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Blair and Abdullah's dangerous precedent

JAMES Baldwin is probably turning over in his grave. In the town of Macon, Georgia this time, the tale of the little black writer that couldn't was told again as reporter Khalil Abdullah was fired for plagiarism from the Macon Telegraph -- the second such incident that has happened within recent months. Reminiscent of last year's fiasco featuring Jayson Blair, the New York Times columnist who went on to pen a book about plagiarizing a host of material that went to print for the nation's number one news source -- Abdullah's transgression at the Telegraph may be setting an interesting stage for black male writers and journalists who intend to make a living out of selling their words for pay. Blair, and now Abdullah, have committed journalistic taboos that may set back African-American writers who already struggle to find a place in the world of words.

Across the nation, associations of black journalists are questioning the reputation Abdullah and Blair have set for African-Americans who choose to put their voices to print -- wondering what will happen to those of them searching for steady gigs or even freelance opportunities now that incidents of plagiarism are out in the open. Unfortunately, with hack writers like Blair and Abdullah in the headlines, the few steady-working African-American writers in the field of journalism have to think twice about the stigma that will develop for all writers, and whether or not editors, or even their readerships, will believe in the honest journalism so many of them are eager to report.

Although Blair, the self-aggrandizing author of the just-released memoir "Burning Down My Master's House," chalked up his transgressions to mere psychosis, he surely seems to be profiting from book sales just a few short months afterward, settling into a hefty seven-figure deal for the tell-all tale. And though Abdullah has admitted to lying about writing articles in the Macon Telegraph himself, his admission of guilt seems to be more about where he'll be working next, rather than about letting down a field of professionals who looked up to him as a colleague and as president of the Middle Georgia Association of Black Journalists.

For those of us who've ever thought about writing for a living, or working at a newspaper for that matter, writers who get caught plagiarizing make us think twice about where we obtain our information, as well as how we put it to print.Journalistic rule maintains that what writers see fit to print will actually be in their own words, and all Blair and now Abdullah have done is tarnished the images of newspaper writers everywhere by stealing material and being unremorseful about their dishonor.

Even more so, for the minute number of African-American male figures out there positing themselves in the writing game, Blair and Abdullah's actions set a rare cornerstone in our little penman's world as well -- one that African-American male writers will do well to turn their heels on quickly, if they hope to stay in the job, or in even in the field.

Editors are already looking twice at the content of black writers' material, and the framing of our words -- as not to allow too much innuendo, street commentary or colloquial slang. I've often been subject to the word search myself, and questioned about the use of slang in these very pages.

Unless African-American male writers plan to stick exclusively to the few upscale urban rags, hip-hop music magazines or corner-store local black newspapers on the market -- that will allow the writer to write about what he wants to write about, in the language that he is accustomed to -- then these writers will have to adapt even further than curtailing the linguistic pattern of their written tongues. Writers everywhere will need to keep their own eyes out for any sentence structures they write that may ring a recurring bell anywhere else in any other news or Web articles, in addition to their verb choice and word count.

Interestingly, black writers who are simply trying to make it in the journalism game have to deal with another side of the coin as well -- making sure they live up to the expectations of their readership. Although it may perhaps be a small clientele, in communities such as ours here at the University, one may find themselves the lone and single voice, expected to characterize and pick up on every nuance of black culture and experience for that small readership, and these few writers are even sometimes asked to serve as the voice of the people -- a suggestion that could pull any one writer in a million different directions.

Half the time, black writers can't help but take notice of African-American readers who complain all too well about not hearing their side of the story in the daily press; and unfortunately, the other half of the time they aren't hearing from any potential writers who could possibly join their ranks on the opposite side of the bully pulpit.

Oddly enough, just recently one prominent University administrator told me I should take my writing game to the big leagues, and try my hand at journalism on a larger scale than just the University newspaper. I have to admit, however, that with all the focus on black male writers, plagiarism and dishonor, that the field of journalism isn't looking like too glamorous an option right now. Then again, Blair, and perhaps even Abdullah, make the notion that getting in the journalism game, and then stealing your way into big money without repercussion could always be an option. If there's one thing I've learned from this, it's to question whether or not newspapers or their readerships really care about whether or not writers are reporting the truth, or their own work for that matter. After all, this isn't ethics class -- this is the newspaper business, and this is America.

Kazz Alexander Pinkard's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at kpinkard@cavalierdaily.com.

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