Jason Arday found dead today.

Sadly the man is dead and I can’t see the point of all the nasty comments and accusations. Clearly he was not a well man and was suffering a lot of emotional stress. I really wish the usual comments about racism would cease, they are disrespectful and not helpful.

Galaxy

I do fear for journalists at the moment, the reaction against them is frightening. They are all braver than I am.

They are definitely under attack from the far right, Tice, Farage etc.

Anyone else?

Galaxy

Again that is against the guidelines relating to suicide to attribute blame to one cause.
What if we dont agree that it was the journalism but rather the false reality itself.
And again were people unhappy with the discussions of the salt path, Rachel dolezal, all received intense media attention. What about mandelsson that was a media storm. What if god forbid any of those had taken their lives. What if the poor journalist reported to the police and approached by solicitors had done himself harm ( imagine the pressure that puts on someone) what then?

Meghan the Meghan actually said that she had suicidal thoughts prior to the couple taking the step of asking to step back.

She's another victim of a pile-on. Intense ongoing media criticism. & you'll say she invited it, but Jason Ardry was just about to publish his autobiography, which isn't a normal academic publication.

Galaxy

I do fear for journalists at the moment, the reaction against them is frightening. They are all braver than I am.

Where would we be in very many cases without tough investigations by journalists? The Express, The Mail, The Telegraph and The Times have all uncovered many things going on we would never have known about.

My black professor (now deceased) wrote how the mass media system systematically produced racist ideologies, stereotypes, and moral panics targeting Black and Asian communities.

That was back in the 70s and forward.

Nothing has changed, in fact I would argue that it is getting worse.

Whitewavemark2

This

In the wake of Arday's death, Nathan Cofnas states his motivation. Beyond whistleblowing, he states that after a 'revolution' removes professors like Arday, it will open opportunities for him to become 'head of the department of eugenics and race science at Harvard'.

None of which matters, can’t you see that? Motivation doesn’t matter.
He sounds a lovely bloke ( not) but that doesn’t make his assertions wrong.Or the investigation by Guardian’s journalists.

And we shouldn't be assigning blame to anyone or to a specific reason ( and I apologise if I have done that in reference to cambridge),it is specifically advised against in samaritans guidelines.

Galaxy

Well yes that's the point whitewave, if you make the decision that journalists investigating and publishing are guilty when something happens to someone then the what ifs are wide ranging. Nick leesom for example , again incredible public scrutiny.

Whitewavemark2 is simply wrong to assign blame to Cofnas.
He highlighted the wrongness of the appointment and it doesn’t matter what his motives were if we are wanting to get at the truth. I hardly think The Guardian had racist motives either.
If something is false then it’s false.

I do fear for journalists at the moment, the reaction against them is frightening. They are all braver than I am.

This

In the wake of Arday's death, Nathan Cofnas states his motivation. Beyond whistleblowing, he states that after a 'revolution' removes professors like Arday, it will open opportunities for him to become 'head of the department of eugenics and race science at Harvard'.

Motives don’t matter, only the truth ( for all those blaming Cofnas and journalists)
Only Jason Arday and particularly Cambridge University brought this tragic end about.

Friendlygingercat 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

What a sad tragedy, his friends and family must be devastated. I've already said my piece prior to his death but I hope Cambridge university and Nathan Cofnas and his supporters re-read what Diversity, Equality and Inclusion really means rather than turning into what the "think" it means. Jason Arday was not innocent of either making mistakes or of deliberate fabrication but the cost to him far outweighed his transgressions and that was not of his making being related to the colour of his skin.

"A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy is a formal organizational framework and living document designed to ensure fair treatment, equal opportunities, and a welcoming environment for all people, particularly those from underrepresented or historically marginalized groups." AI gen

The questions about Jason Arday’s appointment arise because multiple parts of his academic record, biography, and claimed achievements were later found to be inconsistent,. This prompted Cambridge to launch an independent inquiry into how he was appointed and whether proper scrutiny was applied.

Appointing a professor is a long and complex bureaucratic process with many checks and balances applied and due diligence to claims by applicants. Applicants would normally be scholars with an international reputation for advanced research, numerous high quality peer reviewed publications and bringing in multi-million funding grants. It would be unusual for someone under say 40 to have accrued such a reputation and more likely someone in their late 40s or 50s.

In this case there were claims of plagiarism. exaggerated personal narrative and career embellishment, as well as flaws in the appointment process. The controversy became entangled with debates about DEI, representation, and race, which intensified scrutiny and polarised academic opinion.

Well yes that's the point whitewave, if you make the decision that journalists investigating and publishing are guilty when something happens to someone then the what ifs are wide ranging. Nick leesom for example , again incredible public scrutiny.

Luckygirl3

"The media killed Arday. The scrutiny that followed his appointment was immediate and intense. Allegations of plagiarism surfaced through Nathan Cofnas, a self-described “race realist” who has argued that Black people would disappear from high-profile positions at top universities including Harvard under meritocracy. The claims expanded into national coverage. The British press treated Arday as a symbol of alleged DEI excess and framed him as a diversity poster boy. The reporting was disproportionate compared to similar cases involving white academics, whose transgressions rarely attract national attention nor are universalized to other white academics. For example, when a Cambridge historian was found to have plagiarised student essays, the coverage was minimal. "

This is the view of PTZeleza, a black academic. This is my point .... that Arday's alleged transgressions (that undoubtedly need scrutiny by the university) turned into a vendetta because of his race/colour and because he was seen as an example of positive discrimination "gone wrong". He was required to bear the weight not only of what he might actually have done wrong himself but also of the potential flaws in a policy much larger than himself. Too much for any one individual in this media led culture.

I was commenting on the view quoted here in which a clear comparison is made and a firm conclusion reached, without taking into account other relevant factors.

Lot of what ifs there.

Again that is against the guidelines relating to suicide to attribute blame to one cause.
What if we dont agree that it was the journalism but rather the false reality itself.
And again were people unhappy with the discussions of the salt path, Rachel dolezal, all received intense media attention. What about mandelsson that was a media storm. What if god forbid any of those had taken their lives. What if the poor journalist reported to the police and approached by solicitors had done himself harm ( imagine the pressure that puts on someone) what then?

eazybee

Yes . we do need the truth and a very thorough, rational investigation. I am not suggesting anything should be hidden, let alone not discussed but the man is barely two days dead, emotions are running high and this is neither the time nor the place for point scoring.

I agree with this, of course a rational and balanced investigation and discussion about this is needed, but for the sake of Arday’s loved ones I think this is neither the time or the place.
Some space is essential for everyone to process this and not be tempted to make knee jerk responses.

This isn’t about comparisons.

This is about motivations, racism, fact and truth.

He was, by choice, a high profile person in the media as well as academia.

Other academics, whatever their race, don’t attract media attention to the same extent because they haven’t sought media attention to the same extent.

A fairer comparison would be with white academic who has also had a meteoric rise with public accolades and has then been accused of plagiarism.

This would be comparing like with like in all respects except race.

Or failing that a comparison with another black Professor who was low profile but who had similar assertions made about their work.

To what extent was the ongoing high profile and media presence the dominant factor in the media interest of plagiarism.

If comparisons are to be valid all correlating factors must be taken into account.

Maremia

Thank you Luckygirl.
Race and DEI were mentioned in many posts.

Investigation is good.
'Pile on' is not.

Agreed. And I agree with your posts too, WWM.

There is a lot of posturing about fairness and not favouring one source over another, but the reality is that someone has died as a result of the ‘questions’ and ‘journalism’ that have been judge and jury. Shouldn’t that be what is in question?

Again, nobody is saying that questions shouldn’t be asked, or that one news source should be believed over another (has anyone said that?) but the vitriol on this site alone, which is, as someone said earlier, is sometimes more gentle than elsewhere online, shows that people are happy to believe accusations that fit their agenda (eg ‘race card’) and they will repeat them mercilessly before bothering to collect evidence.

Any section that should say.

Those who are blaming anyone particular section ( such as the media) are ignoring all guidelines about suicide, again this happens every time. It is a dangerous narrative. I actually think this applies to both sides of the debate.

Not sure it was that he had the nerve to come out with all the things he did, more that he was a fantasist. Remember he wasn’t only black but also autistic so Cambridge University scored twice if I may phrase it thus and ticked two boxes at once on their DEI agenda. I don’t think they considered him as a person at all and he had no support. They weren’t concerned about checking his qualifications or suitability for the post. Other teaching staff at Cambridge have said once appointed that’s it.
With all that happening media or no media Arday had no place to go.