In 1998, young star writer Stephen Glass was fired by The New Republic magazine for having fabricated facts, quotes and sources for stories. Despite this huge setback, Glass has managed to begin a new career and appears headed for success in it.
The Chicago native first came to the nation's attention while editing the student newspaper at Pennsylvania University during a time of especially touchy race relations. A group of African American students had confiscated most copies of one issue of that paper due to a story they disliked. The school's administration caved in to political correctness, and the only person to get into trouble for the incident was a hapless security guard who had tried to stop the removal of some copies of the paper.
Glass' troubles at The New Republic began in 1998 with a story he had written about a money-hungry 15-year-old computer hacker. As do so many stories that get journalistic writers into ethical trouble, this one depended on the use of anonymous sources. The story also contained what the magazine concluded were invented quotations.
Nothing if not versatile, Glass did stand-up comedy for a short while, published a book based on his firing, saw a movie made about his story, and finished at Georgetown Law School.
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