Part 1: Situation Definition
The film Shattered Glass is the true story of American journalist Stephen Glass; who rose to prominence in 1998 when it was revealed that 27 of the 41 articles he wrote for The New Republic newspaper were found to be fictitious. This revelation brought to light several ethical issues that Glass had violated. In 1909, The Society of Professional Journalists created a code of ethics designed to highlight some of the most important qualities a journalist must follow. One of the many articles of this code that Stephen Glass violated is the article entitled “seek truth and report it.” Not only did Stephen Glass not do this, he often went out of his way to not tell the truth. This is a major issue as communications professionals are tasked with the highest degree of transparency (SPJ, 2014). The code goes on to state that journalists also hold the responsibility for the accuracy of their information, which Glass also broke after repeatedly lying to colleagues. In a 2003 interview with 60 minutes, Glass admits to purposely fabricating stories in order to gain notoriety, “I wanted every story to a homerun” Glass said (Leung, 2003).
Another ethical concern raised by Glass’ behavior is the article in the SPJ’s code entitled “be accountable and transparent.” While Glass’ dishonesty to his readers may have been bad, his actions toward his coworkers were even worse. Glass’ repeatedly lied in order to make himself not look bad. The showed an overall lack of accountability and respect for others and journalism at large. In my opinion, the lack of honesty Glass showed toward his coworkers had more to do with his career being destroyed than the fabricated articles. This showed that not only was Glass a flawed human, but that he was an inherently dishonest human. I think Glass’ overall lack of honesty after being caught is what led him to be blackballed by the journalism world.
Part 2: Analysis
When looking at the ethical concerns that Glass’ actions raise it is important to understand Glass’ motivations at the time. Glass was enamored with the idea of people being wowed by his stories which led him to act extremely unethically in order to right a great story. The way in which Glass purposely lied to the readers of The New Republic breaks the SPJ’s article under seeking truth. This lapse in judgement not only would hurt the credibility of Glass but the credibility of The New Public by extension. If a person who fabricated a majority of their stories at the paper could get a job their who else could?
The second ethical issue Glass’ violated is the article on being transparent about your work. Not only did Stephen Glass not uphold the idea of transparency, but he actively worked against it. After questions arose about the legitimacy of Glass’ article “hack heaven” Glass immediately went into defense mode creating a web of lies that would go on to destroy his career. Glass’ not only faked details of the story but also quotes from sources. When the legitimacy of these details came into question Glass dug a deeper hole by creating fake personas and websites for the people, he supposedly worked with to create the story. The actions of Stephen Glass are a great example of a serious violation of ethical standards for journalism.
If I had been in the same position that Stephen Glass was in, I would like to think I would confess to my wrongdoing immediately. I think a lot of the damage Glass did to himself came after he began to get defensive and make further lies. I think it’s important to realize that dishonesty often snowballs and makes larger problems than one could ever imagine. I think if Glass had admitted to the allegations immediately, he would have gotten away far easier than he did.
Part 3: Conclusion
After analyzing all of the facts I think it’s important for journalists to be familiar with codes of ethics such as the Society of Professional Journalists code. This is because there are certain rules and regulations that all journalists are held to in order to keep them out of trouble. I think one of Stephen Glass’ biggest issues was his need to leave his readers awestruck which led to his dishonesty. I think Glass’ need to fictionalize real events would have been better served if he was a fictional writer rather than a journalist. I think if you are not willing to submit to the rules set forth by the journalistic world you should not be a journalist. Overall, I feel Glass’ story is important for young journalists to understand the immense responsibility they have to their readers.
Part 4: References
Leung, R. (2003, July 5). Stephen Glass: I Lied for Esteem. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-glass-i-lied-for-esteem-07-05-2003/
SPJ Code of Ethics. (2014, June 9). Retrieved from https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp