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I think Freepers should watch their hometown papers very closely in the coming months to see if other minority or gay reporters are silently let go after quit internal reviews. I think Blair is just the tip of the iceberg. For over a decade newsrooms have been hiring totally unqualified blacks to meet their "diversity" goals. Like colleges compete for the limited number of black Phd's as if they were athetlic stars (and salaries and perks nearly to match) so have the newsrooms been in an insane quest for black and minority journalists regardless of qualifications. Couple this "diversity" at all cost madness with a PC mindset in the newsrooms that makes even criticism of minorities dangerous to one's future career then you have a recipe for disaster.

This helps minorities? I feel sorry for the qualified blacks who are journalists.

I have a friend who was a very good reporter for one of the big Washington D.C. papers. He left journalism entirely when it became apparent to him that "diversity" had become a roadblock to his career. He was astonished at the poor quality of the minorities who had found their way into the upper reaches of the newspaper.

But then again (to paraphrase Thomas Sowell): "Liberalism thrives in places where failure doesn't really cost anything."

Like colleges compete for the limited number of black Phd's as if they were athetlic stars (and salaries and perks nearly to match) so have the newsrooms been in an insane quest for black and minority journalists regardless of qualifications.

Back in the mid '90's I worked at one of those hip, slick and cool hi-tech companies as an intern while I studied for my EE degree. Shortly after I was hired the company hired a female mechanical engineering intern. She was sharp, but had zero experience in manufacturing and design. She graduated six months after she was hired she was promptly made a department manager. She was promoted above engineers that had anywhere from 10 to 20 years of experience in their respective fields. There was much consternation over this appointment, and several engineers left the company in protest.

Long story short, the company (like so many other dotcom wonders) folded and our wonder girl was on the street looking for a job. She had "management experience" but no experience in the field of mechanical engineering, so she had no luck finding managerial work (she wanted to go straight to the top just like she had done before), and last I heard she had a kid and gave up pursuing a career. I often wonder how differently it might have turned out for her had she recognized that she was being used as a 'diversity darling'.