Shattered Glass Page #13

"A Fine Mess,"

"After the Fall,"

"Peddling Poppy,"

"Cheap Suits,"

"Kicked Out,"

"No Free Launch,"

"Ratted Out,"

"State of Nature,"

"Clutch Situation,"

"All Wet," "Plotters,"

"Praised Be Greenspan,"

"Monica Sells..."

"Hack Heaven."

What the hell did you do

to Steve?!

He called me from his car, hysterical.

I asked him what was wrong,

- he said, "Ask Chuck..."

- I fired him, okay?!

Not suspended, fired.

Because this wasn't

an isolated incident, Caitlin.

He cooked a dozen

of them, maybe more.

We're going to have to go

through them, you and I. All of them.

No, the only one was "Hack Heaven."

He told me that himself!

If he were a stranger to you, if he was

a guy you were doing a piece about,

pretend that guy told you

he'd "only done it once."

Would you take his word for it?

Of course not,

you'd dig and you'd bury him!

And you'd be offended

if anybody told you not to.

Everyone of those pieces

was fact-checked. They...

So was "Hack Heaven"!

You're a good reporter.

You've always been a smart, thorough

reporter. Why can't you be one now?

Because what you're telling me

is impossible, Chuck.

Go upstairs.

- Read them again.

- This is bullshit!

Make sure you go

all the way back,

because half of them ran

when Mike was still here.

That's what this is.

Of course.

What are you going to do, Chuck,

pick us off, one by one?

Everybody that was loyal to Mike,

so you have a staff that belongs to you?

Is that the kind of magazine

you want to run?

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 sh*t.

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 sh*t 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.

Don't you know that?

- Is everyone in the conference room?

Um-hm.

You know what could've prevented

all this, don't you?

No. What?

Pictures.

How could you

make up characters

if everyone you wrote about

had to be photographed?

You know, Stephen...

if you wanted to, you could

do these kids a giant favor.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

You could write something boring

one of these days.

Give them a little less

to live up to.

I suppose I could.

We don't want a bunch

of teenagers getting ulcers, do we?

Good morning.

Hi.

It's funny...

...because I thought I was going

to have to explain all this to you.

Well, what do you think

of this guy?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Steve?

Stephen?

We've read through

all the pieces now,

the entire staff, and we've

come up with a list of those

whose facts and sources

we couldn't verify independently.

I know you can't admit

guilt of any kind,

but I want you to confirm

a few titles for me.

We're not prepared

to confirm or deny anything...

What I'm going to do is this.

I'm going to read to you a list

of suspicious titles, one by one.

If you raise an objection

to a particular title,

we'll fact-check it again in the hope

of removing it from the list.

If you remain silent,

we'll assume that piece is fabricated...

either partially or entirely,

and it will stay on.

Is that clear to everyone?

Okay.

"Hazardous

To Your Mental Health."

That means it stays

on the list of suspicious pieces.

Fabricated pieces.

We understand.

Can we move along?

"Holy Trinity."

"Probable Claus"?

"Don't You Dare."

"Spring Breakdown."

"State Of Nature."

"Rock The Morons."

"After The Fall..."

You have to know

who you're writing for,

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