Stephen Glass combined two serious issues of ethical misconduct during his time at the New Republic. As depicted in the film “Shattered Glass,” he invented people and events to lie to his readers, and when questioned about it, he lied to his editors and colleagues.
Glass was a rising star in journalism. He became one of the most prominent journalists at the New Republic at a very young age. He clearly sought to rise to the top of the field, and to him, it was OK to fabricate stories in order to get there. Admitting his deceptions to his editors and colleagues would have hurt his career (possibly beyond repair), so he chose to continue lying in order to preserve his own success.
Presenting the unadulterated truth to readers is the most important duty of a journalist. When Stephen Glass repeatedly fabricated his stories and was exposed, he not only destroyed his own credibility, but also eroded public faith in the New Republic. According the textbook, The Ethical Journalist, journalists who fabricate stories do so because they “give in to delusions” that people will not discover their misconduct. However, in his 2003 CNN interview, Glass claimed that he repeatedly fabricated stories because he felt a pathological need to lie and embellish, even though he felt badly about doing so. In an article by Chris Josefowicz, professor Charles Ford said that serial liars (like Glass) may find that “words seem to flow out of their mouths without them thinking about it.”
There is some basis in Glass’s own life for the claims he made to CNN. In her 1983 book The Good High School: Portraits of Character and Culture, author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot discussed the culture at Highland Park High School, Glass’s alma mater. She found that the pressure to succeed at the school was so intense that morality was a secondary concern. In the film “Shattered Glass,” the character of Glass commented on this by claiming that he wanted to go to law school because everyone in his old neighborhood of Highland Park became a lawyer or a doctor.
This evidence points to the reason for Glass’s fabrication, a serious breach of journalistic ethics. He was willing to do anything to succeed. Thus, when Adam Penenberg of Forbes and others called the integrity of his stories into question, he went to great (unethical) lengths to preserve his success.
Glass’s second major ethical violation was lying to his editors and colleagues at the New Republic. Although it is sometimes OK for a journalist to engage in deception in order to get the full truth of a story, he or she must always be honest about this practice to his or her editors and colleagues. Not only did Glass refuse to acknowledge his fabrications, he went to such lengths as setting up a fake website for Jukt Micronics and a fake phone number for its CEO, all in order to cover up his journalistic malpractice.
If I were in the position of fabricating stories like Glass, I would admit to my deception after Forbes began to investigate. Many journalists struggle up the ranks of the profession, and it may take them their entire lives to reach the success Glass had at such a young age. Because of this, he owed a certain degree of gratitude to the New Republic for helping him succeed.
After Forbes began digging into his deceptions, he should have known that he would eventually be caught. At that point, if I were him, I would have publicly admitted that I had fabricated stories and revealed how I did it and why. This would still destroy my career, but it would save prestige for the New Republic, as the publication would not have to go through the humiliation of defending a dishonest journalist.
Sources:
Jozefowicz, C. (2003, October 1). Understanding Compulsive Liars. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200310/understanding-compulsive-liars
Matulich, S., & Currie, D. (2009). Handbook of frauds, scams, and swindles: Failures of ethics in leadership (pp. 10-11). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.