Doubts raised on Globe work of reporter Times accused

Boston Globe ^ | May 12, 2003 | Don Aucoin and Bella English

[sarcasm]

Doubts have surfaced about a handful of stories Blair wrote for the Globe during a brief stint as a freelance reporter from late 1998 to early 1999, just before he was hired by the Times, and during summer internships in 1996 and 1997. The Globe's editor, Martin Baron, said the paper will continue its investigation to determine whether there are problems in other stories.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This guy was a real piece of work.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Blair was invited back to the Globe as an intern in the newspaper's Metro section in 1997, covering local news stories. Though not unheard of, a second internship is not common at the Globe. ''I thought he had potential,'' Louisa Williams said yesterday.

He certainly did. This variety of "professional journalism" is probably quite common.

[Claire Voyant]

He'd be a STAR at CNN!!!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[austinite]

I hear tell the Iraqi Information Minister position is vacant....

[Leisler]

The Golp is owned by the New York Times, and is their step and fetch it.

[Guillermo]

Racism.

[Just mythoughts]

This poor little reporter much be spinning, wait til he writes a book about the rest of the liars he worked with and for.

[PJ-Comix]

Wasn't there another big scandal involving another Globe reporter years ago? I'm referring to Thomas Oliphant. If memory serves me correctly I believe he promised favorable news coverage to a Republican congressman from MA if he would support a Clinton gun control bill. Is this correct? If not, please fill us in on the details if you know it.

[mewzilla]

This guy was a real piece of work.

So are the people who employed him and allowed him to get away with this.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This morning on WMAL, someone from the Univ. of MD came on to talk about Blair. It seems he went there for his degree but left and never finished when the NYT offered him a job after an internship.

[aristeides]

I wonder when somebody will check the stories Blair did for the University of Maryland paper, the Diamondback.

By the way, since there have been questions about Blair's sexual orientation, I discover on this site (found through a google search) that Blair coauthored for the Diamondback the article "Homophobia: Shocking but not Surprising (Special three-part article): Dorm abuse a reality, not a report; Strict policy does not deter harassment; Gay, lesbian and bisexual residents learn to cope in hostile environment: Campus senate to delay sexual policy decision; Kirwan appoints commission in response to LGBSFA report on sexual orientation" (dated March 31, 1997).

[aristeides]

FYI.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I didn't hear about his personal lifestyle but it would fall in line with the NYT's quest for diversity over reporting the news.