Liar!

Journalism rests its foundations on integreity. Respect for the truth and the readers is essential--the news is an institution much larger than the writer or newspaper title. The news works on the basis of trust and integrity. Without that integrity in place the entire system of the news breaks down and the public has no one left to rely for what's happening beyond their door post. Whatever the reasoning, false reporting is propaganda in itself.

The field of journalism is unique from many other fields in that faking information is incredibly easy, and minor deceptions have a huge ramifications on career and reputation. It doesn't matter how skilled or talented a reporter is,  if they don't have good credit they have no career. More importantly offenders are abusing thier power to lie to the public. Politians are forever scorned once discovered to be deceiving the public either through the actions of their private lives, public money, or failure to live up to their word. Journalists who embellish pieces are using their power to literally lie to thousands of people for the sake of notariety or lessening their own work load. A politician's job is to represent people while a journalist career is to represent the truth. Between the two the journalist should be greater shamed for their failure to duty--the public puts far greater trust in the press than politions and their duty is far more clear.

Stephen Glass abused his power on no less than 29 occasions spanning over four different magazines. He deceived thousands for the simple purpose of continuing his own name regardless of the lies and reputations he destroyed.

In a 2003  60 Minutes interview Glass reflected, "“I wanted a story that I thought would be the perfect story. And that the readers would most enjoy to read....I remember thinking, ‘If I just had the exact quote that I wanted to make it work, it would be perfect.’ And I wrote something on my computer, and then I looked at it, and I let it stand. And then it ran in the magazine and I saw it. And I said to myself what I said every time these stories ran, ‘You must stop. You must stop.’ But I didn't.”

Ex-coworkers of Glass found him despicable.

"He's a worm," said New Republic editor Leon Wieseltier.

“If it was sunny outside and Steve and I were both standing outside in the sun and Steve came to me and said, ‘It's a sunny day,’ I would immediately go check with two other people to make sure it was a sunny day,” concluded Charles Lane, executive editor.

The truth is like others before and after him, Glass exploited the trust people put in him both on a personal level and and through the public. Glass failed to understand the  basic concept of journalistic responsibility--his ambition blinded him to the big picture of his actions and as a result his public image will always be questionable while his journalistic name will forever be associated with distrust and disdain.

Sadly characters like Glass will never leave the business and facts checkers and the public alike must remain on thier guard for faulty information.

Ahead of his compilation of Glass' articles Rick Mcginnis writes "fabrication, in small or large part, will always be common in a profession that, too often, values sensation over substance, and where older editors increasingly turn to younger writers to provide them with "buzz", or a window on trends, real or spurious. Freelance writers and junior editorial staff, like Glass, are the disposable shock troops of this regrettable but seemingly ineradicable side of the business." 

The field of journalism is the most precarious because it is entirely reliant on honesty and trust.