Stephen Glass had strayed morals when he was a journalist. Glass not only created fictional situations in order to appear as a great writer and investigator, but he also continued his lies even face-to-face. He knew that his job would be at stake if he were to come clean about all of his fabricated stories, so he continuously kept up a facade to stay in his career.
The American Press Institute says, “We invite the public to report errors and request corrections, and we publicly admit our errors.” This is exactly what happened to Glass when he was caught by a competing newspaper. However, his biggest fault during that situation is that he did not come clean nor did he admit his errors when exposed. Glass created lie after lie to cover his own trail to protect his credibility. He was trying to protect something he did not have.
A writer for The Guardian wrote “Trust in a professional approach requires transparency about standards, methods and motivations – and a culture which prizes accuracy and a positive relationship with the public.” This is just as true today as it was nearly 20 years ago when Glass was exposed. Not only Glass, but The New Republic also lost credibility on his behalf. A person who read some of the stories that Glass wrote, could think that The New Republic could also be pumping out other false stories. The public relations person for that company would have to do a lot of damage control for the rest of the employees as well as the readers.
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has a code of ethics that every journalist should abide by and always remember. There are a list of different rules, but there is one that Stephen Glass did not follow in the slightest. “Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it” (SPJ). Once again, Glass did not take responsibility for his falsehoods that he published. He created scenarios in his head, wrote fake notes, and conjured fictional people to get ahead in his field.
Stephen Glass should be used as an example of who not to be. He should not be seen as a role model for perspective journalists. He used his knowledge of how the fact checking system works and abused it. He lied to his readers and his colleagues. His reckless use of power caused major problems for The New Republic. Massive recalls on certain editions were made. With someone of Glass’ reputation, they would never be able to rebuild their credibility again in that industry.
References:
Greenslade, Roy. “After Leveson: How to Rebuild Trust and Credibility in Journalism.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 5 Mar. 2013, www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/mar/05/leveson-report-lord-justice-leveson.
Silverman, Craig. “How Publishers Should Build Credibility through Transparency.” American Press Institute, 25 Sept. 2014, www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/strategy-studies/transparency-credibility/.
Society of Professional Journalists. “SPJ Code of Ethics – Society of Professional Journalists.” Society of Professional Journalists – Improving and Protecting Journalism since 1909, 6 Sept. 2014, www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp.