In 2003 the reputation of The New York Times, the world’s most respected newspaper, was almost destroyed from within. At the least it took a hit that in many ways was irreparable—the once untouchable giant was revealed to be touchable, after all.
The scandal was a plagiarism case involving a reporter. But the cause of the scandal began two years earlier, when an attempt at innovation started to go very, very wrong.
Hard News, by Seth Mnookin, is a book that chronicles this era at the New York Times, the 21 months that brought the paper to its knees. As a non-fiction book it reads more like a novel, fast-paced and easy to read, with detailed characterisation.
For any business there is much to learn from Hard News. What led to the plagiarism scandal was a hiring decision in 2001, when the publisher brought in Howell Raines as their new executive editor. Arthur Salzburger, the head of the paper, was looking for someone to innovate, to keep it in line with the times and changing technology. Raines was enthusiastic about those changes, and Salzburger thought he was a perfect fit.
Raines then proceeded to make a series of Very Big Mistakes. Because there’s innovation—and there’s destroying the culture of a long-standing institution. His changes to the paper itself were met with caution, with many believing they would damage what the New York Times had come to stand for.
Perhaps worse, however, his changes to the internal systems caused breakdowns in communication between the masthead and the desk editors, between the desk editors and the floor staff. Information stopped flowing. Clear favoritism ruled.
As Mnookin explains in the book, a journalist at the New York Times doesn’t make a lot of money, by industry standards. Yet the paper has historically attracted the best and brightest writers, editors and photographers in the world. Why? Because the New York Times is the pinnacle of the industry—in prestige terms, it’s as high as you can go. Staff stay not for the money, but for the feeling of belonging to something big, something important, and feeling like they are a vital cog in that vital machine.
When Raines changed the structure of the paper, and a clear suspicion and negativity ruled the news floor, that feeling fell away. Talented staff were pushed out, or left for other papers. Those who remained certainly didn’t feel like they were part of something big or important anymore—their feelings centred mostly around the fear of losing their jobs.
It was into this environment that Jayson Blair, the reporter behind the plagiarism scandal, came to thrive. Working at several different positions on the paper, he did a poor (bordering on suspicious) job at each. But because of the new negative culture brought on by Raines, none of the editors of these sections were sharing information. Too worried about their own jobs and the problems currently in front of them, they didn’t pass on their concerns—or if they did, they were ignored.
With no consequences, Jayson Blair became more and more brazen in his plagiarism. When eventually the story broke, the New York Times was hit hard. There had been rumors throughout the media industry about Raines and his management of the paper, but now there was proof: the New York Times wasn’t the behemoth it had once been. It had made Very Big Mistakes. It couldn’t be trusted. It would never be the same again.
In truth, the paper will probably never be the same again—but not necessarily for the worst. They were able to learn from the very public fiasco, and make vital changes, because they made some right moves in the aftermath:
- They admitted to their mistake. This wasn’t swept under the carpet: the paper appointed a team of their best journalists and researchers to dig into the story, to investigate Blair and his work and find out not only what happened, but why. The full investigation was published in the New York Times.
- They took immediate steps. As expected, the days and weeks following the scandal breaking were chaotic. But appointing the investigative team straight away was the right move. And the inevitable firing of Howell Raines not long after showed that they understood what the real cause of the problem was: not one rogue reporter, but the culture that allowed him to thrive.
- They haven’t forgotten. Although this book was written ten years ago, one thing is clear: the New York Times will not easily fall into the same mistake again.
Innovation is a tricky thing. Of course it’s important to innovate, to stay with the times and remain fresh in your marketplace. But it’s also important to remain true to who you are as a company, and to what your customers want and need from you.
As evidenced by the New York Times fiasco, one bad hiring decision and one bad attempt at innovation can almost destroy one of the most-respected institutions in the world.
What this book will teach you, in short: innovate, but innovate carefully and authentically.
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