Apparently, I just can't get enough of reading even more about Stephen Glass, as well as branching out a little bit and reading up on other disgraced journalists too. It seems that watching Shattered Glass really left an impression on me, or otherwise I probably would've not gone and read so, so much about Mr. Fabricator Stephen Glass. Peter Sarsgaard's going to be in a new documentary series, so I guess that's something else I could go down the rabbit hole about. Who says watching movies can't be a thought provoking activity? I think I've definitely expanded my mind by reading up on the various things (and related topics, as it may be) that Peter Sarsgaard has been in movies about - Stephen Glass, Milgram's obedience experiments... those are the ones so far, but I'll probably read about the CIA experiments the new documentary series is about, and the murder case Boys Don't Cry was based on. I'll get to those. I think maybe most people don't put this much effort into informing themselves about the subject matter of movies they've seen. I guess I could also read about the mobsters in Boston that Black Mass was about. I did watch a documentary about that, so it's not like I haven't gotten at least a little bit into that topic.
Anyways, in addition to Stephen Glass, I've been reading about other fabricators and/or plagiarists in journalism. Obviously, Glass is the one I've read the most about at this time. I've also read a bit about Jayson Blair, formerly of the New York Times as well as, in his day, editor in chief of UMD's student newspaper. I'll skip over the gloating about my new position for now. Last night, while procrastinating some boring and inane homework, I read about Janet Cooke, who fabricated a story (about drug addicts, nonetheless!) at the Washington Post in 1980. This was sort of extra fascinating because the story in question was on the subject matter of drug addicts, which you know I find to be an interesting topic. For that matter, Requiem for a Dream is back on Netflix, apparently! There's also Michael Finkel, who I still have to read up on, and Jonah Lehrer. I did read a bit about Sabrina Erdely, who is probably the most recently disgraced journalist of this kind. A few years ago she wrote an article for Rolling Stone magazine that eventually ended up being discredited. I had been vaguely aware of this having happened, but at the time I didn't really pay attention to that having been in the news, and before having read a bit about that scandal, I couldn't have told you the journalist's name.
I found this interesting picture of Stephen Glass that I thought I'd share here. It depicts him, presumably when he was in college, with a sign beneath a window that reads "executive editor." He looks happy. It's an interesting picture, what with the pose and framing; maybe I should take a picture of myself in a similar pose, with similar framing! It could be an allusion.. I wonder if there are any good windows that would be suitable so I can recreate the framing. Windows at approximately neck/chest height... hmm... Nevertheless, I hope that I don't end up as a disgraced journalist like Stephen Glass did. I wonder what this picture was for; was it for any official/publicity purpose or did he just feel like taking a fun picture? Someone had to be holding the camera; whose idea was that pose?? Some rhetorical questions that I'll probably never know the answers to. I wonder if Stephen would even remember the circumstances of this picture being taken. Maybe it was a special occasion? Perhaps the day he became executive editor? Just speculating here. I guess if you ask me in 20 years or so, I can see if I remember any pictures I was in at this current time in my life.. In looking up this picture, I also came across a Spanish poster (as well as an interesting review/analysis, although naturally in Spanish) for the movie Shattered Glass, but in Spanish it was retitled as "El Precio de la Verdad," or "The Price of the Truth" which isn't such a bad title, especially since the wordplay on Steven Glass' last name in the original title wouldn't have really worked out in Spanish.
Also, this. "Steve Glass Not An Attorney" (this is from the website of the law firm in California that he works for now, albeit not as a lawyer) ... I'll add that to my repertoire. Steven "Shattered" Glass, Mr. Fabricator (that one I came up with myself) and Steve "Not An Attorney" Glass... That page also shows a more or less recent picture of him. Nice glasses. He seems to like that style. I wonder how he would look if he decided to wear the frameless kind of glasses. There's also actually a contact form for him at the bottom, which is... a slightly tantalizing possibility. But honestly, I don't really want to bother him, so I'll abstain. Plus, perhaps him or a secretary or something filters out the messages that theoretically involve questions about his journalistic sins. If I were him I could understand not wanting to dwell on that, nearly 20 years later. Interestingly enough, it was only tonight that I really realized how his parents had initially wanted him to become a lawyer, yet he went and became a journalist, but now he's actually working at a law firm and is as close to being a lawyer as he can get, at this time. I wonder if his parents are proud of him now?? Maybe he could apply to become a lawyer in all 50 states and see if any of them would accept him. As something I read in the past stated, surely there are worse people than Steven Glass practicing law.
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