and Pitts and all other journalists/editors’ - White/Black/Blue - job to inform us of how evil Kelley is as is anyone else’s, including White journalists. Kelley isn’t the first White journalist to get caught scamming. There was a movie released recently about a young journalist at Newsweek who did things very similar to Blair/Kelley. And after he was nabbed, there were questions asked about his qualifications.
And, unlike Blair, has a college degree. <<wink!>>
Where were the Black journalists like you, Pitts and others exclaiming deceptions of journalists, White and Black? I’ll bet there were many professionals like yourself who knew what Kelley, Blair and other were (and still are) doing yet elected to stay quiet. Come on. I read that Kelley had for better than a decade stolen almost entire columns written by others and published them in his name. Somebody HAD to have known what he was doing. Where were his Black peers - where were YOU - while dude was pulling that crap?
In fact, I might be inclined to fire other journalists who worked closely with Kelley for being too stupid to NOT know what he was doing.
All journalists, no matter your backgrounds, need to be more faithful toward and concerned about your profession, and less about the race of it cheaters. And if Blair wasn’t qualified for the job he had at the NYT, he shouldn’t have had it. PERIOD. I have NO problem with someone querying how/why he got a gig he shouldn’t have had. His BS doesn’t invalidate any/all hiring of Black people. And heck, maybe another brother or sister who KNOW what they are doing could have filled his slot.
Maybe, rather than waiting until there is an apparent imbalance between how cheating Black journalists and cheating White journalists are treated (which is, to me, is akin to complaining about how White bank robbers are treated better than Black bank robbers), maybe your time would be better applied towards helping to ensure that accuracy/integrity of ALL journalists. Because, no matter their color, when journalists cheat, we all suffer. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 140
Registered: 04-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 04:17 pm: |
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I too am a fan of Pitts. He’s very skilled at making larger/broader issues more accessible. I agree with Pitts about the disparate treatment of Blair and Kelley. And I congratulate him on scoring a (recently controversial) Pulitzer Prize.
However, there often seems to be this corrosive element within Black communities where we used the apparent the bias treatment of a White crook to defend a Black one.
I think it’s time to bring some perspective to this discussion: That lying, cheating, deceiving, punk@$$, opportunistic Blair damn near brought down the fabled NEW YORK TIMES.
The Times...the nation’s ‘flagship’ daily publication. The NYT is at the very heart/core of NYC, the defacto media capital of the world. And it has been considered a bastion of liberalism for generations.
So anything thing that happens there, good/bad, is going to be amped-up at least 3X that of that of almost any other newspaper. What happens at the USA Today, which until recently was a mediocre, tabloid daily, whose only real virtue is it can be bought on almost any American newsstand, doesn’t even compare to the venerable New York Times.
And of what you decry wasn’t so much about Blair or even race as much as it was about many NYT rivals leveraging the convenient Blair fiasco into an opportunity to pierce the near-impregnable armor of the ‘Ol’ Gray Lady’ (and to score some pretty popular news/commentary copy to boot).
I’d think every journalist, no matter race/gender/politics would consider the enormous consequence of Blair’s dastardly deeds. Because lies and deceptions at the NYT, no matter the ethnicity of their perpetrators, calls into question the legitimacy of the entire journalistic profession.
Kelley, at this point, is not gallivanting around on book/speaking junkets, hocking a self-pitying book. And Hell Hath Indeed Come to the US Today for Kelley’s transgressions. At least 3 of the UST’s senior editorial staff have bit the dust because of Kelley. And I believe one of those axed had been with the paper since it’s inception!
But the mendacious (to support Eviana worthy points), rather than meekly shying a way from the destructive furor he engendered, has reveled in his ill-gotten infamy. And has tried to score money from it; damn whatever damage or discredit he did to himself, his profession and countless people who might have believe he had something to say that was worthy of reading. Even the title of his book "Burning Down My Master’s House" is embarrassing.
Jayson Blair is an affront to every Black person who has earnestly strived and fought for everything they have earned.
BTW: To those who have or may read and/or defend Blair’s book: How can you believe anything written by a guy’s who’s sole claim to fame is being...a LIAR? |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 234
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 04:35 pm: |
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ABM: right...malcolm, martin and others have always been as critical of blacks as they have been to racists and black inhibitors. Self-critique and self-evaluation has always been part of the black tradition, not victimization, as those folk who defend blair and amarosa seem to be... |
Eviana
Regular Poster
Username: Eviana
Post Number: 43
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 04:50 pm: |
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Amen Amen ABM,
That's exactly my point. Blair will always be in the media because that's the way he wants it. Other journalist in the same predicament will choose to move on and will do so quietly.
Cynique,
I agree with you as well. The way we think has a lot to do with the way we live and perceive things to be and will always enables us to keep moving forward. |
Solomonjones
Newbie Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 18
Registered: 02-2004
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2004 - 05:21 pm: |
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ABM -
The only journalist whose integrity I'm responsible for monitoring is my own. I can't control what other journalists do any more than I can control what other authors do. I can't control what other journalists do any more than I can control what other black men do. The only people whose actions I can even tangentially be held responsible for are those of my children, because it is my job to raise, nurture and train them to be responsible, accountable adults.
In fact, to answer your question, that's where I was when Jack Kelley was plagiarizing his way to the top. I was working three jobs to make sure that my queen could stay home to take care of the child that God has blessed us with. I was working in my faith community to create employment, social service, and health opportunities for black folks. I was working in City government to create additional economic opportunities for black people. I was making sure that I carried myself with the integrity that Jack Kelley did not, so that somewhere, someone would be able to point to Solomon Jones and say, "There is a black man who is doing what he's supposed to do." That's how we destroy stereotypes, ABM -- by becoming living, breathing testimonies against them.
Jack Kelley is a grown man. He has to be accountable for his actions. And I have to be accountable for mine.
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Kc_trudiva
Regular Poster
Username: Kc_trudiva
Post Number: 50
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 04, 2004 - 07:31 am: |
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solomonjones: well put. couldn't have said it any better. you must be a writer.*sly grin* |
Sisg
Newbie Poster
Username: Sisg
Post Number: 10
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 04, 2004 - 04:01 pm: |
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and another thing.....! I just liked the way you said that too Solomonjones, especially the part about "I was working three jobs to make sure that my queen could stay home to take care of the child that God has blessed us with." Beautiful!
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Solomonjones
Newbie Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 19
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 04, 2004 - 10:40 pm: |
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Thanks for the love, kc_trudiva and Sisg. I need that. |
Bookgirl
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Bookgirl
Post Number: 78
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2004 - 02:32 pm: |
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Well; you deserve it brotha solomon jones.....LOL
I admire both your writing and your Black man's attitude! You wife is a blessed woman. And I'm sure you too are blessed by her love. |
Solomonjones
Newbie Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 20
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2004 - 11:07 pm: |
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Thanks Bookgirl. I love my wife deeply . . . But I don't wanna get all sentimental online. |
Bookgirl
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Bookgirl
Post Number: 79
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 01:42 am: |
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LOL...no don't do that! |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 145
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 10, 2004 - 01:28 pm: |
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Ladies, isn't Solomonjones a 'sweetie pie'? ((SMOOCHES!!)) SJ, you wouldn't be trying to engender the good favor of our female readers...would you?
HAHA!!
Just kidding SJ.
Seriously, I dig where you're coming from, playah. And I've been holding down my end too: I have/am supporting a wife (who has not worked a day job since we married), daughters, mothers, grandmothers, siblings, etc...etc. But that hasn't precluded me from trying to engenders some integrity within my professional/business endeavors.
Sometimes, it's not enuff to be a 'good guy'. Sometimes, you've got to finger the 'bad guy'. Or eventually, right or wrong, you all may begin to look/smell $#@+.
You know, the reason why bad cops get away with false imprisonment, police brutality, DWB is that the good cops look the other way. The reason why corrupt politicians can steal from the public is their more moral peers silently say to themselves "That's them...not me." And one of the main reasons why we are mired in a fallacious war in Iraq is that the estimable Secretary of State Colin Powell sold us all out to maintain good standing with Bush, Cheney, etc.
There comes a time that, for all of our sake, somebody has got to blow the whistle!
I never asserted or inferred that you can/should control anybody. But if people like yourself, who are closest to and most knowledgeable of media fraud, can not or will not rat out the rats in your profession...who will?
When a newspaper begin to lose the truthfulness of its words, all you have left is ruff tissue paper. Your profession is built entirely upon the integrity of all of its constituents. You all form a pyramid that is only as solid as it weakest block. If one of your are shaky, you all may come tumbling down.
To conclude, I ask you the following, Solomonjones: By choosing to avoid and/or ignore the degradation within your profession, aren't you indirectly contributing to the demise of the very financial/social means...your JOB...by which you can "...raise, nurture [your children] to be responsible, accountable adults"? |
Solomonjones
Newbie Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 22
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 13, 2004 - 03:38 pm: |
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ABM -
As long as my readers believe in my integrity (which has nothing to do with the integrity of others), I will always be able to work and care for my family. It's a simple principal that I think my namesake, King Solomon, put best: "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold."
Do you know why he said that? He said it because a great reputation yields favor in the eyes of those who matter, giving one the ability to make money. Without that good name and that favor, one can have riches, but they will never last, because a poor reputation drives friends, creditors, and even customers away. And eventually, it drives money away, as well. |
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