Charles Lane (journalist)

American journalist and editor

Charles Lane

Born| 1961 (age 63–64)
Education| Harvard University (BA)
Yale University (MSL)[1]
Occupation| Journalist
Children| 3

Charles Lane (born 1961) is an American journalist and editor who is the deputy editor at The Free Press and a regular guest on the Fox News Channel. He was the editor of The New Republic from 1997 to 1999 and the deputy opinion editor for The Washington Post from 2000 to 2024. During his tenure at The New Republic, Lane oversaw the work of Stephen Glass, a staff reporter who fabricated portions of all or some of the 41 articles he had written for the magazine,[2] in one of the largest fabrication scandals of contemporary American journalism. After leaving the New Republic, Lane went to work for the Post, where, from 2000 to 2007, he covered the Supreme Court of the United States[3][4] and issues related to the criminal justice system and judicial matters. He has since joined the newspaper's editorial page.

## Early life and education

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Born to a Jewish family[5] in 1961, Lane attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, where he was managing editor of the school newspaper, The Tattler. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies from Harvard University in 1983.[6] As a Knight Fellow, he earned a Master of Studies in Law from Yale Law School in 1997.[7] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[8]

## Career

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Lane is a former foreign correspondent for Newsweek and served briefly as the magazine's Berlin bureau chief. For his coverage in Newsweek of the former Yugoslavia, Lane earned a Citation of Excellence from the Overseas Press Club."[9]

The New Republic's owner, Marty Peretz, appointed Lane as editor in 1997 after firing then-editor Michael Kelly.[10]

In 1998 fabricated reporting by a staff writer, Stephen Glass, was discovered. Lane subsequently fired Glass.[11] The Glass fabrications constituted "the greatest scandal in the magazine's history and marked a decade of waning influence and mounting financial losses," The New York Times would later report.[12] Following the scandal, Peretz praised Lane for his attempts to "put the ship back on its course."[13][14]

When Lane learned in 1999 that Peretz was planning to replace Lane with Peter Beinart, Lane only first found out about it from the media.[15][16][12]

Lane became an editorial writer for The Washington Post. Later, Lane covered the Supreme Court for the Post, before then rejoining the Post's editorial board in 2007. During his second stint on the newspaper's editorial board, Lane wrote primarily about fiscal and economic policy.[8]

Lane has also taught journalism part-time at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and at Princeton University.[7]

In 2008 Lane published The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction, about the Colfax massacre of 1873 in Louisiana of blacks by white militia, including the murder of surrendered prisoners.[citation needed] The book received a favorable review in the New York Times.[17] He also authored the nonfiction book Freedom's Detective, which was published in 2017.

## Popular culture

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The 1998 journalism scandal at The New Republic was the subject of the 2003 film Shattered Glass. Lane was portrayed by actor Peter Sarsgaard.[18] Lane himself appears on the commentary on the DVD, alongside writer and director Billy Ray. After the film was released, Lane was interviewed by Terry Gross in an episode of Fresh Air.[19][20]

In 2003, Glass published a biographical novel entitled The Fabulist about his career of journalistic fabrication. A character named "Robert Underwood" was a significant figure in the novel and interpreted as a fictionalized version of Lane. Reviewing the book for the Post, writer and critic Chris Lehmann wrote that the Underwood character "is meant to induce in-the-know readers to think poorly of Charles Lane." Glass's Lane/Underwood "is a domineering, macho control freak. Glass's idea of meting out punishment to this fictional alter ego of his former boss is to impugn his masculinity; even as his office reeks with 'the hairy-chested smell of a man rising to the occasion.'"[21]

## Personal life

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Lane is married to a German immigrant from the former East Berlin. They have three children.[5]

## Notes

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1. ^ "Charles Lane - The Washington Post". washingtonpost.com. 13 October 2022. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
2. ^ "Stephen Glass is still retracting his fabricated stories — 18 years later". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
3. ^ Lane, Charles. "Full Court Press". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
4. ^ "Washington Post Is Now Chuck Lane's Show". wonkette.com. 16 February 2010. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
5. ^ a b Charles, Charles (30 May 2017). "Why I shed tears this Memorial Day". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
6. ^ "Charles Lane". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
7. ^ a b "Bio - Charles Lane". charlesmarklane.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
8. ^ a b "Charles Lane". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
9. ^ "Crimes of War Project The Book – Contributors". The Crimes of War Project. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
10. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (6 September 1997). "New Republic Editor Dismissed Over Criticism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
11. ^ Penenberg, Adam L. (11 May 1998). "Lies, damn lies and fiction". Forbes. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
12. ^ a b Rodrick, Stephen (24 January 2011). "Martin Peretz Is Not Sorry. About Anything". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
13. ^ Penenberg, Adam L. (11 May 1998). "Lies, damn lies and fiction". Forbes.
14. ^ "The New Republic Was In Trouble Long Before Chris Hughes Bought It". The American Prospect.
15. ^ Elder, Sean (1 December 1999). "The new kid at the New Republic". Salon. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
16. ^ "Lane Steps Down at the New Republic". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
17. ^ Boyle, Kevin (18 May 2008). "White Terrorists". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
18. ^ "Shattered Glass (2003) - Cast - IMDb". IMDb.com. IMDb, Inc. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
19. ^ "Former Editor of 'The New Republic' Charles Lane". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
20. ^ Gonzalez, Ed (20 November 2003). "VIDEODVD Review: Shattered Glass". slantmagazine.com. Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
21. ^ Lehmann, Chris (13 May 2003). "Stephen Glass's Novel, More Than Half Empty". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012.

## External links

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* Marshall Poe, "Interview with Charles Lane", New Books in History, 7 Aug 2008
* Appearances on C-SPAN

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