“Hello, My Name Is Stephen Glass, and I’m Sorry” by Hanna Rosin
This article is a story of Stephen Glass, a journalist – also the head of The New Republic‘s fact checking department – who fabricated stories. Steve filled notebooks with fake interview notes, fake business cards and fake voice mails. Once the story broke, Glass went into hiding for a while, he later sent apology notes and tried to pass the California and New York state bar (failing to do both). Glass now works as a director of special projects at a personal-injury law firm.
Rosin, the author, met up with Glass. His explanation is he wanted to loved and he never made up stories for fun, he was anxious the whole way through it. The article states his falsification of stories could have steamed from his parents calling The New Republic a “sandbox.”
I believe Glass’s life should not be ruined because of this, but his career as a journalist rightfully was. He disregarded numerous rules of journalism. He was not accountable, one could say he caused harm by lying and he did not seek truth and instead reported lies.
“It means that forgiveness is a choice, and I decided to make it.” – Hanna Rosin
I thought it was powerful how she decided to end the article. Her declaring that she forgave him gives readers a sense of ending, also that statement is very relatable for readers.