The One-One Punch, Or, How To Be A Hack

I'm just saying that people should also acknowledge that there are costs, and that one of those costs is almost certainly a) more cases of African-American reporters who screw up, and b) uncertainty about whether a program of no special-preferences might have averted any particular screw-up before it turned into a credibility- and career-damaging incident. (Emphasis added.)

I'm not saying there are no countervailing benefits to hack preferences in journalism -- there are even benefits, such as ability to get poorly written and unedited pieces that talented reporters wouldn't write... In the long run, Slate doesn't seem to have done Mick any favors -- not to mention the effect on other Slate writers who now have to unfairly labor under the sneaking suspicion that they are potential diminutive, grasping, innnumerate hacks.

And while Mick is writing about Steven Glass, perhaps he can explain how the New Republic, which is not known for preferring, or even hiring, African-American writers, failed to avert the serial credibility and career-damaging screw-ups of Ruth Shalit and Glass.