Two central issues arise in the film Shattered Glass. Some concerns with the relationship of journalism to business, and the issue of maintaining a trusting readership both permeate the whole of the film.
It would certainly be easy to dismiss Stephen Glass as a liar and a fraud; to be sure, these labels are not unreasonable. But the case of Stephen Glass is much more complicated than a simple dismissal – there is a whole swath of journalism & business ethics for which we have to account.
Firstly, it is important to note that journalism is indeed a business. News organizations would not exist without their respective readerships. In this light, one can see the logic behind Glass’ actions: his fabricated story drew in readers. For a news room, this is a good thing.
Of course this only holds true in the short term. Once news of the fabrication spreads, suddenly Glass’ fabrication starts to deter readers. If a news organization’s purpose is to provide the public with valid and trustworthy information, then Glass clearly violated a central tenet of journalism: an audience must be able to trust its source. With lies as grandiose as the ones Glass created, trust is thrown completely out the window.
If The New Republic had decided to keep Glass on its staff, there’s no telling what kind of hoops they would’ve had to jump through in order to gain the trust of its readers back. A public apology simply isn’t enough. There exists a certain fear associated with trusting a liar; it seems obvious, but the point at large is that a news organization is almost nothing if not for the trust of its readers. Glass systematically disrespected that.
It remains clear, then, that Glass did act unethically. I maintain that the case is more complicated than saying, “He lied and that’s wrong.” While true, this claim draws attention away from arguably an equally important consideration: journalism is a business.
As was discussed above, Glass’ unethical fabrications stem into the realm of business in addition to the realm of abstract moral quandries. To be brief, lying in an article reduces the audience’s trust in that source as a whole, thus reduces trust from the readership and hindering the company’s revenue. For these reasons it seems apparent to me that Glass’ actions mark him as a fabricist, justifying The New Republic‘s decision to let him go.