Chelsea LaBar
COMM 409
Blog #2
In the movie shattered glass an ex-journalist who was fired was depicted for his loose ethical standards as a journalist. Steven Glass fabricated sources, places, and even entire articles. He lied and would cover up his lies with more lies. He was eventually caught after he published an article about a hacker. Then it was discovered he made the entire article up.
Besides being blatantly dishonest and fabricating his stories, he also would tell others who were new to writing about how they needed to make sure all their facts and sources were accurate. He was going on being a dishonest person, when also would point out how you need to be accurate and honest in articles to others.
I believe he did that because that was how he was able to get successful. He didn’t caught for awhile so he started lying and making things up more and more. He’s throwing away his integrity and the accuracy of his stories by doing this. In the International Law and the Search for Universal Principles in Journalism Ethics, it was said that, “truth telling is a fundamental norm for communication ethics in every culture.” Steven Glass broke that fundamental ideal in everything he did as a journalist. He didn’t own up to what he did until he had no choice, and that was only to his last article; not even to all the others he fabricated.
In the article Philosophical Foundations for Global Journalism Ethics the first ethical principle that is clarified is credibility for a journalist. It’s stated that journalists have an ethical duty to the public to provide accurate news. Without credibility the public’s confidence in journalism and the news itself dissipates. I agree with that because the news that journalists report is what the public relies on to keep informed on issues. Whether it’s on the state of the government or economy, or other events. If the stories published aren’t accurate then the point of journalism is diminished.
Steven Glass failed at this because even though people liked his stories, people had faith in a man who didn’t deserve it. He tried to hide the fact he was being dishonest by pointing out inaccuracies in other journalists’ articles that he worked with, but the end his wrongdoing finally backfired on him.
Steven Glass should have never became a journalist because it seems like he likes to write about things that are exciting. News stories aren’t always the most exciting pieces, and instead of working harder to find more interesting stories he decided to make them up. He should have became a fiction writer instead of a journalist because it doesn’t seem like it was the right career path for him. He didn’t just fabricate one story, he fabricated many. That’s not a sign of someone who just couldn’t find something to write about. That’s a sign that someone wants to get to the top in a hurry and finds regular news stories inadequate and boring in comparison. It seemed he let the appeal of success and fame get to him and affect him as an ethical person.
Resources:
Perkins, M. (2002). International Law and the Search for Universal Principles in Journalism Ethics. Journal Of Mass Media Ethics, 17(3), 193-208.
Ward, S. A. (2005). Philosophical Foundations for Global Journalism Ethics. Journal Of Mass Media Ethics, 20(1), 3-21. doi:10.1207/s15327728jmme2001_2