In high school I viewed “The Shattered Glass” during a Film and Philosophy class that I took. Not only is this film one of my favorite movies, but it helped me understand the process that journalists go through at newspapers for their stories (both the right way and the wrong way).
I’ve noticed through my journalistic career so far that at times you want to just change a quote around to help your story, or add a detail that isn’t necessarily there. Obviously, Stephen Glass took it to the extreme fabricating nearly all of his stories. It almost seemed like it became an addiction to him.
I’ve said it in multiple of my previous blogs for Media Law and Ethics, but journalists need to stay honest with their audience. Now days in the computer age, I have a feeling that getting away with fabrication of stories is just not as easy as the fact checking that Stephen Glass’s stories went through.
What Glass did that was so impressive was that he knew that he had to back up his sources. He made sure that his transparency was seen by creating telephone numbers with fake voice messages and fake email addresses that he would respond with if anyone had a question.
Glass completely understood the ethics of journalism; he just didn’t apply them to his work.