Jayson Blair was a reporter for the New York Times in the early 2000s, at the age of 23. Blair began as an intern, but quickly moved up to a national reporter. In very little time, Blair had 600 published articles.
At the height of his Blair's career, an editor from a Texas newspaper informed the editor of the New York Times that Blair had plagiarized a report about a soldierin Iraq. The editor from the Times checked into the alleged plagiarism and discovered that 36 of his last 73 stories had been plagiarized in some way.
Jayson Blair resigned from his post immediately after being confronted, but an investigation continued. It was discovered that Blair would make up quotes, interview fake people, invent facts, and use his cell phone and laptop to make it appear as though he were traveling for stories.
In response to Blair's deception, the New York Times published a story that was approximately 14,000 words. The story told all about Blair's career of lies.
Jayson Blair's story is one very similar to Stephen Glass's and Janet Cooke's, who wrote a Pulitzer prize winning story and then it was later discovered that it had been fabricated.
During an interview with NPR, it was revealed that he also suffered from depression, bipolar disorder and problems with alcohol and drugs, which made it difficult for him to stay ethical.
