Editor Charles Lane Talks About Uncovering Fabrications in Journalism
The radio show Fresh Air recently broadcast an interview with Charles Lane, a former editor of The New Republic, about uncovering fabrications in the work of writer Stephen Glass. It’s a fascinating look at what an editor goes through to investigate the allegations and decide how to react to them. The truthfulness of Glass’ work came into question when someone from Forbes tried to write about a group of hackers Glass wrote about and wasn’t able to find any evidence of the group’s existence. The New Republic found that Glass had fabricated portions of 27 of his 41 pieces he wrote for the magazine. Lane also talks about how the climate at The New Republic may have made it easier for Glass to publish so many falsified articles and what the magazine has done to prevent this situation from happening again. The new film Shattered Glass tells the story.
Addendum 11/28: I just got home after seeing Shattered Glass. It’s definitely worth seeing just for the story: how an editor deals with fabrications created by a journalist. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t address what remedies, if any, TNR took to safeguard against that situation happening again. That’s all I’m going to type because I respect the fact that some people prefer to go into a film with an open mind. If you want to know more, ask me and maybe I’ll tell you.
November 25th, 2003 at 11:43 pm
I saw Shattered Glass this weekend. It was a well-done drama. The New Republic likes to hire the bright young things out of the Ivy League, and sometimes they prove immature.