The Lies beneath the Pen by: Angel Brock
Situation Definition:
Shattered Glass was an excellent movie and something that all journalists and aspiring journalists should see. Throughout the movie there were several messages told through Stephen Glass story, and what happened when he worked for The New Republic. Although many messages stood out, there were two main issues that brought me intense ethical messages. They were trust and fabrication.
According to www.merriam-webster.com, trust is a belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc. Fabrication is to create or make up something, (such as a story), in order to trick people. Throughout the movie, there were a lot of people that trusted Stephen Glass, but by the end of the movie, their trust in him was gone, and that caused an issue. Stephen Glass not only broke people’s trust, but he fabricated his stories while working for The New Republic, and it ultimately cost him his job and a lot of heartache.
Trust was demonstrated in the movie, when the editor Chuck, asked Stephen if he really talked to the people in his story Hack Heaven, and his reply was “yes”. Chuck trusted his comments, until things became more and more suspicious. They found out that Stephen was giving fake voicemails and fake websites as resources. After Chuck identified his suspicion, the truth came out on his Hack Heaven story, and he could no longer trust Stephen. This was a huge problem, because by the end of the movie, everything that people questioned about Stephen’s stories were right. Now their trust in Stephen Glass was broken. It is not a wise decision to break the trust in people, especially in the journalism world. Your co-workers and your audience should always trust and believe in you and your work.
An enormous amount of fabrication was shown throughout the movie, with more than half of the stories Stephen wrote, while working for The New Republic, being fabricated. At the end of his tenure, he was charged for fabricating 27 out of the 41 stories he wrote for them.
Analysis:
From my observation of the movie, Stephen was not truthful and fabricated the majority of his stories, because he wanted to please his audience and wanted everyone to be proud of his work. He was scared to fail, and never wanted anyone to have negative feelings toward him or his writings. I believe this because he would always say, “Are you mad at me?”
It cannot be said that Stephen did not know the rules of journalism, because in the beginning, as he walked through the halls of The New Republic, he was stating his responsibilities as a journalist. Stephen merely wanted to do things his own way, and thought that he could get away with it. Unfortunately, he later received the consequences of his actions. In my opinion, in any case where a journalist feels like they need to fabricate portions of their stories, just to please their audience, then there is a problem. Basically, you face issues of shaming your name, embarrassment, loss of dignity and the loss of your career.
Mike Conway and Jacob Groshrek both did a survey on the data on students (journalism and non-journalism) perceptions on fabrication and plagiarism, and its effects on having a career in journalism. (Conway, M., & Grosek, J. 2008) (p.127). They talked to students that wanted a journalistic career in the future, and to students that did not want journalistic careers. The ones that did want a journalistic career had higher levels of concern when it came to plagiarism and fabrication, and also said there should be harsher penalties. The non- journalistic career students didn’t have a high level of concern when it came to plagiarism and fabrication, and believed that as long as the point was made, it was acceptable. (Conway, M., & Grosek, J. 2008) (p.134)
In the journalism world, trust can tie into your company’s credibility as well. “In the field of communication, research concerning trust in news media has emerged almost entirely under the label of media credibility.” (Kohring, M., & Matthes, J. 2007) (p.232) The audience trust that the information the media is reporting, is correct, and that they are appropriately and accurately aware of what is going on in our society.
Trust and fabrication are two main journalistic values and principle issues in the movie that go hand in hand, because they are both unacceptable in the journalism world, and in the working world. Although these were problems in the movie, they were highlighted to display an example of what can happen, when you do horrible things. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences affect the public they are reporting to. Ultimately, these horrible actions became valuable lessons that we can all take something from.
In my opinion, all people are faced with challenges of trust and honesty on a daily bases. As an aspiring journalist, I always do my research, via asking questions or checking other sources, before I begin to discuss any particular topic. It is also wise to identify the sources of your research, so that the public has as much information necessary to believe in your story.
Conclusion:
Stephen Glass has really put his company and himself in a precarious position. Possible solutions for these problems could be, to make a public apology acknowledging that he was very wrong in making non-factual statements in his stories. He could also ask for forgiveness from the company and the public to clear the shaming of his name. Doing this, he can at least try to gain their trust back, even though he no longer has the job.
The most important lesson that I have learned from this blog, is that lies, no matter how small or how frequent, can lead to trouble. I should never result to fabricating any story, no matter how boring or exciting it may be. Why take the risk of losing your job, your dignity and public respect, just to make your story seem factual or original.
Stephen Glass dilemma brings a resolution of no other than public opinion. He must bring his apologies to the public and humble himself with humility and grace. Many times the public will forgive you, and allow you to start over, before you can forgive yourself. Validation of future writings will be left to the public opinion on belief anyway!
References:
- CONWAY, M., & GROSHEK, J. (2008). Ethics Gaps and Ethics Gains: Differences and Similarities in Mass Communication Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism and Fabrication. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 63(2), 127-145. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6251e20d-2771-4ea6-9f35-572def88362d%40sessionmgr4002&vid=11&hid=4104
- Kohring, M., & Matthes, J. (2007). Trust in News Media. Communication Research, 34(2), 231-252. http://crx.sagepub.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/34/2/231.full.pdf+html
- Merriam, Webster, Www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.merriam-webster.com