May 20, 2003

Oliphant on the journalism scandal at the Miami Herald. Quotable quote:

Jose Santos was victimized, however, because the values of the tabloid have infected the entire journalism business. At the core, those essentially entertainment values embrace the fake drama of ''questions raised'' followed by ''questions answered.'' To us it's a two-day story; to the hapless target it's a nightmare. Jayson Blair is a profound embarrassment to all who came within spitting distance of him (including those of us in the Globe's bureau here where he ''worked'' before his Times scam. His victims were also his colleagues who enabled his perfidy by letting their own baggage (race included) get in the way of one of our most healthy traits -- skepticism. But the Santos story is more treacherous, because what happened to him could happen tomorrow -- to you.

Posted by Greg Ransom