Jayson Blair in Jane

Blair and friend; Photo - Getty The Post's Keith Kelly has a scoop on Jayson Blair's first piece of writing post-Times: His Jane magazine article is about mistakes he made and suggests readers not repeat them. Like getting ticketed for speeding in the company car, and not paying the ticket, only to have your company crack down. In the scheme of things, that's pretty ho-hum. He also says, as Kelly puts it, "wait a few years and build up some good will before letting their eccentricities show" in the office. That Gothamist can whole-heartedly agree with - why show all your cards at once? Having a job is like dating someone you really like: Wait until the last possible minute to reveal the crazy.

Additionally, it looks Blair may be the subject of a Showtime movie; Jon Maas is interested in using Seth Mnookin's cover story about Blair as the basis, according to Sridhar Pappu in the Observer (last item).

Gothamist on Blair getting dumped by Esquire (ps, David Granger and Jane Pratt are two totally different kinds of editors, with different constituencies).

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts & Entertainment on September 3, 2003 9:37 AM

Comments [rss]

Graham Wellington

That's what you get for affirmative action bullcrap!

Tovarich

wow wow, those are some intelligent comments here.

Seriously people, what's with all this hate ?

OperationIraqiOccupation

What a bunch of fucking heightist neanderthals!

Why don't you boneheads and asswipes talk about

him being a "nigger?"

isaisaisa

Brotha got molaaadee, head biggathan body!

csandy

It's the little man syndrome - little man trying to be a big man.

ShinGo

And we can ask his girlfriend to play Gandalf. All she needs is a beard and a staff.

Jen

Oh, RIO, do it - do it for all of us - we need to see the Black Hobbit and then we can ask Jayson Blair if he'll play the Black Hobbit in the movie.

RIO

it's taking almost all my will power to 'not' create a Black Hobbit web cartoon.

hoofin

I forget the second. But there were two.

Rick Bragg gets zilch compared to Jayson Blair in the pop culture today.

When people talk about phony reporting, the joke is "just like Jayson Blair".

Even Hornstine is letting it slip. She is quickly becoming "you know, the girl who wanted to be valedictorian and sued her school, so Harvard didn't want her!" They need a product niche for her, selling something and fast!

Todd

(Anyone remember the names of the two subsequent writers who took that route this year?)

Um, Rick Bragg and ... Blair Hornstine?

hoofin

The Power of Public Relations

Everything is TV and media spin. Celebrity. You make yourself out to be celebrity, anything goes. News meshes with entertainment (since both are on 24-7, at the flick of the remote.)

It used to be that news was separated into a 30 minute offering at set times during the day, with "serious music" played at both the beginning and the end so you knew the TV was not messing around. Bland guys with names like Chet, Walter, etc. would read you what was going on in the world, in Standard English monotone (like an layreader in a church). That was your news.

No peacock feather shadows floating counterclockwise over the guy's right shoulder, and flashing text on the bottom. You were lucky if there was a picture in the upper right-hand corner.

Otherwise, you got your news on radio or you read it in a black-on-white newspaper that was not trying to imitate USA Today.

So Blair comes along, and he's got this 21st century newsreporting down. You become a "virtual journalist" who creates a story that the readership can relate to. Then, once you burn your ass (by stealing other people's work and basically submitting a false timecard for your pay), you become a victim, then a celebrity.

Is he right?

(Anyone remember the names of the two subsequent writers who took that route this year?)

mark

that Gap Kids crackback has me laughing out loud. props.

Loui

What that pic doesn't show is that they're walking out of Gap Kids.

Jen

Black Hobbit...RIO, that's priceless!

Anonymous

Oh you all. Give Mr. Blair a break. Maybe his unidentified companion is just really tall.

RIO

No, she's not tall, dude is the missing (and often uncredited by Peter Jackson) Black Hobbitt of ancient lore.

As a young black child growing up in manhattan, my mommy used to warn me to be good or the Black Hobbitt would come to get me. Now I know that she was indeed telling the truth. (*shiver*)