The Top 10 Journalism Scandals of the 2000s

Jayson Blair was a young rising star at The New York Times until, in 2003, the paper discovered he had systematically plagiarized or fabricated information for dozens of articles. In an article detailing Blair's misdeeds, the Times called the scandal "a profound betrayal of trust and a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper." Blair got the boot, but he didn't go alone: Executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald M. Boyd, who had promoted Blair within the paper's ranks despite warnings from other editors, were forced out as well. Critics of affirmative action said Blair had received preferential treatment during his time at the Times because he was African-American.

Just weeks before the 2004 election, CBS News ran a report alleging that President Bush had gotten into the Texas Air National Guard - thus avoiding the Vietnam War draft - as a result of preferential treatment by the military. The report was based on memos said to be from that era. But bloggers pointed out that the memos appeared to have been typed on a computer, not a typewriter, and CBS eventually admitted that it couldn't prove the memos were real. An internal probe led to the firing of three CBS execs and the report's producer, Mary Mapes. CBS News anchor Dan Rather, who had defended the memos, stepped down early in 2005, apparently as a result of the scandal. Rather sued CBS, saying the network had scapegoated him over the story.

CNN news chief Eason Jordan admitted in 2003 that for years the network had sugarcoated coverage of Saddam Hussein's human rights atrocities in order to maintain access to the Iraqi dictator. Jordan said reporting Hussein's crimes would have endangered CNN reporters in Iraq and meant the closing of the network's Baghdad bureau. But critics said CNN's glossing over of Hussein's misdeeds was happening at a time when the country was debating whether to go to war to remove him from power. As Franklin Foer wrote in the Wall St. Journal, "CNN could have abandoned Baghdad. Not only would they have stopped recycling lies, they could have focused more intently on obtaining the truth about Saddam."

A 2008 New York Times investigation found that retired military officers who were routinely used as analysts on broadcast news shows were part of a Pentagon effort to generate favorable coverage of the Bush administration's performance during the Iraq War. The Times also found that most of the analysts had ties to military contractors who had financial interests "in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air," Times reporter David Barstow wrote. In the wake of Barstow's stories, the Society of Professional Journalists called on NBC News to cut its ties with one particular officer - retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey - in order to "re-establish the integrity of its reporting on military-related issues, including the war in Iraq."

A 2005 report by USA Today revealed that the Bush White House had paid conservative columnists to promote the administration's policies. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were paid to columnists Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus. Williams, who received the most loot, admitted he had received $241,000 to write favorably about Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative, and apologized. His column was canceled by the Tribune Co., his syndicator.

In 2008 The New York Times published an article implying that GOP presidential candidate John McCain had had an inappropriate relationship with a lobbyist. Critics complained that the article was fuzzy about the exact nature of the alleged relationship and relied on quotes from anonymous McCain aides. Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt criticized the story for being short on facts, writing: "If you cannot provide readers with some independent evidence, I think it is wrong to report the suppositions or concerns of anonymous aides about whether the boss is getting into the wrong bed." The lobbyist named in the article, Vicki Iseman, sued the Times, charging that the paper had created the false impression that she and McCain had an affair.

Hot on the heels of the Jayson Blair scandal, acclaimed New York Times writer Rick Bragg resigned in 2003 after it was discovered that a story carrying only his byline had been largely reported by a stringer. Bragg wrote the story - about Florida oystermen - but admitted that most of the interviewing had been done by a freelancer. Bragg defended the use of stringers to report stories, a practice he said was common at the Times. But many reporters were outraged by Bragg's remarks and said they wouldn't dream of putting their byline on a story they hadn't reported themselves.

Just before the 2003 California recall election, the Los Angeles Times reported allegations that gubernatorial candidate and "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger had groped six women between 1975 and 2000. But the Times drew fire for the timing of article, which had apparently been ready to go for weeks. And while four of the six alleged victims were not named, it turned out the Times had nixed a story alleging that then-Gov. Gray Davis had verbally and physically abused women, because it relied too heavily on anonymous sources. Schwarzenegger denied some of the allegations, but admitted he had "behaved badly" at times during his acting career.