WHAT JAYSON BLAIR AND JANET COOKE SAY ABOUT THE PRESS AND THE EROSION OF PUBLIC TRUST1.

The authors of this paper examine key decision-making points in both the 1980–81 Janet Cooke fabrication case at the Washington Post and the deceptions of Jayson Blair at the New York Times that stretch from 1999 to 2003. These decisions are weighed against the commonly understood mission of journalism in general and the specifically stated missions at the Washington Post and the New York Times. The paper's working thesis is that if newspapers do not consistently measure their decisions and actions against their mission as a public trust, their commitment to truth can become shrouded by less noble motives like ambition and the thrill of a scoop. The authors argue that the prevailing organizational cultures at the Post and the Times failed to reinforce the newspapers’ main commitment at every level and thereby contributed to their blindness in both the Cooke and Blair cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]