Situation Definition
The 2003 film “Shattered Glass”, which is based on the real life scandal of Stephen Glass, a young journalist at the New Republic who, at the peak of his career, was charged with fabrication and plagiarism onf 27 of the 41 stories he wrote for the publication. Glass was known and praised for his exciting stories that detailed extravagant events with extravagant characters. His charismatic personality drew admiracion from not only his readers, but also his colleagues and bosses. This facade wasn’t kept up for too long, Glass’s piece entitled “Hack Heaven”, a story about a hacker’s convention that was proven to be completely made up. This discovery led to a deeper investigation into his lies across years of work.
This film portrayed Stephen Glass in such a way that made him seem vulnerable. He had everyone at the New Republic fooled -gaining their trust and making them laugh for years. When Forbes first accused the New Republic of fabricating facts, Glass victimized himself to such an extreme, he had all his colleagues fooled. This act of deception was inevitably going to be revealed after producing so many lies.
Another thing that was revealed through this scandal was fabrication. Glass made up fake events and people to enhance his stories and made it seem valid by backing them up with his notes. These notes contained faked phone numbers, emails,and quotes that he claimed to be fact.
Analysis
The way that Glass had everyone fooled and feeling bad for him was very mind boggling. No matter the situation, he could get himself out of any trouble by victimizing himself. The film showed him always replying to any accusation or threat with, “are you mad at me?” This always made him look vulnerable and upset. This facade he had is what kept him safe because he knew his colleagues and bosses adored him. “Friends and colleagues describe
Glass as an extraordinarily affable but insecure person who needs constant affirmation.” Dowd (1998).
Deceiving the people you work so closely with is hard to do when half of the work you produced was made up. It must have been hard for Glass to keep making up lies to cover up other lies.
His second ethical wrongdoing was fabrication. Fabrication is making up things and presenting them as real. Glass fabricated his characters, events and locations. He got away with this so easily because he showed everyone his notes, which were filled with numbers and quotes from his “sources”. All of this flew under the radar because Glass himself was The New Republic’s fact checker. He claimed all the facts were valid even though they were not. “Stephen Glass proved himself a more than gifted writer and brilliant reporter at several leading magazines before The New Republic retracted 27 of Glass’ 41 pieces because of fabrication and plagiarism”Sharpiro (2006).
More than half of his pieces were made up and when his boss and colleagues found out they all felt betrayed. This is where fabrication and deception go hand in hand because if you keep making things up and claiming them to be fact, you deceive those you work with and it’s bound to blow up in your face.
Conclusion
Being a journalist is all about being transparent and concise. You are reporting things to the public, who are taking what you write as fact. It’s part of the job to be honest. It’s also important to be truthful and honest to those you work for and with. Sharpiro explained how he believes that Glass was so obsessed with the fame and admiration he was getting that it might have clouded his judgement. He compares the Glass scandal to “”the reaping of big rewards” that come with big success in the “star system” that divides highly paid media elites from poorly paid ordinary achievers.” Shapiro (2006)
I understand the amount of pressure there is to be the best but I do not believe it should lead you to deception and fabrication. The decision to suspend Glass was the correct thing to do along with a statement from the magazine apologizing to their readers for not publishing good, honest journalism. Glass’ reputation took a beating and rightfully so. There is no room for poor work ethic in the journalistic world.
I think something that can be learned from Glass is that honest work is the best work. No matter how great you look, if it’s not true, it’s bound to crash and burn eventually. Glass took the easy route and made up stories for his own personal gain and didn’t even consider the reputation of The New Republic. He was quite selfish.
If I found myself in this situation, I would come clean after the first red flag was thrown. Owning up to something is more respectable than getting caught and denying it to the end.
References
DOWD, A. R. The Great Pretender. Columbia Journalism Review, [s. l.], v. 37, n. 2, p. 14–15, 1998. Disponível em: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=800258&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Acesso em: 13 fev. 2020.
SHAPIRO, I. Why They Lie: Probing the Explanations for Journalistic Cheating. Canadian Journal of Communication, [s. l.], v. 31, n. 1, p. 261–266, 2006. DOI 10.22230/cjc.2006v31n1a1595. Disponível em: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=20591083&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Acesso em: 13 fev. 2020.