This ran in the Orange County Register. 
But the author makes an interesting point -- basically called Blair an assimilationist and said the situation would never improve unless journalists of color are allowed to be themselves and not suck up.
By JULIO MORAN
Executive Director, California Chicano News Media Association, USC Annenberg School of Journalism
In his June 1 column ["Media troubles go deeper than Blair scandal," Commentary], Steven Greenhut is correct in saying that affirmative action is partially to blame for the Jayson Blair scandal. He also is correct that diversity in journalism focuses too much on skin color and surnames rather than on diversity of views.
But he is wrong in casting a wide net over affirmative action by saying it hurts journalism and those that it is supposed to benefit. Hiring in journalism is not yet at a level playing field for people of color, and affirmative action actually makes journalism better because in trying to make newsrooms look like the communities they are supposed to serve, the daily coverage is more accurate and pertinent.
Where affirmative action has failed in the news media is where white editors choose to hire journalists of color who act like them and who think like them, rather than those who have different views. Instead of being encouraged to share their views or challenge the way things have always been done, journalists of color who express themselves are often labeled as trouble-makers and eventually either get fired or leave the industry in frustration.
Unfortunately, journalism - especially newspapers - is still run by older white men who have little exposure to the changing demographics in this country, and, in particular, in this state.
Diversity programs are still the only way most journalists of color get hired, especially if they act and think differently. While people of color make up 31 percent of the overall population, they are only 12.5 percent of newsroom employees, according to a 2003 survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Mr. Greenhut writes that affirmative action puts "ideological impulses above honest reporting." How honest is reporting when a newspaper ignores 30 percent to 50 percent of its population? How honest is it when a newspaper staff doesn't have a reporter who can speak a language other than English or understand cultures different than the American culture when its circulation area is nearly half foreign-born?
If Mr. Greenhut is going to blame affirmative action for the favoritism that Blair received at The New York Times, then he must also challenge the longtime practice of favoritism for young white reporters who cozy up to their superiors.
Journalists of color simply want a fair chance to compete. Most don't have a parent or relative who are friends with the editor or publisher. Many did not attend Ivy League or other private schools. But most do know their cultures and can tell compelling, honest stories about people in this country who happen to have different skin colors or speak a different language. And these talented, hard-working journalists, who abhor the things Blair did, also can write about white people and the American culture.
Blair is someone who never should have been hired at The New York Times regardless of his skin color.
But he was allowed to advance his career because he said and did the things that made him more like, rather than different, than his white boss. Until journalists of color are allowed to be themselves in America's newsrooms, then, Mr. Greenhut, you are correct that our industry will lose even more credibility and readership.