History Film / ShatteredGlass

** The Forbes journalists do a pretty good job of this as well. One example; after being given a phone number for George Simms, Penenberg tries calling it like everyone else only for it to go straight to answering machine. He then hits on the idea of getting someone else to call it simultaneously with him; while one call gets through to the machine again, the other call gets an engaged signal, strongly suggesting it's a single phone line rather than the multiple lines you would expect of a decent small business, never mind the major software company Jukt Micronics is supposed to be.

** Later during that interview, Chuck pointedly interrupts Stephen's hemming and hawing and tells him to give the Forbes team the phone numbers they're asking for. Even though he says it quietly, ''everyone'', the Forbes reporters included, reacts with stunned shock, as they realize Chuck is thoroughly done with Stephen's bullshit. "This guy's ''toast,''" Penenberg gravely observers immediately after.

->''"There's so many show offs in journalism, so many braggarts and jerks. They're always selling, always working the room, always trying to make themselves look hotter than they actually are. The good news is reporters like that make it easy to distinguish yourself. If you're even a little bit humble, a little self-effacing or solicitous, you stand out. "''

->''"There's so many show offs in journalism, so many braggarts and jerks. They're always selling, always working the room, always trying to make themselves look hotter than they actually are. The good news is reporters like that make it easy to distinguish yourself. If you're even a little bit humble, a little self-effacing or solicitous, you stand out. So you bring a co-worker lunch if he's buried under a deadline. You remember birthdays. It's true, journalism is hard work. Everybody's under pressure, everybody's grinding to get the issue out, nobody's getting any sleep, but you are allowed to smile every once in a while. I mean, even Woodward and Bernstein went out for a burger now and then. And they won a Pulitzer. Some reporters think it's political content that makes a story memorable. I think it's the people you find. Their quirks, their flaws. What makes them funny, what makes them human. Journalism is just the art of capturing behavior. You have to know who you're writing for, and you have to know what you're good at. I record what people do. I find out what moves them, what scares them. And I write that down. That way, they're the ones telling the story. And you know what? Those kind of pieces can win Pulitzers too."''
-->'''Stephen Glass''', in voiceover

--> "Are you mad at me?"

''Shattered Glass'' is a 2003 film written and directed by Creator/BillyRay.

Creator/ChloeSevigny and Creator/MelanieLynskey are Caitlin and Amy, two (fictional) reporter comrades of Glass at TNR. Creator/HankAzaria plays Michael Kelly, Glass's first editor at TNR, Creator/SteveZahn plays Adam Penenberg, the reporter for ''Forbes'' who exposed Glass, and Creator/RosarioDawson has a small role as another ''Forbes'' reporter.

-->''"Steve, I have to ask you something. Um... did you ever cook a piece when I was your boss? Did you ever lie to me? The Young Conservatives piece... the mini-bottles? Was that true?"''

* CatchPhrase: Glass attempts to defuse all potential tension with PuppyDogEyes and "are you mad at me?"

-->'''Glass:''' Chuck, will you come with me? Because I'm afraid I might do something. ''[Is ignored]'' Didn't you hear what I said?\\

* DaydreamSurprise: Throughout the movie, we see snippets of the various stories Glass has researched and submitted, such as the Monica Lewinsky convention, the Young Republican WackyFratboyHijinx Party and, of course, Hack Heaven. All of which, as we learn the extent of his fakery, are heavily implied to be just his imagination. [[spoiler: The high school class Glass addresses as a FramingDevice turns out to be one of these, as it's revealed that he's just daydreaming while in a meeting to determine precisely the extent of his fraud.]]

-->'''Chuck''': Look at me...and say that again.
-->'''Stephen''': (''looks him in the eye'') Those are all real people.
** There are ''many'' other examples of this. Glass presents the business card of the hacker's agent and it was clearly just printed on a piece of cardboard. Jukt Micronics' website is an all-text AOL page. The restaurant he claims the hackers ate dinner at closes after lunch hours. Each time he retreats into other lies.

* ManipulativeBastard: Very subtly; Glass tends to use his 'aw-shucks' humble act to make people feel sorry for him. Later, as what he's done starts to become more apparent, he has a weaselly way of playing on people's sympathies in a way which is clearly calculated to turn them against Chuck.

'''Chuck:''' ''[Finally snapping]'' Caitlin, when this thing blows, there isn't going to ''be'' a magazine anymore. If you want to make this about Mike, make it about Mike. I don't give a shit. You can resent me, you can hate me, but come Monday morning, we're all going to have to answer for what we let happen here. We're all going to have an apology to make! Jesus Christ! Don't you have any idea how much ''shit'' we're about to eat? Every competitor we ever took a shot at, they're going to pounce. And they should. Because ''we blew it'', Caitlin. He handed us fiction after fiction and we printed them all as fact. Just because... we found him "entertaining." It's indefensible. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Don't you know that?]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: One scene features Glass fact-checking an article for a more inexperienced colleague, and raking him over the coals for the numerous inaccuracies and shoddy journalism it contains.

* InformedAttribute: When offering Chuck the job of editor, Marty Peretz claims that the tone of the magazine has become too "nasty" under Michael Kelly's tenure, which would seem quite at odds with the quietly-spoken, good-natured and loyal man we've seen Kelly to be up to this point. (As discussed under HistoricalHeroUpgrade, however, it ''is'' arguably a fair description of the real-life man, who reportedly could be extremely aggressive and combative if not outright malicious to targets of his magazine's stories.)

* AmbiguouslyBi: Stephen tells a story to Caitlin and Amy about how "a dinner with this guy from the ''Post''" turned into the guy "slipping his tongue down my throat." He's pulled away from the conversation before he can finish, so we don't actually know if it's true or if he was just fabricating it/pandering to the girls (he was worried that he was putting out "gay vibes"). On the flip-side, there's also a strongly suggested mutual attraction between Stephen and Caitlin, though neither of them ever acts on it.[[note]](For the record, the real Stephen Glass was married to lawyer Julie Hilden from 2014 until her death in 2018)[[/note]]

* BenevolentBoss: Michael Kelly, Glass's first editor. This throws off the audience's expectations when Glass clashes with his second boss, HeroAntagonist Chuck Lane. It's also heavily implied that Glass exploits Kelly's loyalty and trust in his reporters to get away with a lot of his fake stories.

* StrawmanPolitical: Less in the film itself, more exploited by the subject of the film; it's hinted that many of Stephen Glass's fraudulent articles managed to slip through partially because they played to the political biases of his editors. The ''New Republic'' is a notably centre-left-leaning, "old media" stalwart, and among Glass's cooked stories were subject matter like sexually abusive Young Republicans, a right-wing political gathering selling tacky Monica Lewinsky merchandise, and [[NewMediaAreEvil the threat posed by arrogant young hackers]]. The real Chuck Lane admitted to NPR that Glass indeed got away with some of his frauds because his fake stories played to stereotypes of right-wingers.

* ConsummateLiar: Glass's web of fraud is quite intricate and plausible, and he goes to the extent of faking business cards, websites and email addresses to cover up his frauds. Curiously, however, when he's actually challenged in person when someone [[PullTheThread pulls the thread]] on one of his stories, he actually becomes something of a BadLiar. His thread, while intricate and long, also collapses entirely when someone scratches the surface enough times.