Stephen Glass

Stephen Glass (born c. 1974) was a reporter for The New Republic magazine during the late 1990s. Born and raised in Highland Park, Illinois, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994, where he was Executive Editor of the Daily Pennsylvanian, the University's independent student newspaper, in 1993.

Related Topics:
1974 - Reporter - The New Republic - 1990s - Highland Park, Illinois - University of Pennsylvania - 1994 - Daily Pennsylvanian - Student newspaper

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In 1998, he was fired from TNR after it was discovered that he had committed several cases of journalistic fraud.

Related Topics:
1998 - Journalistic fraud

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The story that triggered these events was called "Hack Heaven", and concerned a supposed 15-year-old computer hacker hired to work for a large company as an information security consultant after breaking into their computer system and exposing its weaknesses. Like several of Glass' previous stories, "Hack Heaven" depicted events that were almost cinematic in their vividness and that were told from a first-person perspective implying Glass was there as the action took place. Below is the story's opening:

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:Ian Restil, a 15-year-old computer hacker who looks like an even more adolescent version of Bill Gates, is throwing a tantrum. "I want more money. I want a Miata. I want a trip to Disney World. I want X-Man comic number one. I want a lifetime subscription to Playboy, and throw in Penthouse. Show me the money! Show me the money!"...

Related Topics:
Bill Gates - Miata - Disney World - Playboy - Penthouse

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:Across the table, executives from a California software firm called Jukt Micronics are listening- and trying ever so delicately to oblige. "Excuse me, sir," one of the suits says, tentatively, to the pimply teenager. "Excuse me. Pardon me for interrupting you, sir. We can arrange more money for you ..."

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Soon after the publication of "Hack Heaven," Forbes magazine reporter Adam Penenberg presented evidence to The New Republic that the story was fabricated and that the company depicted in it did not exist. An internal review by TNR confirmed this, and found that Glass had created a shell website and voice mail account for the company in order to deceive TNR's fact checkers. TNR also determined that 27 of 41 stories written by Glass for the magazine contained fabricated material. Three other magazines, Rolling Stone, George and Harper's, which Glass contributed to also reviewed his work. Rolling Stone and Harper's found the material generally accurate but had no way of verifying information from anonymous sources. George discovered Glass fabricated quotes in a profile piece and apologized to the article subject, Vernon Jordan, a Clinton advisor.

Related Topics:
''Forbes'' magazine - Adam Penenberg - Voice mail - Fact checker - Rolling Stone - George - Harper's - Vernon Jordan

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After TNR fired Glass, he completed his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center. In 2003, he began appearing on television to promote his "biographical novel" The Fabulist. "I wanted them to think I was a good journalist?a good person. I wanted them to love the story so they would love me", he told Steve Kroft of CBS News' 60 Minutes in an interview.

Related Topics:
Georgetown University Law Center - 2003 - CBS News - 60 Minutes

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A movie presenting a stylized view of Glass' rise and fall, titled Shattered Glass, was released in 2003. It stars actor Hayden Christensen as Glass, and received positive criticisms across the United States at its release.

Related Topics:
Shattered Glass - 2003 - Hayden Christensen

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