Integrity, lying, and Stephen Glass

The editor who finally discovered Glass's deceptions, Charles Lane, has said that one lesson of his story is that character counts in journalism:

"I really think the most important thing you can do, which The New Republic really didn't do when it hired Stephen Glass, is screen people very carefully when they come in for integrity. Make sure you have sort of an honest person coming in the door." (Quoted in "Ethically Challenged" by Lori Robertson, American Journalism Review , March 2001.) [available online at   www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=573 ]

  Assignment : Consider how you would screen candidates for integrity if they were hiring at a publication like The New Republic , and how they might reassure a potential employer of their own integrity if they were the one seeking a job.