Clicking on banner ads enables JWR to constantly improve
Jewish World Review May 27, 2003 / 25 Iyar, 5763

Michelle Kennedy

Michelle Kennedy
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


Blair had my dream job and he defecated it away


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | It was with only mild surprise and a bit of anger that I read of disgraced reporter Jayson Blair's intent to write a memoir about his troubled, very recent past at the New York Times, but I was not shocked.

The New York Observer recently reported that Blair, only days after resigning from the New York Times, returned a call to an agent and is now at work on a proposal that could net him a hefty six- or seven-figure advance.

What angered me was the idea that, only a month after being on the cover of magazines and newspapers, this man could conceive of going out into the spotlight again. Why put yourself into such a position? Granted, I'm sure the man needs cash, but if it were me, I think I'd hide in some lazy little town and try and cut out a new life for myself as a clerk in a store or perhaps seek out a different calling, one that maybe called for some repentance and a vision for helping others — like working in a nursing home or something.

The story also touched the struggling writer in me. The part that worked hard as a reporter on a small daily newspaper, for nowhere near the salary I'm sure a Times reporter makes as well as the part of me that wrote a book and then struggled for months to find an agent — any agent — that would bother to look at my manuscript and then take me on.

As a new, yet honest, author, I was ecstatic to get a publishing deal by a large house nearly a year after hooking up with an agent, but let's face it, for far less than the six — or seven — figures Blair will certainly get.

Why, my head is screaming, should a man who intentionally deceived so many get the chance to profit from his writing when so many others can't even get publishers to look at their books — books that took months or years of staying up until 4 a.m. after the kids had gone to bed and the day job was complete to write?

Even more, Blair had everything in his favor when he began at the New York Times. A young man, with a brilliant future, should have had no trouble at all getting a book deal eventually. And what's more, he had all of the resources for a brilliant writing career at his disposal.

How many times did I dare to dream of a cell phone at my small paper and have to find a pay phone in order to make my deadline? Heck, if I had known better, like Blair, I wouldn't have had to leave the comfort of my couch and could have filed from there. But those pesky city councilmen, they always want to be quoted "correctly." So, I got my $9 an hour rear end off the couch and sat through endless meetings, filed my stories and went home.

What wouldn't I have given for the opportunity to travel for the New York Times and cover important stories for the nation. Perhaps that's what makes me the most angry — Blair had my dream job and he p-ssed it away.

I am lucky, heaven knows, in that I was able to scratch my way up a little bit and in less time than most of the writers I know, secure both an exemplary literary agency and a large publishing house. But it was not easy.

That may be the crux of my anger for Blair. He took the easy way out in his newspaper career and the easy way out in getting a book deal.

If Blair truly feels his calling is to write then I believe he should be given that chance, but not the chance to become a millionaire, not yet. Send him to a small paper and make him report — for real this time — and scratch out a living on a regular salary like the rest of us. Or make him donate his proceeds to a journalism ethics class and then make him take the class.

How many authors and reporters out there make do on a wage equal to that of a manager of a fast-food restaurant, but do it because they love to write, they love the stories, the true stories of the people they write about and write for? Send Mr. Blair this message and then he can see if writing is really his calling or just a quick way to retire young.

What makes me the most angry about the whole Blair deal? When and if the memoir does come out, it will be difficult for me to pass it up in the bookstore — I love a good novel.

Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Michelle Kennedy is the mother of four, a humor columnist for the Green Bay Press Gazette and author of The Last Straw Strategies, four books full of tips to tell you how real moms and dads deal with the best and worst of parenting. Comment by clicking here.

Up

04/03/03: Mother...boards
03/13/03: Thomas, Elmo, Grover and other negative influences
02/27/03: More children equals wiser parent
02/11/03: Uncool, unhip, and decidedly not groovy
01/27/03: Do you know who you are?
01/08/03: How the tables have turned
12/17/02: In defense of moderation
12/04/02: TV by the book
10/31/02: Zen and the Art of Duct Tape
10/15/02: How to make a million dollars without really trying (No, really!)
09/18/02: I am Mom, hear me roar!
08/29/02: The dream of winter, a promise of summer
07/26/02: My Martha Stewart fantasy
06/25/02: Deliver us from Walt
06/06/02: This game fits parents to a tee
05/09/02: "Shut up!" "Stop shoving!" … it's Mother's Day
04/18/02: Yes, They're All Mine!
03/25/02: Thrust into a Barbie dreamland
02/01/02: Shooting the 'surplus population'
12/20/01: Zen and the Art of Clutter
12/14/01: Confessions of a serial library fine payer
12/06/01: Too good at my job, I quit

© 2001, Michelle Kennedy