The Jayson Blair/New York Times scandal has apparently made its way into the trial strategy of lawyers:
The Jayson Blair episode not only damaged the reputation of the New York Times and torpedoed the careers of editors Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, but media lawyers fear that it is already having negative reverberations far from Manhattan.
Case in point: In Charlottesville on May 23, a jury socked WVIR-TV (Channel 29) with a $10 million judgment in a libel case in which Blair's name came up repeatedly.
During the three-day trial, Matthew B. Murray of Richmond & Fishburne LLP in Charlottesville used the Blair case to batter the NBC affiliate. In part, he cited the Times' 14,000-word report on Blair's errors and fabrications to show what a responsible news organization did to correct the record.
Defense lawyers believe Blair's name was dropped repeatedly to remind the Charlottesville Circuit Court jury that journalists can be reckless
Read all about it here from The Washington Post.