Forwarded from: William Knowles <wkat_private> http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?d0786_BC_PA--ShatteredGlass&&news&newsflash-pennsylvania By CATHERINE LUCEY The Associated Press 8/19/02 12:03 AM PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The career of journalism wunderkind Stephen Glass imploded in 1998 amid allegations that his splashy stories in The New Republic, Rolling Stone and George were filled with fabrications. Since then the scorned writer has laid low. But Hollywood has decided Glass has one story left. His own. Production is under way on a film called "Shattered Glass," based on a 1998 Vanity Fair article by former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Buzz Bissinger. Hayden Christensen, recently seen on screen as the young Darth Vader in "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," will play Glass, a very different type of bad guy. "It's just a really compelling character," said Hayden's brother Tove, a producer on the film. "Especially for Hayden as an actor it must be interesting for him to play someone who's a genius and also pathological in his ability to lie." Other actors include Hank Azaria, as one of Glass's editors at The New Republic, and Steve Zahn as the Forbes writer who first detected the fabrications. Chloe Sevigney is also in the cast. The film, being shot in Montreal this month, is the directorial debut of screenwriter Billy Ray. Glass, then about 25, became national and international news after reports surfaced that he had enhanced a story about computer hackers for The New Republic. Editors at the magazine then researched Glass's work and reported finding fabrications in 27 of the 41 articles he wrote for the publication over three years. Although he has never spoken about his actions, numerous writers analyzed him, including Bissinger, who described Glass's carefully cooked stories. "His reports described events which occurred at nebulous locations, and included quotes from idiosyncratic characters (with no last names included) whose language suggested the street poetry of Kerouac and the psychological acuity of Freud," Bissinger wrote. "And nobody called his bluff." After serving as editor of the student newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania, Glass's short tenure as a reporter began in Washington, D.C., where the movie picks up. He started at The New Republic, where he worked as an assistant to Andrew Sullivan, the editor until 1996, and then as a fact checker. Known for being a scrappy reporter, rather than a polished writer, he began writing vivid stories filled with over-the-top details and too-good-to-be-true quotes. A notable one was about drinking, drugging young Republicans at a conference. "I did from time to time think the stories were inappropriate for The New Republic," said Charles Lane, an editor at the magazine who later fired Glass and will be played by Peter Sarsgaard. "I remember having on some occasions a negative reaction to the stories, but I never seriously believed they were fabricated." Glass also was managing a prolific freelance career. But editors later learned that many of the articles contained quotes and color they couldn't confirm, people that couldn't be found. When a Forbes reporter tried to follow up on the hackers story he couldn't find a Web site for a software corporation Glass cited. "When the guys from Forbes called, I do remember believing instantly: `Damn it, he might have made up the story,"' said Lane, now a reporter for The Washington Post. Glass tried to cover his tracks, quickly creating a fake Web site and using his brother's cell phone as the company number, Lane said. But it was too late -- he was fired. Few could believe it. Colleagues described him as an ingratiating personality, constantly looking for reassurance. "The only way you could pull off this kind of thing is if you could convince people you're the last person who would fabricate material for a story," said Jonathan Chait, a senior editor at The New Republic, who worked with Glass at the magazine. "He really was the nicest person you ever met, in a comically over-the-top way." Since then, Glass has graduated from Georgetown Law School and was working as a law clerk in Washington about a year ago. There have been reports that he is now living in New York City, but no contact information for him could be found. Calls to a lawyer who represented him around the time of his firing were not immediately returned. Shortly after the story broke, HBO bought the rights to Bissinger's article and asked Ray to write a screenplay. But the movie was never made. Ray liked the story so much that he got the studio to release the script so he could finish the project. There are no plans yet for the film's release date. And as for the real life story, many of Glass's former friends haven't heard from him since the scandal. "It was a very weird experience," Chait said. "It happened all at once. All of a sudden he was an international notorious figure." *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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