Janet Cooke and Irresponsible Journalism

Remington Johnson

rj045518@ohio.edu

Two decades before Jayson Blair, there was Janet Cooke. An upstart journalist working for The Washington Post, Cooke would shock America when she came out and said that her Pulitzer Prize winning article, "Jimmy's World" was merely a fabrication. The sensational article was a profile of an 8 year old boy named Jimmy who was addicted to heroin. With its use of evocative imagery and information about the growing heroin trade in Washington D.C., the story gripped readers nationwide.

Janet Cooke, via Columbia Journalism Review

A feature by the Columbia Journalism Review, goes into the story of Janet Cooke and the effects her story had on the world of journalism. Cooke was hired into a Washington Post with legendary journalists like Ben Bradlee and Bob Woodward in editing positions. Her impressive resume, as well as her status as a Black woman, made the hire a no-brainer for a newspaper that was looking to diversify their newsroom. 

"Jimmy's World" would be published after only nine months of Cooke's stint for the paper. She would go on to win the Pulitzer for the article seven months later, and it would only take one day after that for the fallout to begin. The Toledo Blade, eager to write a story about their former employee winning a Pulitzer, noticed that Cooke's resume differed from their own records. Most notably, that she appeared to be lying about her college education. The Blade would then contact wire service who would then contact The Washington Post.

Once The Washington Post heard about this, Cooke was swept up into 11 hours of discussion that would culminate in her coming forth and saying that "Jimmy's World" was a fabrication. She would both resign from the paper and turn her Pulitzer Prize back in as a result.

Cooke's story shocked America, but it would shock the newsrooms of America even more. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, trust of the press was relatively high at the time (largely due to their work with Watergate), but that would quickly plummet. This loss of trust is still felt today, but is even further compounded by people like Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass.

Newsroom's responses in the aftermath of this scandal actually give readers reason to trust the press more. A shift away from using unnamed sources and more publications using ombudsmen to act as a liaison between the paper and citizens are both reasons why people could have more trust in publications.

Of course, in the eyes of many, journalists acting irresponsibly as Janet Cooke did is something that is irredeemable and that is shown in the lack of trust for the press seen today.