Janet cooke where is she

It read -- to me, at least -- like a novel. It was not sourced. There was no individual who could confirm any of what was in that story. And I came to this issue in with having been several years in the federal government with the State Department, where I conducted numerous investigations. I never would have reported a case without identifying my sources.

And even if the sources were confidential, I still disclosed the identity to my editors. That was missing in Jimmy's story. KING I didn't know all of that at the time, but it just was one of those stories where you read it and you say, wow, this hits home.

But then you stop to think about it. Could an eight-year-old kid sound like this? Are these the words of an eight-year-old? Having raised a bunch of eight-year-olds, I hadn't encountered anyone that used the language the way this kid did it at eight.

But I was not in a position to do more than just read it and raise eyebrows, shake my head. But I was not inside the Washington Post at the time. A lot of what I know now is in retrospect. Michele, thank you for joining us. When "Jimmy's World" was published, Michel, where were you working, and do you remember what you thought about the story when it first came out? I had just finished my summer internship at the Washington Post, so I was a brand-new baby reporter, just a couple of months out of college.

And a number of us were kept on. They had extended internship programs at the time. Most of us worked in those -- you know, the kinds of entry-level jobs, you know, that are so hard to come by and so cherished by people trying to break into the business.

Weekly, the zoned editions that the Post had at that time. They sort of switched them up subsequently, but each of the jurisdictions had their own Weekly, and they all had their own staff. And I was working on one of those staffs. I had just come off my summer internship where I was also doing one of those other kinds of entry-level jobs that people do, like working the overnight.

You know, like working to a. MARTIN So, I absolutely remember and, as you know, kids who are just out of college, interns tend to hang out with other people who are similarly situated. So, I certainly knew Janet, and I had, you know, even, I think, visited -- she had a roommate at that time, who I won't name. She can speak for herself at some point, if she wants to. MARTIN And Janet was a person who was -- well, let me just say that -- let me just say that there was a lot of buzz in the newsroom about it, even then, because a number of African American reporters, people who had worked those shifts, you know, like I did, like worked the overnight, people who worked in the community, people who worked the police beat, say, had doubts.

I'm not -- I'm sure -- there was an extensive after-action report. I mean, the Post reported on this thoroughly, subsequently, on itself, thoroughly. And my recollection was, they did not hold anything back. But my recollection was that a number of the African American reporters who were familiar with this territory had doubts, because they just didn't believe that she would have what it takes to get that close to somebody in those circumstances.

They just didn't buy it. It was bad for everybody, but, you know, I have some sympathy about it, because I feel like this is obviously a troubled young woman who obviously -- you know, to this day, she may not even know why she did this. She was a very gifted writer. She should've been writing fiction. I don't know why she wasn't.

What do you mean by that? I mean, think about it. And I remember specifically -- I have two enduring memories from that period. One was I remember the former executive editor, Ben Bradley, standing on a desk in the newsroom, and his voice was about to crack and his eyes were -- I could even see, even at that distance, it felt like his eyes were filling up with tears. And so that's one enduring memory I have.

But also, as I mentioned earlier, remember, I had just finished my summer internship and I, along with a number of others, had been kept on. They had, at that time, kind of a reporter trainee program, and I was very grateful to have been selected by that along with a couple other interns who -- we had different assignments. And another -- a colleague and I found a place on The Hill, a small townhouse that we could rent.

And I remember, when I told the landlord that I worked at the Post, he didn't believe -- well, number one, he -- at that point, of course, I didn't have any credit.

I had told him I had just graduated from Harvard. He didn't believe me and demanded to see my diploma. He did not. So, that was the first pain point. And then, secondly, I will tell you that, you know, going out and people would harass you. They would -- when you would, you know, interview them on stories that were perhaps a little challenging, they would, you know, accuse you of making things up, and are you sure.

Are you going to write what I really say, you know? MARTIN And so, yeah, it was -- and I'm sure that some of my more experienced colleagues who were engaging with perhaps government officials on more contentious work were probably similarly experiencing this. I will say, it's very interesting now to have this conversation, because it's a precursor of the kind of insults that are thrown at journalists -- mainstream journalists all the time by certain political figures now.

But, back then, it was shocking. It was just not something that you would ever have thought -- you just wouldn't -- you would just never have thought it, you know.

Elizabeth, you're on the air. Go ahead, please. She told Sager that on the day she flew back to the United States about two years ago, she noticed a man with a camera following her at the gate at Charles de Gaulle airport.

People spokeswoman Susan Ollinick said no one was assigned to photograph Cooke, although she was contacted by phone about an interview for the 20th anniversary issue. People was founded in We show people at home, and we rely on their cooperation. Terry McDevitt, a GQ spokeswoman, said the reference to a 25th anniversary was a typographical error. At first, she insisted that her Pulitzer autobiography was accurate.

Slowly, one item at a time, she confessed to the untruths on the autobiography. These confessions prompted the editors to question the validity of the story for which she had been awarded the Pulitzer. For several hours, Cooke insisted that the story was true, that Jimmy existed. At a meeting early in the evening, Bradlee and Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward told Cooke that they had serious doubts about the story.

Bradlee told Cooke she had to prove Jimmy's existence as soon as possible, or admit that the story was a fabrication. Cooke said she would attempt to prove Jimmy's existence. Cooke was unable to find Jimmy's house. Back at The Post, several editors examined the file of notes Cooke took when reporting the story and listened to several tape-recorded interviews she had done with drug experts.

There were no notes of Cooke's first supposed encounters with Jimmy and his family. But some of the notes and the tape-recorded interviews indicated that "Jimmy's World" could have been a composite of the lives Cooke heard about from the experts and social workers.

When Cooke and Coleman returned to The Post, unable to find Jimmy's house, they met with Woodward and two other editors. At that point Coleman said he had become convinced that the Jimmy story was untrue. The meeting lasted several hours, with Cooke insisting that she would stand by her story.

Finally, early Wednesday morning, she confessed that Jimmy did not exist, that he was a composite of several young drug users. William Green, The Post's ombudsman, who handles readers' complaints as well as internal problems, has undertaken an investigation of the entire incident. Bradlee has directed that all Post staff members disclose all information relevant to the incident to Green, and Bradlee said Green's findings will be published when they are completed.