The Story of Janet Cooke

By: Nur 'Inayah

On September 28, 1980, an article appeared in the Washington Post told a very sad story about the life of Jimmy, a young boy who had become a victim of the thriving heroin trade that was devastating the low-income neighbourhoods of Washington D.C. Jimmy who was caught in a cycle of addiction, violence and despair had  become a heroine addict after being introduced by his mother’s live-in boyfriend. Janet Cooke, the author of the article wrote that Jimmy is an 8-year-old boy with a third-generation heroin addict. He described him as a precocious little boy with sandy hair, velvety brown eyes and needle marks freckling the baby-smooth skin of his thin brown arms. She noted that Jimmy aspired to be a heroin dealer when he grew up.

The story immediately generated controversy. Many demanded that Janet Cooke reveal where the boy lived so that he could be helped. However, Janet Cooke refused to provide his location, claiming she needed to protect her sources and that her life would be in danger from drug dealers if she failed to do so. Meanwhile, the city government launched an intensive search to find him. As the popular outrage about Jimmy grew, rumours began to swirl around the city suggesting that he did not exist, that Janet Cooke had simply made him up. The Post stood by her and denied these rumours, but the issue came to a boil on April 13, 1981 when Cooke was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize on account of her story.

The editors of the Post, who had learned that Janet Cooke had lied about various academic credentials on her resume, confronted her and demanded she provide proof of Jimmy's existence. She was unable to do so and finally admitted that she had never met Jimmy and that much of her story was fictitious. She offered her resignation, and the Post, humiliated by the incident, returned the Pulitzer Prize. A year later she appeared on the Phil Donahue show to offer her take on what happened. She blamed her decision to invent Jimmy on the high-pressure environment of the Washington Post, which was still riding high from the journalistic coup it had scored in the early seventies with the Watergate story.

 he claimed that numerous street sources had hinted to her about the existence of a boy such as Jimmy, but unable to find him, she eventually created a story about him in order to satisfy her editors at the Post who were pressuring her to produce something. She was disgraced as a journalist and dropped out of the public eye for many years. She briefly re-emerged in 1996 to tell her story to the magazine GQ. The movie rights from that interview were reported to have subsequently sold for $1.5 million.

As a journalist student, I understand the pressure to make your story the best possible. Wanting to receive positive praise and recognition for your work. There’s no greater feeling, especially after putting in countless hours into investigating and writing. But it should always be done the right way. The truthful way where there’s no fabrication in sight, only the facts. Journalism is built on one word which is credibility. Journalists have a responsibility to the people which is to deliver the truth. By Janet Cooke lying about a child who is addicted to heroin, it makes readers feel skeptical of what exactly is the truth. Given the nature of this story, she could have helped children who were actually addicted to drugs. There were children who she could have interviewed. 

The saddest part is that there were countless kids in Washington D.C. at the time with those problems within the community for a few months when the article was originally published and then once the story was proven false, forgotten were the children who actually needed the help. Janet Cooke is currently living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, working as a sales clerk in a clothing store. There is nothing wrong with being a sales clerk but I bet for her it’s not what she imagined for herself. The Washington Times reported that Cooke would love to be welcomed back into the journalism industry. 

In conclusion, as a journalist student and a future journalist, I am bracing myself for what is in store. I will have to work harder than my peers just to show that I am just as good but most of all, that I’m truthful in my writing. A good journalist has several characteristics that cannot be taught in school. They are characteristics that must be part of who they are. A good journalist must be resourceful. Resourcefulness gives a person the ability to be able to always find a solution to difficult situations that can sometimes be at a dead end. Being a committed journalist is also important. There are sacrifices that must be made in a journalists' personal life at times in order to get work done. The news business is highly unpredictable, and the person who refuses to work nights, weekends, or holidays usually won't get far.

Source: Cjr.Org

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