Muckraking is often used to describe the work of journalists. By definition muckrakers are people who rake the muck (or falsities) away and expose the truth. When journalists like Stephen Glass are the creators of the ‘muck’ there are multiple breaches of ethical conduct.
Stephen Glass wrote many inaccurate stories for The New Republic, the magazine company that employed him. Glass admitted to embellishing some stories by creating characters who added just the right quote to his story. During his confession he also admitted to making up some stories completely from scratch. Fiction writing is an amazing talent, but fiction writing has its proper place. Its place was not in the journalistic pages of The New Republic.
As if tricking the public wasn’t enough, Glass took it a step further. When his employers became suspicious of his stories, Glass lied to them too. Glass falsified documents to corroborate his stories. He created a fake website and false phone numbers to try and humanize the fictional people he had created. Patricia Smith, another journalist guilty of fabrication, explained it clearly saying, “I could give them names, even occupations, but I couldn’t give them … a heartbeat” (Foreman, 2010, p. 128).
Stephen Glass loved the attention he got from the ‘home run’ stories he wrote. Glass “long[ed] to be admired and loved; he cheat[ed] to avoid rejection” (Shapiro, 2006, p. 262). When a journalist is producing libelous information for fame they are acting unethically.
In order to make sure journalists are not creating phony stories a company should routinely check the facts of their reporters before publishing. In the case of Stephen Glass, The New Republic was checking facts but not quickly or routinely enough. Had The New Republic been more thorough in checking Glasses sources earlier on, chances are they would have published less libelous information. A journalist’s duty is to work for the people, and “no matter which duties conflict with this [the truth], the truth must come first as the ultimate right for the public to be informed” (Conley, 2007, p. 5).
It was unethical of Stephen Glass to falsify documents because he manipulated his employer therefore placing the magazine in a false light. Glass may have fabricated because he was under intense scrutiny at work, Glass “fails to live up to what he promised, and then faces pressure from editors to provide more details” (Shapiro, 2006, p. 262). Accountability to his employer is an ethical issue at play here.
It is essential that a work place encourage their employees to write the best story possible within the bounds of the truth. Publishers must have a no tolerance policy for anything that strays from the truth. In an analysis of why journalists are compelled to lie to their employers the Canadian Journal of Communication sights a conclusion by Patterson and Urbanski, “problems with fact arise when newspapers’ managers lose sight of their fundamental mission” (Shapiro, 2006, p. 262).
The New Republic made the right choice to fire Stephen Glass and print an apology. I would have come to the same conclusion based on the facts. The publishing company must take responsibility for the actions of their employees. As disheartening as it is, I also believe journalist shouldn’t be assumed innocent until proven guilty. Journalists should be held accountable by various people at all stages of the process.
It is important to learn from every situation. In this situation the publisher should analyze their fact checking procedures and find out how the breach of truth occurred. As stated by the Canadian Journal of Communications, “The New Republics system had loopholes: the checkers did not insist on talking to people whom glass had allegedly interviewed. And, as Glass said in the 60 minutes interview, fabricated people don’t write in to complain” (Shapiro, 2006, p. 266). It is important that publishers stay one step ahead of the plagiarists.
In order to reduce fraud I would hire people who fabricated information in the past to be fact-checkers. They would be scrupulous and also know the mindset of the plagiarist. With that in mind, I would not under any circumstance, let them be the final check before publishing. Their ethics have a bad track record in the past.
References
Conley, D. (2007). Media Law and Ethics: Intersection of The New York Times Code of Ethics and Cases. National Communication Association, 1-36.
Foreman, Gene. “Stolen Words, Invented Facts…Or Worse.” The ethical journalist: making responsible decisions in the pursuit of news. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 127-128. Print.
Shapiro, I. (2006). Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating.Canadian Journal of Communication, 31, 261-266.