Situation Definition
Steven Glass got himself involved in many journalistic unethical problems throughout his time working as a journalist. His story is a good example of when one lie turns into many lies that are hard to keep up with. He was in over his head with all the lies he was telling to cover up what he had done.
Glass is portrayed in the movie as a very sketchy, conceited journalist who plays lots of games, thinking he can get away with anything. He wanted a great story, and when he couldn’t find one, he made one up. This is a very unethical thing to do for journalists because everything you write is supposed to be factual. Producers, including Chuck Lane expect that the stories are true until they have further suspicion. When chuck received outside suspicion he decided to investigate, hoping to not find anything unethical. He didn’t want to believe it but Glass’s stories did not match up. He even went as far as to call the people Glass told him about, later to find out that it was Glass’s friend impersonating a false name.
An unethical message portrayed is when Glass is caught in a lie and continues to alter the story to make sense. Chuck Lane is suspicious of Glass’s stories so he decided to investigate. He went to the building that Glass said a meeting was held in and found out that it was impossible for that to be true. Chuck confronted Glass about this and Glass changed his story claiming that he went to dinner at a restaurant. Again, after this, Chuck further investigated, finding it to be another lie.
Analysis
I believe Steven Glass did what he did because he wanted to have a great story. If I somehow was caught up in a lie, I think the best thing to do is to admit to it as soon as possible, not make it even worse. Some of the ethical issues at stake are betrayal, manipulation, and deception.
In the world of journalism, ethics are taken very seriously. If you are spreading the word for others to hear, it needs to be the truth.
You will loose your credibility and there is no way to take it back if you are caught being unethical.
Lynn Walsh talked about how recently there has been a major loss in trust towards journalists, partially because of writers such as Steven Glass. If more and more writers continue to publish fake news, journalism will loose its credibility. Walsh says “If there is any hope of rebuilding trust, we as journalists must work together to rebuild relationships with the communities we serve”. Steve glass did not help her case.
Stephan Ward states that many journalists may not try to be ethical and this can turn into many problems. He says there is a sense of global ethics that people see as common sense. “Some of these journalists may not call what they do “global journalism ethics.” But their work does embody the values and aims of global ethics.” Journalists may or my not choose to follow this common sense, Steve Glass did not.
Conclusion
In situations like these, the best way to end it is to be honest. Steve Glass did not resort to honesty, instead he continued his lies further and further until he was caught. If glass was honest about his mistake right away, maybe he would have been forgiven.
I have learned that once you start a lie, its hard to get out of it without making yourself look bad. It’s best for no journalist to lie in the first place and not get caught in that sort of situation. It is hard to re grain credibility and trust after so many unethical rules have been broken.
Reference Page
WARD, S. (March 1 2016) THE RISE OF GLOBAL MEDIA ETHICS. Ebscohost, p. 25. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=08d57b9c-07b2-4bde-881e-be5bd1635fce%40sessionmgr103