Official restriction does not exist due to the First Amendment that guaranteed the freedom of speech and press which brought both pro and con: free to express their opinions but whether they are ethical or not (Foreman, 2016, p 5). The movie, “Shattered Glass” thoroughly shows how ethics are important in the field of journalism: a story that narrates the incident of Stephen Glass’s fabrication of his entire career mainly on “Hack Heaven.” Instead of being earnest and honest, Stephen Glass chose to be entertaining and fibber. However, in order to become “genuine” journalist, it is required to become honest and faithful to individual work. Stephen Glass, one who is considered to be one of the talented journalists, is shadowed by lies.
Deceiving is very sensitive process that still the journalism argue on it. According to Don Barlette, even though deceiving “is the only way that journalists can inform the public about important facts – such as the sweeping dysfunction at Lima State Hospital (Foreman, 2016, p 285),” one can be morally wrong if they misunderstand the process. Stephen Glass, the main character of the movie, is one of them. Blinded by his desire, of being entertaining and being attention, he deceived not only the readers but also his co-workers. The scene when Stephen Glass is being revealed by Chuck Lane shows Stephen’s reaction of being truthful of his act, however, instead of regretting of his act, he hides the fact urgently.
Another ethical problem in the movie is shown in the movie for the whole time: fabrication. Fabrication is an unethical act that cannot be accepted in any cases; according to the Foreman, fabrication is the act that “making things up and passing them off as genuine (p 134).” Stephen Glass fabricated majority of his pieces: 27 out of 41 pieces (Foreman, 2016, p 137). As a fact-checker of the New Republics, he knew how the fact-check goes, and it facilitated Stephen Glass to process his fabrication. Alexander Abad Santos (2013), the former writer of for The Wire, states in the Atlantic that he is worried about the weekly journalism crime of fabrication due to the pressure and deadline in whole profession of journalism, and it was a similar reason with Stephen addition to the interest from the co-workers. However, what would people think if they recognize the fact that they were deceived at all time? It would not be easy for them to trust and to read his or her article again.
According to Foreman, SPJ’s code of ethic states that “[E]thical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human being deserving of respect (p 94).” However, he violated this term in the process of fabrication, and due to his action of deceiving, he not only caused harm to the readers and colleagues but also the New Republic, the former workplace of Stephen Glass. In the process of apologize and revision of Stephen Glass’s articles, it caused them to lose credentials from the readers which consequently lead to income of the company, and this makes the company to lose one of the new organization responsibility of making a profit (Foreman, 2016, p 6). However, among his numerous unethical acts, ridiculously Stephen Glass is currently working in law firm after receiving his degree related to the law, which shocked the Andrew Sullivan, the editor of the New Republic and the one who hired Stephen (Bissinger & Ray, 2007).
Similarly before Stephen Glass, there was another incident of fabrication by Patricia Smith, the Pulitzer finalist, of inventing quotes and sources; it consequently caused her to resign from her position. Like Stephen Glass, she also was pressured by the expectations of people that her interest led her to do such deeds. Looking over the incidents of fabrication and plagiarism that occurred by several journalists was mostly due to the pressure and expectations that they had for another pieces. However, this reason is not acceptable as the journalist is the one who passes out the thoughts and words to public, and they must be responsible for the things they do.
In the case of facing such difficulty of what Stephen Glass experienced, it is crucial to admit the wrong deeds of what individual did, and personally, improving one’s attitude is better than ignoring the wrong behavior. I believe Chuck Lane would have give Stephen Glass a chance if he confessed the truth about the piece, “Hack Heaven.” From the scene that Stephen shouting to Chuck after his lie was revealed, the feature of little child has covered him: person who is confused of choosing what is right and wrong. I concluded that if the ethical education is not based before the intelligence, it is like a bottomless pit.
What if Stephen Glass used his brilliant brain to do other works such as writing fictions? It is obvious from the movie that lies consequently reveals even though one tries hard to hide them. Moreover, word and communication are something that people should be always aware of, and this is the main tool that journalists always use to inform people. As the communication is the powerful tool, it is so important of thinking right ethics to use this tool in the right way.
Reference
Abad-Santos, A. (2013, October 30). Fabrication Is This Week’s Crime Against Journalism. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/fabrication-weeks-crime-against-journalism/326534/
Bissinger, B., & Ray, B. (n.d.). Shattered Glass. Communication: Journalism Education Today, 40(3), 27–30. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=17&sid=d9ed2706-6ad5-49f2-9bf4-f59400aafd72@sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=24202090&db=ufh
Foreman, G. (2016). The ethical Journalist: making responsible decisions in the digital age. Hoboken: Wiley.
Kirtz, B. (1998). Troubling times in journalism. Quill, 86(6), 5–14. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=47&sid=d9ed2706-6ad5-49f2-9bf4-f59400aafd72@sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=905976&db=ufh