The story of Stephen Glass has a plethora of ethical issues. The main two are the issues of deceiving your peers, and deceiving your audience. Ethics in journalism are necessary because journalists are expected to deliver valid information and Glass took advantage of the trust of his co-workers and readers.
The world of journalism would be nothing but fiction if there was not a basis of ethics and validity. While Glass was a talented writer, he stopped being a journalist when he told his first lie because he did not adhere to the ethical standards of journalism.
In the realm of why Glass did what he did, I think he was desperate for success and became addicted to the high he got from writing successful stories.
In an article titled, “Why Journalists Lie: The Troublesome Times for Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair and Brian Williams,” author Jefferson Spurlock writes, “He told Steve Kroft (2003) of CBS’s 60 Minutes, ‘I loved the electricity of people liking my stories. I loved going to story conference meetings and telling people what my story was going to be, and seeing the room excited. I wanted every story to be a home run’ (p. 1)” (71).
He loved the high he got from telling lies, and was willing to defy his ethical responsibility to achieve it. Another reason he did it was because it was easy. His colleagues trusted him, and when the stories are false, there is no one to deny the facts.
In another article titled, “Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating,” author Ivor Shapiro writes, “In other words, at the crudest level, Glass, and Blair, and all the others, did it because they could” (266).
Glass defies many of the ethical standards of journalism, with specific focus on “seek the truth and report it” as well as “be accountable and transparent.” Perhaps the most important value a journalist should adhere to is to seek the truth and report it. It is a journalist’s responsibility to keep the public informed of accurate and truthful news.
If I were to find myself in a situation such as the one Glass was in, from the start I would reevaluate my responsibilities as a journalist. I would constantly remind myself of the journalist’s code of ethics and act accordingly. It is vital in the world of journalism to be honest, and that is something I would think of over and over again if fabrication ever came to my mind.
The consequences Glass faced were severe, but necessary. If I were Glass, I would have accepted my punishment and dealt with the personal guilt in my own way. There is no excuse for lying in general, but especially not in the world of journalism.
Works Cited
Shapiro, I. (2006). Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating. Canadian Journal Of Communication, 31(1), 261-266.
SPURLOCK, J. (2016). WHY JOURNALISTS LIE: THE TROUBLESOME TIMES FOR JANET COOKE, STEPHEN GLASS, JAYSON BLAIR, AND BRIAN WILLIAMS. ETC: A Review Of General Semantics, 73(1), 71-76.