Situation Definition:
Shattered Glass is a film based on the real story of Stephen Glass who was a reporter in The New Republic in Washington D.C. He showed a very sweet and reliable personality to his colleagues, and his colleagues deeply trusted him. However, during his time in The New Republic, he had written incredible fake news in order to attack attentions. Stephen Glass had contributed 41 stories to the press, and 27 of them were fabricated. He did not only fabricated stories, but also lied to his colleagues. Glass had made up websites, phone numbers, events, even people and places.
Fabrication was the biggest issue of Stephen Glass, it broke the ethical code of journalist. The second issues of Glass was he deceiving his colleagues and audiences.
Analysis:
In broadcasting field, fabrication was one of the biggest unethical actions that a journalist could take. Fabrication is another way of lying in this case. “But why do people lie? Self-esteem and social acceptance are two factors” (Spurlock, 2016). Stephen Glass joined The New Republic, one of the top presses, and became a major reporter in a relatively young age. He wanted to keep his position and tried to get as much attentions as he could. However, excited news do not happen everyday. He used an unethical way to maintain the freshness. Journalists are “the people who women who disseminate factual information to curious news consumers. They are the first on the scenes covering major events and then informing the public of what they have heard and observed”(Spurlock, 2016). They have the responsibility to tell the truth and being reliable. Once they broke the ethical code, the accountability of them has gone. A similar case was the fabrication of Brian Williams. “Williams admitted he was not aboard a helicopter that was hit and forced down by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq in 2003, as he had been claiming for years. Instead, Williams had been in another helicopter that arrived about an hour later, nowhere near the three helicopters that had been under enemy fire” (Neuts, 2015). Williams was a top journalist, when people revealed he was lying, people felt betrayed. Regain credibility is hard, it could take a long process and still do not an ideal result.
Conclusion:
What Stephen Glass and Brian Williams did were unethical and there were absolutely no excuses for them. It is understandable that journalists want to have some “braking news” in their articles, but it is unacceptable to fabricate any parts of the articles.
It is hard to resolve the dilemma. Nevertheless, if there is an entrance exam for journalists contains questions about ethical code of broadcasting arena or personal ethic standards, the rate of fake news may declines.
Citation:
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. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=125698524&site=ehost-live&scope=site
NEUTS, D. (2015). Brian Williams’ ehtical lapse hurts us all. Quill, 103(2), 3. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=102005529&site=ehost-live&scope=site