Stephen Glass is one who got caught. How many others carry on like this with impunity? Here in the UK, The Sun newspaper is often being sued for false stories. A good example is the recent (few years ago) story about Elton John. The story was a fabrication, but the newspaper justified it because the reporter paid someone for the story, and only a few pounds (sterling) at that, if I remember correctly. Elton John took the paper to court and won the case, but one can imagine that the amount paid to him was much less than the Sun earned from the story. And yet, Joe Public doesn't seem to learn, or even think about the implications of this.
According to ABC, the Sun is the best-selling popular newspaper in the UK, selling twice as many as its nearest rival, the Daily Mirror. Unbelievable!
Added 2 June 2007:
This thread aroused my interest and I have just watched this film. Highly recommended, if a little sentimentalised.
The plot outline quoted from IMDb does not say anything about the very interesting portrayal of manipulation by Glass. Judging the film by my readings of Hare, Stout, etc, I thought it was quite accurate. And, very interesting to see a psychopath on-screen who is not a violent deranged serial killer.
The copy I rented also had an interview from 60 Minutes with the real Stephen Glass. I don't know quite what I saw there. Is Glass a psychopath, or just a pathological liar who wanted fame and adulation and was prepared to do anything to get it? I couldn't tell for certain, although I did think he was 'protesting a little too much', in the sense of projecting a kind of assumed aura of honesty to the interviewer. But that might just be my subjective interpretation having watched the film before the interview, and then looking for any sign that I was watching a psychopath in action. But he has been in therapy for five years, so maybe he's learned to play the game more convincingly.
