Former New York Times managing editor says he did not protect Jayson Blair

Jet, August 25, 2003

In his first speaking engagement since the Jayson Blair scandal, former New York Times managing editor Gerald Boyd said he did not cover up the dishonest reporter's practices.

"Some have suggested that I looked the other way because Jayson is Black," Boyd said in Dallas, at the annual convention of the National 'Association of Black Journalists. "That is, quite frankly, absolutely untrue."

Boyd went on to tell the NABJ that he was not Blair's mentor, nor did he grant him special favors.

"If we had known how deeply troubled Jayson Blair was at the time, he would not have been writing for the New York Times," Boyd said.

Blair plagiarized or fabricated 36 stories, including coverage of the Washington-area snipers (JET, May 26).

Boyd said race should not be a scapegoat for Blair's dishonesty. However race is to blame for the cover-up, he said.

White editors, who had more day-to-day interaction with Blair, were afraid Boyd would be offended if they divulged Blair's chronic reporting problems, Boyd explained. The news veteran said this stung because he has never had a reputation for being unapproachable.

"So what does it say about the state of race relations in the e newsroom when senior management felt that they could not come to me, the managing editor, with grave concerns about a young reporter simply because both the reporter and I are Black?" he asked. "I was not the Black managing editor, I was the managing editor."

Boyd was the first African-American managing editor in Times' history. Prior to serving as the paper's second-highest-ranking editor, Boyd had spent 20 years at the publication in several capacities, including White House correspondent. But when Blair resigned May 1, Boyd and Times executive editor Howell Raines followed suit June 5.

Boyd told the NABJ his departure has left a void in a majority White-led newsroom. He challenged the audience full of mostly Black journalists to rise to the occasion. "You're not about Jayson Blair. You don't have to defend, apologize or be fazed by it," he said. "I will spend the rest of my career-and yes, I do have a few great years left-to make sure that we all learn and grow from this."