The New York Times has been holding up the torch for truth in the age of fake news and alternative facts—but one of its political reporters, Jonathan Martin, has no qualms in weaving a few alternative facts of his own. After he lifted a photograph from another journalist and presented it without attribution, Martin doubled down on his lie and claimed he had no idea it was the other journalist’s photo.
“Jmart”, as he is known, was a star political reporter for the Times before being eclipsed by his fellow Politico alumni Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the paper has written many editorials on the importance of telling the truth, in some attempt to bring journalism back to its roots. Executive editor aspirant David Leonhardt even penned columns accusing Donald Trump of being a liar.
Many journalists will do anything to get the scoop on the news, but ethical journalists will spend time getting it right—and they’ll never steal content from other reporters without attribution. And they certainly don’t blatantly lie on social media when caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
In the wake of Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte’s alleged assault of The Guardian correspondent Ben Jacobs, on-site reporters had keen interest in the allegations and posted news of their discoveries on social media.
As Gianforte was charged with assault for the alleged “bodyslam,” Whitney Bermes, a court reporter for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle was the first reporter to attain a copy of the Sheriff’s Office’ citation for the Republican candidate. She photographed the citation and shared the image on Twitter. The picture received a moderate number of likes and re-tweets, making the rounds in journalistic circles.
Just under an hour later, JMart posted the exact same image, claiming he’d somehow “obtained” a copy of the summons. Other Twitter users who’d previously seen Bermes post the picture called him out for stealing it.
Bermes herself reached out to say that he’d “obtained” the photo from her Twitter feed without attribution to her. Instead of simply apologizing and owning up to what he did, JMart, who is the second husband of DC socialite and former Meet the Press executive producer Betsy Fischer Martin, doubled down with a denial.
The Montana-based court reporter pointed out how the two pictures are the exact same image. “Same piece of paper redacting my personal information, same shadow. That’s my photo,” wrote Bermes.
The twitterati came back at JMart in force with evidence of his lie.
One user even produced a video to prove that the two pictures were indeed identical.
For all of the New York Times’ talk about the truth and rejecting alternative facts, the publication has yet to address Jonathan Martin’s journalistic conduct.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.