APRIL 13th - Jimmy Wasn't Real



On this day in 1981, Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer for her shocking story, “Jimmy’s World” featuring an eight year-old boy who had been addicted to heroin since he was five years old. It was a probing look into the increasing drug world of Washington and how destructive it could be. There was only one problem. Jimmy was cousins with Harvey the Rabbit (a character from a Pulitzer Prize winning play). He didn’t exist. Cooke had heard stories of kids hooked on heroin, but never actually found one, so she simply invented him. The story ran late September of 1980, and Janet kept up the charade until the award forced her to admit that she was full of it. Not heroin--lies. Probably an awkward conversation though. I’ve never understood the need for reporters to dupe people. It’s like they’ve never read a book in their life. The issue is not in the fabrication, it’s in the deception of trying to pass it off as truth. I believe I’ve stated this before, but I’m a firm believer that fiction often provides a deeper truth than any “true” story can. Art imitates life and all that. So if Cooke would have been upfront and written the piece as a fictional short story, she would have been fine. The issues that existed in D.C. in the early 80’s could have been written about and not overshadowed by controversy. Now, I admit that short stories don’t exactly have the same impact as hard-hitting drug pieces, but that’s because many people don’t see the value in fiction. But Scout and Atticus Finch didn’t need to be real to provide an example of integrity for people to aspire. Jimmy could have, and may have, been real. But that became secondary to the fact that a journalist lied. But everybody lies. Especially in D.C. Why not just be upfront about?

This day has been Marked.

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