If I had seen this I would have barfed. "Editor and Publisher."
Jayson Blair Gets a Softball From Chris Matthews
Sounding like the 'Saturday Night Live' parody of himself, 'Hardball' host calls disgraced journalist a 'brilliant' thinker.
By Greg Mitchell
(March 12, 2004) -- Well, the results are in from the weeklong Jayson Blair media blitz, and the winner of the most inane interview goes to Chris Matthews on "Hardball" last night, snatching victory from Larry King and Bill O'Reilly in a photo finish.
For one night, at least, they should have changed the name of the program to "Softball."
Matthews, sounding like Darrell Hammond doing Chris Matthews -- in other words, a parody of a parody of a parody, while interviewing a liar, no less -- praised Blair as a "brilliant" thinker and "great writer" and "creative force." Here are a few excerpts from the seven-minute exchange, from the official transcript:
MATTHEWS: Well, let me ask you the two toughest questions. I told you I was going to ask them. I'm going to ask them right now.
Why-you are such a damn good writer, a creative force. You have fluency and life. Anybody who picks -- I'm not saying buy this book. I'm saying, look at it in the book store, pick it up and read a couple of pages. It moves. It's got air. It's got oxygen, the thing you always look for in a writing. What's it like to be that creative? You are obviously a guy who can knock out 120,000 words in a month.
BLAIR: I enjoy it.
MATTHEWS: Nobody else can do that.
BLAIR: No, I enjoy it. But like all writers and like all people, I'm insecure, and I was insecure while I was at the Times about how good I was. It really took, you know...
MATTHEWS: You're up there with Johnny Apple. You're one of these guys who can do it magically. Do you know that?
BLAIR: But I did not know it. I did not know it until afterwards.
MATTHEWS: Well, what's it like to be a liar?
BLAIR: I'll tell what you it's like to be a liar.
MATTHEWS: When I say something I think is even slightly not right, it bugs me.
BLAIR: You don't sleep well at night, Chris. You just don't sleep well at night.
****
BLAIR: And what I hope comes out of this, Chris, is that people can look at my situation and they'll be able to look at this, see how I did it, and learn how to prevent anyone from ever doing it again. That's part of the reason I'm coming clean. Part of it is personal catharsis for me, but also part of it is that I hope journalism is better and there is not another Jayson Blair. We talked a little bit about Nick Lemann's piece.
MATTHEWS: Yes, he wrote it for -- he wrote it for "The New Yorker."
BLAIR: He wrote it for "The New Yorker."
MATTHEWS: But it's tough. It basically says, what you need to have -- I'll tell you what he said.
BLAIR: Right.
MATTHEWS: This is Nick Lemann, one of the best writers around. He is head of the Columbia Journalism, the J. School now. He says what you have to do is just like when I go through the airport all the time, or you should have been going through the airport and then taking your shoes off.
BLAIR: Right.
MATTHEWS: Every once in a while, they say you're going over here in this column.
BLAIR: Right. Spot check.
MATTHEWS: Why isn't somebody checking out these sort of -- the old goat's herd was going down the street in Bangalore and you could hear the pots and pans banging and then they check and see if he was ever in Bangalore. Wouldn't that be nice?
BLAIR: Right. Exactly. And I think they should randomly spot check expense reports, sources and stories. It's just like after Watergate.
MATTHEWS: OK.
BLAIR: This is like after Watergate. We got the inspector general's act. My dad is an inspector general. And it's a beautiful thing for the government. Random inspections keeps people clean. I've got to tell you, Chris, no matter how sick I was, if I knew people were doing random inspections of my work, I would have paused. I know that much.
MATTHEWS: The deterrence works?
BLAIR: Hell yes.
MATTHEWS: So if you had been called in and vetted right away after a bad story, you would have stopped?
BLAIR: I would have been more likely to reach out for help.
MATTHEWS: Look at the camera. Talk to the J. students right now. What do you got to say to them, journalism students right now?
BLAIR: If I have anything to say to journalism students, I would say, look, don't follow my path and not only not just lying, but believe in yourself. Understand how good you are. Do not, do not, do not sacrifice your integrity to try and propel your career, because, at the end of the day, being a man of honor is what's going to get you to sleep at night and also make you a quality journalist.
MATTHEWS: What are you going to do next?
BLAIR: I think I'm going to write a novel. If I'm as good a writer as you say I am.
MATTHEWS: You know why? We know you have the two qualities necessary. You're a great writer and you know how to lie.
BLAIR: Right.
MATTHEWS: Because that's in fact what fiction is. ... well, you've got the brains, Jayson.
BLAIR: Thanks, Chris. I appreciate you having me here.
MATTHEWS: It was nice to you [note: this is how the transcript has it]. Good luck with your book. I especially say to people, don't necessarily buy it, but take a look at it and see if you like the writing.
Join us again tomorrow night at 7:00 Eastern for more HARDBALL. |
