The Dangers of Dishonesty, According to "Shattered Glass"
Journalism is guided by a system of ethics, derived from the principles of truth, justice, freedom, humaneness, and individual responsibility. According to Edmund Lambeth's Committed Journalism, journalists are expected to adhere to factual accuracy in order to establish the authenticity of a report to their viewers and readership. Journalists are also expected to remain unbiased, by sorting through and deciding which bits of information are relevant, being straightforward and honest with their constituents. Above all else, journalists are expected to continue fighting for their freedom and their right to keep their constituents informed by avoiding conflicts of interest and biases, among many other things.
The consequences of not adhering to journalism’s code of ethics, then, goes far beyond ruining a writer’s career: it affects its readership and the informants that a journalist relies on. Tim Harrower's “Seven Deadly Sins”, for one, explores the various ways in which a journalist could violate a journalist’s code of ethics and the various repercussions that these violations could have on a reader or on the informants involved in a story. Reporters have to remain unbiased: reporting “the truth and nothing but the truth” instead of forwarding their own interests to remain credible. Fabrication and plagiarism have no place in journalism, as it involves fictionalizing and even stealing other people’s ideas in order to forward your story.
Billy Ray’s 2003 film, Shattered Glass, explores the various ways in which a journalist could violate their own code of ethics, and the repercussions it has on their career and their readership. The film follows the story of Stephen Glass, a journalist from The New Republic who was later exposed for writing fabricated stories, or stories that contained fabricated information and other elements. As seen in the film’s premise, Shattered Glass brings the issue of manufacturing narratives or various elements in order to produce a story that will attract a strong readership.
The film is centered around Glass’ 1998 story, “Hack Heaven”. In a sense, the film delves into the possible need for journalists to turn to fabricating stories or details in order to attract readership: the magazine’s editors eventually decided to publish the story on the grounds that it was entertaining enough to attract a stronger readership. The film also delves into the resources that journalists may utilize in order to build up a story, as seen in the elements that Glass fabricated in order to make himself seem credible: creating a fake website, citing locations whose operating hours did not match with the details noted in the story, and utilizing his brother as a fake contact person.
Building up on the unveiling of Glass’ fake story, Shattered Glass explores the various methods that journalists employ in order to verify the validity of a story and its sources. The film portrayed Adam Penenberg and Chuck Lanes’s methods of verifying Glass’ story. Penenberg, for one, tries and fails to find information that support Glass’ story. Alongside another Forbes writer, they discover that the people Glass cites are not real: the teenage hacker Ian Restil, and Jukt Micronics CEO George Sims.
Lane, meanwhile, delves into the “sources” that Glass utilized for the story: he discovers that the website for Jukt Micronics was hastily made and “amateurish” and the contact details mentioned on the site are unreachable. When Lane visits the locations that Glass cites in the story, he discovers that the convention center was not open on the date Glass indicated in his report, and the restaurant the characters had dinner at closed in the early afternoon.
Beyond the exploration of the various effects of violating the code of ethics, the film also explores the various repercussions that fabricating a story could have on a journalist’s career. After the discovery of Glass’ various fabrications in “Hack Heaven” and his subsequent publications, Glass loses his job. The editors in charge were also affected, in that their credibility and failure to fact-check allowed Glass’ fraudulent stories to be published in the first place.
At the end of it all, the film serves as a cautionary tale for aspiring and current journalists. Shattered Glass explores the ways in which sources can be easily manufactured and how these can slip through the cracks-- and how these falsified sources can be double-checked and verified. Through the exploration of Stephen Glass’ rise and fall as a journalist, the film reminds journalists and readers alike to remain critical and vigilant of the information that they consume.
The consequences of not adhering to journalism’s code of ethics, then, goes far beyond ruining a writer’s career: it affects its readership and the informants that a journalist relies on. Tim Harrower's “Seven Deadly Sins”, for one, explores the various ways in which a journalist could violate a journalist’s code of ethics and the various repercussions that these violations could have on a reader or on the informants involved in a story. Reporters have to remain unbiased: reporting “the truth and nothing but the truth” instead of forwarding their own interests to remain credible. Fabrication and plagiarism have no place in journalism, as it involves fictionalizing and even stealing other people’s ideas in order to forward your story.
Billy Ray’s 2003 film, Shattered Glass, explores the various ways in which a journalist could violate their own code of ethics, and the repercussions it has on their career and their readership. The film follows the story of Stephen Glass, a journalist from The New Republic who was later exposed for writing fabricated stories, or stories that contained fabricated information and other elements. As seen in the film’s premise, Shattered Glass brings the issue of manufacturing narratives or various elements in order to produce a story that will attract a strong readership.
The film is centered around Glass’ 1998 story, “Hack Heaven”. In a sense, the film delves into the possible need for journalists to turn to fabricating stories or details in order to attract readership: the magazine’s editors eventually decided to publish the story on the grounds that it was entertaining enough to attract a stronger readership. The film also delves into the resources that journalists may utilize in order to build up a story, as seen in the elements that Glass fabricated in order to make himself seem credible: creating a fake website, citing locations whose operating hours did not match with the details noted in the story, and utilizing his brother as a fake contact person.
Building up on the unveiling of Glass’ fake story, Shattered Glass explores the various methods that journalists employ in order to verify the validity of a story and its sources. The film portrayed Adam Penenberg and Chuck Lanes’s methods of verifying Glass’ story. Penenberg, for one, tries and fails to find information that support Glass’ story. Alongside another Forbes writer, they discover that the people Glass cites are not real: the teenage hacker Ian Restil, and Jukt Micronics CEO George Sims.
Lane, meanwhile, delves into the “sources” that Glass utilized for the story: he discovers that the website for Jukt Micronics was hastily made and “amateurish” and the contact details mentioned on the site are unreachable. When Lane visits the locations that Glass cites in the story, he discovers that the convention center was not open on the date Glass indicated in his report, and the restaurant the characters had dinner at closed in the early afternoon.
Beyond the exploration of the various effects of violating the code of ethics, the film also explores the various repercussions that fabricating a story could have on a journalist’s career. After the discovery of Glass’ various fabrications in “Hack Heaven” and his subsequent publications, Glass loses his job. The editors in charge were also affected, in that their credibility and failure to fact-check allowed Glass’ fraudulent stories to be published in the first place.
At the end of it all, the film serves as a cautionary tale for aspiring and current journalists. Shattered Glass explores the ways in which sources can be easily manufactured and how these can slip through the cracks-- and how these falsified sources can be double-checked and verified. Through the exploration of Stephen Glass’ rise and fall as a journalist, the film reminds journalists and readers alike to remain critical and vigilant of the information that they consume.
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