Shattered Glass is a movie that is based on the true story of Stephen Glass, a young journalist who was the star reporter at The New Republic. Glass became an instant hit with readers and his coworkers; he seemed to write the most entertaining stories. His reputation was soon diminished because he was caught for fabricating the majority of his stories and breaking the ethical rules of journalism.
Glass failed his duty as a journalist through two ethical issues: fabrication and taking advantage of people’s trust. Glass was too caught up in the fame and popularity of his stories that he neglected the true duty of a journalist which is to present factual information to news consumers.
Some journalists are known to push the envelope when it comes to producing stories. They tend to inform the public of events that did not happen without advising them of their fabrication. Many people ask why would journalists go to these extremes of lying and put their careers in danger. According to Jefferson Spurlock, self-esteem and social acceptance are two factors of why journalists fabricate stories (2016). Salz observes that liars “lie to protect themselves, look good, gain financially or socially and avoid punishment” (2004).
Stephen Glass fabricated his stories because he claimed he loved the excitement that people had when he told his fellow reporters of the story he was working on, and he loved the publicity he got when they were published. When Glass was caught, it was soon discovered that he created fake notes, voicemails, emails, websites, and more, to deceive his editor and readers.
Glass is unfortunately not the only journalist who has been caught for fabrication. Once popular journalists such as Janet Cooke, Jayson Blair, and Brian Williams, are known for their journalistic fraud and ruining their reputations at the country’s most notable news organizations. According to Patterson, “numerous reports have explored what happened and how, the questions about why still itch in the imagination” (2006). People wonder “what went wrong in the mind of an energetic and talented, young reporter and why the discovery took so long” (Jones Patterson, Urbanski 2006).
Another ethical issue that Glass brought to the table was betraying others’ trust. He betrayed the public and his fellow reporters. Not only did he abuse his power of trust, but he ruined his reputation in the journalism world because of it. One of the most important things in journalism is letting your readers know where you got your information from. According to Jones Patterson and Urbanski, “entelechy is the essential nature or informing principle of a living thing, its soul, or the condition in which its potential becomes its actuality” (2006). Journalism has consistently defined its entelechy, or in other words, “its mission—in terms of a public service or a public trust” (Jones Patterson, Urbanski 2006). Glass continued to tell lie after lie, which further destroyed his reputation, and broke his trust with almost everyone. Glass has since been unable to practice law after passing the bar exam due to questions about his moral character and trustworthiness.
Stephen Glass has done one of the worst things a journalist can do to ruin their career and reputation. A journalist has a duty to present the public with factual information and accurate sources and he failed to do that through fabrication and lying. I would have resolved this dilemma by immediately admitting I was at fault, the first time that my editor questioned the validity of my story and sources. Instead, Glass continued to create more lies and dug himself into a deeper hole instead of coming forward and apologizing. He continued to try and cover up his tracks instead of telling the truth.
References:
Jones Patterson, M., & Urbanski, S. (2006). What Jayson Blair and Janet Cooke Say about the Press and the Erosion of Public Trust1. Journalism Studies, 7(6), 828–850. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700600980488
Saltz, G. (2004). “Why People Lie and How to Tell if They Are,” http://www.today.com/health/why-people-lie-how-tell-if-they-are-2D80554952.
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://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=125698524&site=ehost-live&scope=site