Jayson Blair checks in. I especially like that "based on my experience in writing my book way too soon." How much more fiction was he planning to contribute to the Times?
Quote:
“I am a little surprised that the Knight Foundation got caught flat-footed on this one. It seems pretty obvious that you have to be cautious about compensating people for doing penance in their own profession. It makes sense to me for people to be paid to cover the expenses and modestly for their time. It’s a particutarly sensitive issue when you are educating an audience in a professional situation. When I speak, I’ll generally use the honorarium to cover my travel and lodging expenses, and sometimes, although not often, money I had forgone through not working. I usual take the rest and donate it to someone.
“I get it from Jonah Lehrer’s perspective in many regards. He probably needs income and believes that he’s figured out the lessons that can be learned from his situation. It seems naive to me, based on my experience in writing my book way too soon, to think you have a clear picture of those lessons so early on. In the long term, the issue of public perception comes at a cost that often makes the money not worth it. But, like I said, I get it, you’ve got to live even if it digs the public perception hole a bit deeper. It just seems from the stories I read that neither Knight or Lehrer saw what to anyone who had been down this road the mines and ditches that abound.”
[
Jim Romenesko]