Comments on: Jayson Blair: Liar, cheater, con artist … and now, life coach http://trueslant.com/loucarlozo/2009/08/21/jayson-blair-liar-cheater-con-artist-and-now-life-coach/ Exploring the nexus of faith and popular culture Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:52:09 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: LeeAnn Maton http://trueslant.com/loucarlozo/2009/08/21/jayson-blair-liar-cheater-con-artist-and-now-life-coach/comment-page-1/#comment-138 LeeAnn Maton Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:08:50 +0000 http://trueslant.com/loucarlozo/?p=577#comment-138 Jayson Blair as a life coach makes about as much sense as Rod Blagojevich calling out corrupt politicians on his new radio show. Sure, having dabbled in scumbaggery probably allows them to spot a fellow scumbag comrade. But what kind of credibility can they possibly have with their clients/listeners when they became mega-famous in the first place specifically for violating the same ethical codes that they're preaching now? Answer: None. Jayson Blair as a life coach makes about as much sense as Rod Blagojevich calling out corrupt politicians on his new radio show. Sure, having dabbled in scumbaggery probably allows them to spot a fellow scumbag comrade. But what kind of credibility can they possibly have with their clients/listeners when they became mega-famous in the first place specifically for violating the same ethical codes that they’re preaching now? Answer: None.

]]> By: Caitlin Kelly http://trueslant.com/loucarlozo/2009/08/21/jayson-blair-liar-cheater-con-artist-and-now-life-coach/comment-page-1/#comment-137 Caitlin Kelly Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:59:20 +0000 http://trueslant.com/loucarlozo/?p=577#comment-137 We can all sneer at Blair but Boyd and Raines and all those who found his charm and lies so totally persuasive have culpability as well. Boyd is dead and Raines no longer at the paper. Reflexive loathing of Blair keeps leaving his trusting boss/enablers -- those so-perceptive hard news types who vaunt(ed) themselves as the smartest in our business -- off the hook. All the belated breast-beating in the world didn't stop him. One of my friends at the paper did have a clue, an early and impressive clue, that Blair was up to no good. But the powerful cultural imperative not to attack a star reporter, a valued/rare minority star at the paper, in front of his fans was in play, as was the fact he worked in another department. Anyone who knows the Times' culture knows that outing Blair wasn't easy. There have been many other lucratively-recycled journalism liar/plagiarists; Glass and his film dough, Shalit, etc. We can all sneer at Blair but Boyd and Raines and all those who found his charm and lies so totally persuasive have culpability as well. Boyd is dead and Raines no longer at the paper. Reflexive loathing of Blair keeps leaving his trusting boss/enablers — those so-perceptive hard news types who vaunt(ed) themselves as the smartest in our business — off the hook. All the belated breast-beating in the world didn’t stop him.

One of my friends at the paper did have a clue, an early and impressive clue, that Blair was up to no good. But the powerful cultural imperative not to attack a star reporter, a valued/rare minority star at the paper, in front of his fans was in play, as was the fact he worked in another department. Anyone who knows the Times’ culture knows that outing Blair wasn’t easy.

There have been many other lucratively-recycled journalism liar/plagiarists; Glass and his film dough, Shalit, etc.

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