Situation Definition
The movie Shattered Glass features a young successful journalist Stephen Glass who was writing for a top news magazine at the time, The New Republic. Glass was often celebrated for his work and his engaging articles that caught the attention of many. The only catch was that Stephen Glass was fabricating the articles he wrote. In fact, he ended up fabricating 27 of his 41 articles that were published at the time. This movie tells the story of Glass and introduces the idea of what it means to be an ethical journalist.
Glass started changing small details in his stories and once those falsities were not picked up by his editors, Glass began to alter more and more of his stories until he constructed entirely fake stories. He knew how to get around fact-checkers at his publication so his stories could be as imaginative and creative as he could be at the time.
Within Shattered Glass, many ethical messages are present. One main ethical issue discussed is that Stephen Glass was willing to lie to his readers, breaching their trust in order to deliver an outstanding story. Another issue includes Glass continually lies within his stories and to his co-workers without any concern of getting caught. Throughout the story he is lying for his own personal and professional gain and in the end his higher-ups have no choice but to fire him from The New Republic.
Analysis
As discussed before, Stephen Glass was working at The New Republic and working his way up as a professional journalist by producing false and fabricated stories. The more false stories he created, the bigger his lies became. These lies and stories included fake names, places, and events. Even when questioned about contact information for certain people within his stories, Glass would lie and provide fake emails and phone numbers, digging himself into an even deeper hole. The amount of time Stephen Glass spent fabricating stories he could have been reporting on real news stories, but he never saw it that way as his falsified and extravagant stories were what made him so popular within both his audience and workplace.
One of the main ethical issues within Shattered Glass is how Glass willingly lies to deliver an outstanding story to his audience even though it ultimately breaks their trust. The article “Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating”, by Ivor Shapiro, explains Glass’ reasoning behind his willingness to lie. “He finds himself increasingly encouraged to write “snarky, glib, superior” copy and learns that what a journalist is looking for is “a good story; accuracy’s only half of it (pp. 181-185)” (Shapiro 2006).
“In other words at the crudest level, Glass and Blair, and all the others, did it because they could. Maybe that’s the overriding message of the cheating culture — and the thing that most urgently needs to change” (Shapiro 2006). Although lying causing the reader to ultimately not trust the author, many journalists lie because they can. Stephen Glass began lying and once he knew he could get away with lying, his lies grew.
As discussed in the article “Why Journalists Lie: The Troublesome Times for Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Brian Williams”, the author Jeffrey Spurlock discusses how people lie. “Lying often gets worse with the passage of time. When you get away with a lie it often impels you to continue your deceptions. Also, liars often find themselves perpetrating more untruths to confer themselves (p. 1)” (Spurlock 2016). This is exactly what Glass did, as he started imputing small lies into stories until eventually he was making up entire stories and coverage of events that never actually happened. Glass himself even stated in an interview with 60 Minutes that it “felt electric” knowing people loved his stories, causing him to chase that feeling of success every time he was coming up with stories.
Spurlock also discusses why people lie within the article, stating “But why do people lie? Self-esteem and social acceptance are two factors. Saltz (2004) observes that liars ‘lie to protect themselves, look good, gain financially or socially and avoid punishment’ (p. 1)” (Spurlock, 2016). The praise and success that Stephen Glass felt not only came from his audience, but from his editors and coworkers at The New Republic as well. These lies helped him professionally advance and become a reputable reporter.
Conclusion
The story of Stephen Glass portrayed in Shattered Glass provides ethical messages that should be learned by all. From learning and watching Stephen Glass’ story unfold, I have learned that if ever in the situation, I would come forward and present the truth and my mistakes immediately instead of continuing to lie. His continuation of lies only got him into more trouble, which led to him having to be fired from The New Republic even though it was his first offense.
I have learned that one singular lie can ruin your whole reputation and career as a journalist, and to always remind myself of that before putting out false facts. Cheaters may always exist in life and especially in the world of reporting, but the risk is not worth the reward. Stephen Glass’ story is the perfect reminder of this.
References
Shapiro, I. (2006). Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating. Canadian Journal of Communication, 31(1). Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/219564333?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=13158
Spurlock, J. (2016). Why Journalists Lie: The Troublesome Times for Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Brian Williams. Et Cetera, 73(1), 71-76. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2028122407?accountid=13158