Part One: Situation Definition
The movie Shattered Glass introduced a whole new side of the media and news that the world is not typically introduced to. The lies, easily believed by the common person, were spun so tight that the minute one lie unraveled the whole real story began to open up. Many issues in the movie brought about an ethical dilemma in my mind. The moment when the Forbes reporters and editor had realized something was not right and began to question Glass the story line began to develop. Glass had created fake names, businesses, and websites for companies that never actually existed. Once he started to lie in order to continue to develop his story he had to continue to develop the lie.
Another scene that was pretty disturbing to me in particularly was at the end of the film when Glass had to identify which stories had been fabricated from his lies. You could see his brain working hard and him feeling anxious in the beginning of the interview and the once the interviewer began to run through the stories he had been published he developed a numb persona and silently shook his head yes to all the stories he had written.
Part Two: Analysis
The whole film is based around following the tale and consequences of lying. Glass became a compulsive liar. He was unable to speak the truth because he had lied about everything previously. He lied to be the best. And for a while he was. He had unearthed the most interesting story, and boosted his likability around the office. Unfortunately for Glass, once a liar, you’re always seen as a liar by those around you. Ann O’Neill, CNN wrote on the State Supreme Court rejecting Glass, “The court found that Glass, who works as a paralegal at a Beverly Hills law firm, lacks “the good moral character” to be a lawyer.” The article refers to Glass as a serial liar. This shows that his actions effect him for years and years and inevitably his whole life.
Stephen Glass faked his career, faked his stories, and faked his life. One of the most frowned upon and unaccepted practices in the field of journalism is plagiarism of others people work and fabrication from your own mind and experiences. That is story telling not news sharing. He expressed no remorse for his wrong doing, “Glass took 11 years to fully apologize and admit to the 42 articles he fabricated” (FishbowlNY, ZAK. 2011).
In class we discussed why one might choose to fabricate a story and deceive the people around him. Dr. Zhong explained that people feel pressured to succeed and impress especially in a competitive field such as journalism. (Zhong, Comm 409, 2015) It is easier to write stories from our own mind. They are thoughts and when you value success over value of a story it is possible and clear that our imagination can truly become a reality.
Glass’s life can not be turned around. He lost friends and family and colleagues. He lost their trust and respect. When you work for a newspaper as much as people focus on your name, when people read the newspaper they look at it as a whole. Rarely do people read the name of the writer. When Glass lied he single handedly destroyed the reputation of a credible, respected newspaper.
Part Three: Conclusion
The ethical dilemmas that surface in this movie are dilemmas that people are faced with every day. Whether to make up one little lie, to copy someone else’s work, to take ideas that are your own and develop them into newsworthy stories that are completely fake.
After watching this movie , it showed me how careful you have to be in the journalism field. I also see how easy it is to take a thought and make it into a story. With characters, locations, names, and details. If you’re going into a career in journalism and you want to make your own stories maybe he should have been an author, not a reporter.
Part 4: References
O’Neill Ann (2014, January 27) Court: Serial Lair… Retrieved February 4, 2015
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/27/justice/stephen-glass-court-ruling/
Zak Elana (2011, December 12) Is There Life After Plariarism… Retreived February 4, 2015
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/is-there-life-after-plagiarism-not-for-stephen-glass/250087
Zhong, B. (2015). Deception and Truth-telling. Retrieved from The Pennsylvania State University Communications 409 News Media Ethics