Shattered Glass is a must watch movie in developing and understanding personal journalistic ethics. Stephen Glass, former journalist for The New Republic, fooled America by writing many articles with false storylines, made up facts and people. By earning the trust and support of his colleagues, bosses and readership, Glass was able to get away with his nonsense during his time with the magazine. When Glass was caught, however, he tried to lie his way out of his lies before he admitted to what he had fully done.
Glass had a choice to lie or to not lie. Under pressure to perform at a high level, Glass felt that he need to scheme his way to the top, even if it meant deceiving the people that believed in him the most. Every morning he woke up and went to work knowing that he was about to scam his coworkers and his country. Glass blatantly ignored the valuable ethical traits that every journalist should value: truth and integrity.
A journalist is nothing if they are not truthful. In the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, the first section is titled “Seek Truth and Report It” (SPJ, 2014). This section is structured to help journalists understand how to avoid misinformation or falsehoods in their story. Sometimes, though, mistakes do happen and things get messed up. Fact checkers and editors are in place to catch these common mishaps. However, Glass was purposeful in his fabrication and thought covering his trails could make it through the fact-checking process. Glass’ actions showed more meticulous work in trying to write some captivating and enticing fiction then something that constitutes any accurate storyline or meaningful reporting.
Robert Leger published an article in Quill, a magazine for the Society of Professional Journalists, in 2003 that addressed this very section within the SPJ Code of Ethics. Titled “Truth isn’t only valuable in stories”, Leger said it is crucial for a journalist to have consistent sources they can rely on and an audience that trusts them, otherwise the readership is lost (Leger, 2003). Consistent, real sources reconstitutes truthful reporting. They can be vetted and they bring about a sense of trust between a journalist and a readership. The New Republic had the audience, being the magazine of Air Force One, and Glass’ actions risked all the readers and the accomplishments the magazine adorned by fabricating ‘credible’ sources that people trusted were right.
“It’s easier to sleep at night knowing we’re doing the honorable thing. And when we wake up in the morning, ethical conduct helps assure we’ll have a job to go to.” (Leger, 2003)
Someone like Glass who managed to build trust among his coworkers and readership can write a story that puts everyone on the edge of their seat. Maybe the stories Glass produced were charming, but the truth would have ensured a lifelong career. Being a truthful reporter could have brought him to the Pulitzer Prize some day, or maybe just a more lucrative job. Whatever pinnacle of success Glass was searching for was more achievable in the long run had he followed some ethical course of action but instead he can never put his name on another job application in the journalism industry. Glass avoided the truth because he wanted the success, he wanted the glowing reviews and the fame. He did not think about the public disservice, he only thought about the personal benefit.
Integrity is important whether you are a journalist or a janitor. If you do not have integrity, then you can not produce work that others would find valuable. It is obvious that Glass did not possess the level of integrity a reporter must have in order to do honest work. The most obvious example is how he lied to his friends when they loyally stood by his side, even as his web of lies started to unfold in front of them. He looked them each in the eyes as he pitched his stories, wrote his stories and submitted his stories, standing behind his lies as they unquestionable stood behind him, making them victims of the deception too.
A person who prioritizes integrity does not lie, cheat or manipulate to get to the top. In Lewis Diuguid’s “Harness the best that our diversity has to offer”, he references that the unethical behavior and lack of integrity makes victims out of readers (Diuguid, 2017). Those who depend on the transparent reporting of journalists believe that our work reflects what it is trying to tell. To make a fool out of their readers is making a fool the journalist, themselves.
“So when we don’t do our jobs right; when we are unethical; when we lack integrity… we hurt our country and all of the people in it.” (Diuguid, 2017).
Truth and integrity are avoidable, if you like being sneaking and do not want a fulfilling career or life. Say I did lie like Glass, I would not try to cover my tracks with more lies. The truth is inevitable, no matter how long it takes for it to come out. The way I try to fix my mistakes and resolve dilemmas is trying to put myself on the right side of my mistakes. What I mean is when I realize I have wronged others, I make sure that I confront the situation even if it had not been discovered by those I have wronged.
But when you do not get ahead of your lies and the truth is revealed, your integrity is gone. For me, integrity is everything. I practice transparency so that others can see that my morals and motives are genuine and sincere. A person who does not prioritize their own integrity is self-serving and they could care less about how their actions can have negative effects on others. Integrity, although a key player in professional success, is a characteristic that guides us through life. Our integrity is evident through every move we make, hence why people choose to be in and not be in our lives. No one likes a liar or a cheater, so if you want meaningful relationships you must prioritize your integrity.
Glass found himself so deep into his deception that he felt that lying was the only way out. Telling the truth was not going to keep his job or even his friendships, however, he could have maintain some semblance of his integrity. His trustworthiness as a truthful journalist would be tarnished for years, but he had a chance to redeem a small part of integrity for his own sake. His scheme ran so deep he could not even confront his mistakes anymore. If Glass reaffirmed anything for me, it was that the truth and my integrity are more important than any spout of fame or glory. No 600-word article on the sixth page of a nationwide magazine is as important as my own personal perception of how I chose to act and the perception of myself I chose to show the world.
References:
Diuguid, Lewis. (2017). “Harness the best that our diversity has to offer.” Neiman Reports, 71(1), 2-3. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login.
Leger, Robert. (2003). “Truth isn’t only valuable in stories”. Quill, 91(3), 4.
Society of Professional Journalists. (2014, September 6). “Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics”. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp.