The movie Shattered Glass made me aware of some major ethical issues happening within the journalism industry. Stephen Glass never fully admitted his role in the fabrication and plagiarism he was a part of and he used other people including his own brother to try and cover his lies. This was completely unacceptable and led to him not being able to continue working at The Republic. It also hindered his ability to get any other jobs as well.
News organizations want to be perceived as credible and often can be overwhelming. Credibility is a huge part of news following and reader percentage. But as found in a study, “some journalists mainly will be responsive to the professional dimension, while others will juggle the professional with the social” (Berkowitz and Limor 783). According to McCaffrey the newsroom is described as, “a macho culture that ‘encouraged toughness and derided ‘softer’ emotions” (McCaffrey 225). Stephen Glass used that toughness as an excuse to fabricate his stories. He wanted to be seen as a God in the newsroom and that vision of himself lead Glass to act with improper ethics. McCaffrey also asserts that, “admitting signs of weakness and getting help can be construed as a stigma” (McCaffrey 226). Glass did not want to admit he was in the wrong, even when he was found out by his editor, Chuck Lane.
I believe that Stephen Glass’s values were very misguided and the way he conducted himself when he was found out by his editor, Chuck Lane was very unprofessional. He continued to lie and lie about so many things during his time working for the New Republic and I thought it was crazy that it took so long for the rest of the staff to find him out.
Although fabrication is wrong I can understand how Glass fell into this trap because it is very attractive to be seen as the person who can write anything and sound good doing it. News writing has so many pressures from competition with other writers to strict deadlines that can be crippling. As the movie progressed, I saw Glass losing more and more of his sanity. He looked like he wasn’t sleeping and he seemed very stressed. He should have looked for help and not been embarrassed he was falling behind because everyone is falling behind sometimes. I am not sure if it was from the lies or the deadlines but it looked like a combination of both. I know that being ethical as a journalist is a choice and that Glass made the wrong choice. I am determined to remain ethical as a journalist for the good of my news organization and my readers.
References
Berkowitz, D., & Limor, Y. (2003). Professional Confidence and Situational Ethics: Assessing the Social-Professional Dialectic in Journalistic Ethics Decisions. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 80(4), 783–801. https://doi-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1177/107769900308000403
Raymond McCaffrey (2019). Stoicism and Courage as Journalistic Values: What Early Journalism Textbooks Taught About Newsroom Ethos, American Journalism, 36(2), 220-241, https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2019.1602443