Jimmy's World By Janet Cooke Analysis

Summary:
Janet Cooke, a former journalist for the Washington Post, fabricated a story about an eight year old boy living in the District of Columbia with a supposed addiction to heroin. Cooke had claimed to have obtained information about his struggle with addiction from interviews with the boy, whose name was Jimmy, his mother, and her boyfriend. When the story first began to circulate, it was received quite heavily by the public. Marion Barry, the Mayor of the District Columbia at the time, had even requested and insisted that medical assistance be given to the child. However, upon discovering that his efforts to find Jimmy had came up completely short, the Mayor then realized that the legitimacy to Cooke’s story was losing credibility by the moment.
The Post’s Involvement:
The Post responded rather overwhelmingly with not only surprise, but also remorse for Janet as a promising young journalist, as well as those who became so heavily involved and invested in the well-being of eight year old Jimmy. Throughout the duration of the discovery of Janet’s different embellishments, in regards to “Jimmy’s World,” and statements made about where she received her education, the Post also became increasingly apologetic to the public- fearing they too had deceived their readers and stripped themselves of their credibility.

Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post. "The credibility of a newspaper is its most precious asset, and it depends almost entirely on the integrity of its reporters. When that integrity is questioned and found wanting, the wounds are grievous, and there is nothing to do but come clean with our readers, apologize to the Advisory Board of the Pulitzer Prizes, and begin immediately on the uphill task of regaining our credibility. This we are