Situation Definition
The film “Shattered Glass” is based on an talented journalist, Stephen Glass who wrote for the magazine, The New Republic. Soon after his boss, Chuck Lane, found that 21 out of 41 of Glass’ stories were made up or fabricated, Glass was fired. Glass is no longer well-known for his stories, but for his intense fabrication of stories and notes that he created. One of the biggest ethical aspects of journalism is fabrication. In the case of Stephen Glass, his fabricated stories that were published not only were deceiving towards his co-workers and boss, but more importantly to the public. As a journalist, serving the public with the truth and nothing but the truth is one of the most crucial parts in becoming successful, something in which Stephen Glass could not accomplish. Another issue that brought a major ethical message into this movie was the lack of remorse that Stephen Glass showed towards his boss, colleagues and towards the public after the truth started to unravel.
Analysis
Stephen Glass was an accomplished and an intelligent journalist who produced exceptional stories, but once he told one lie, it led to another and eventually he couldn’t control his lying habits. Glass was gaining so much recognition and respect by his co-workers, boss and readers which encouraged him to continue lying. By fabricating his stories to the extent that he was, he thought he was making a name for himself as well as for The New Republic. In the paper “Why Journalists Lie: The Troublesome Times for Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, And Brian Williams,” it states “But why do people lie? Self-esteem and social acceptance are two factors” (Jefferson Spurlock, 2016). By always developing outstanding stories, Glass’ confidence and self-esteem were being boosted. He also knew that his co-workers were beyond impressed with all of the stories he has written which made him feel more respected as a journalist. When working for a magazine as big as The New Republic, for example, it is important that all journalist display stories with the upmost truth and honesty, to not only gain the trust of your boss and co-workers, but to gain the trust with your readers so they can value your work.
The second ethical issue that caught my attention throughout the movie was that when Glass finally got caught by not only his boss and co-workers, but by the public as well, he showed no remorse for his wrong-doings and continued to lie about the notes he gathered for each story. Glass explained in his 60-minute interview that the feeling he got when people enjoyed reading his stories was indescribable. He also explained that he loved seeing people get excited when he would share what his next story was going to be about. The excitement and the hype of his audience kept encouraging him to keep lying and, in my opinion, caused him to disregard any feelings of guilt or remorse about his fabrication. The article Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating explains that inGlass’ 60 Minutesinterview with CBS, he explained “And then I wrote something on my computer and I let it stand. And then it ran in the magazine and I said to myself what I said every time, ‘You must stop…’ But I didn’t…I loved the electricity…” (Ivor Shapiro, 2009). This quote not only shows that he knew what he was doing was wrong, but it also shows that Glass had no self-control and only cared about his success while working for The New Republic.
Conclusion
After watching this movie, I couldn’t help to think or try to understand as to why someone like Stephen Glass felt the need to fabricate or completely make up the majority of his stories, as I would assume people with the correct ethical morals would think as well. Due to Glass fabricating 21 out of the 41 stories, he had several chances to stop himself from lying and eventually getting fired from The New Republic. When Glass got fired, I believe that instead of making everyone around him feel bad for him and blaming his fabrication on feeling as if he was ‘under pressure”, he should have owned up to his wrong-doings and he should have tried to understand where his boss, Chuck Lane, was coming from. Although journalists want nothing more than to have their audience love their stories and want them to keep coming back for more, but adding false information to enhance them is certainly not the way to gain the trust of the audience, whether working for a large magazine such as The New Republic or not.
References
Spurlock, J. (2016, January 1). Why Journalists Lie: The Troublesome Times for Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair and Brian Willaims. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=e6a5ca3c-dbd5-43f2-a7c1-f3b293c10b9d@sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=125698524&db=ufh
Shapiro, I. (2006, January 1). Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=9&sid=e5d06b84-1c83-43a5-b5bd-1827284a5f31@sessionmgr103