Ethics in the MOVIES!

Ever seen the movie Shattered Glass with Hayden Christensen? It follows the life of Stephen Glass who worked for The New Republic magazine...

“Broken Glass”
It’s 1998: Stressed out, underpaid and overworked journalists work hard to be the first to report breaking stories for The New Republic magazine. The pressure is on to find the most interesting stories and scandals at this political magazine. Few do, but one journalist seems to find the quirkiest, most intriguing stories that no other magazine or journalist has covered. It almost sounds too good to be true. In fact, 25-year-old Associate Editor Stephen Glass fabricated 25 of 41 stories during his time at The New Republic, and his story is portrayed in the 2003 blockbuster Shattered Glass. This film not only depicts the true nature and story of Glass’s deceit, but it also calls attention to a number of ethical dilemmas that lead to the investigation of Glass’s reporting and following pieces. In addition to exposing Glass, the film ultimately warned viewers to be critical of the media.
The New Republic had been a trusted news source since 1914, and its staff in 1998 consisted of 15 young, eager, hardworking journalist (Shattered Glass, 2003). The film begins with a clip of Stephen Glass, played by Hayden Christensen, gloating while walking through a crowd saying, “Your work can actually influence public policy. It’s an amazing privilege and huge responsibility” (Shattered Glass, 2003). He continues to give a public speech to a high school classroom full of young journalism students, “I never encourage anything sneaky in pursuit of a story, such as a phony identity… it’s important to get every quote and every detail” (Shattered Glass, 2003). Glass followed half of his own advice because each one of his fabricated stories were so detailed that the average person would not question their validity. Glass was challenged by Journalist Adam Penenberg, who worked for Forbes Online, about one story in specific titled “Hack Heaven.” Penenberg intended to write a follow up in response to Glass’s completely made up article about a 15-year-old computer hacker who was hired as software security by a company called “Jukt Micronics” whose system he had hacked into (www.forbes.com). Penenberg could not confirm any of Glass’s sources which is where the first ethical dilemma arose. Glass had fabricated stories prior to this particular article under Editor Michael Kelly, however with the expulsion of Kelly came new Editor Charles Lane who uncovered Glass’s lies (www.cbsnews.com).
Should editors have complete trust in the integrity of their writers? And secondly, can a story be valid solely based on the notes of the journalist? Glass knew that as long as his notes matched the specifics of his story he could pass a basic fact check at his magazine. But the legitimacy of “Hack Heaven” proved that more fact checking was necessary, and as Editor Charles Lane unraveled Glass’s lies another ethical question came about. Lane called the editor of Forbes Online and explained that revealing Glass and his fabricated story would ruin his [Glass] career and morale. Should Lane’s loyalties be to his news magazine, or to care about the potential damage this could cause to Glass? Freelance Photojournalist Amber Mosby, 24, believes that editors should have trust in their writers but at the same time listen to their gut feeling when a reporter consistently comes back with extraordinary stories. Mosby suggests that Editor Michael Kelly should have fact checked Glass’s notes and called or emailed sources. In response to Lane’s call to Forbes’s editor Mosby revealed, “Lane only called Forbes to save his own ass. It’s apparent that what Glass did was wrong, so obviously Forbes was going to print it. Lane just didn’t want to look bad because he was ultimately responsible and that’s unethical.” In an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Glass reveals that he was driven by people’s reactions of his stories during conference meetings, that he wanted every story to be a “home run,” and that he lied in order to be published (www.cbs.com).
Did he feel too pressured by his boss and colleagues to provide a home run story every issue? Should editors expect less from younger reporters? 27-year-old former reporter for the Indianapolis Star and Northwestern graduate, Andrea Cohen, can identify with Glass in the fact that she too was a young journalist who wanted to make a good impression. “I think there is a lot of pressure to come to staff meetings with big features, but some weeks there is really nothing going on,” she says. Cohen also thinks that editors should always support their writers but at the same time check the validity of their stories. She explains that basing a story entirely on a journalist’s notes is a reliable way of reporting, but that it is the editors job to call the sources. Two preventative measures that could have taken place to ensure the legitimacy of Glass’s stories are 1.) A tape recording of the interview conducted (Cohen), and 2.) Photos of the subjects (Mosby). Mosby says that it is too easy to make up a name or an email these days, but that photographic proof shows validity of the sources.
In a Baltimore City Paper review of Shattered Glass, Journalist Blake de Pastino suggests that the reason Glass’s stories were never questioned is because his editor was pleased by their entertainment, suggesting that the media seems to thrive on sensationalism (www.citypaper.com). He thinks that the film serves as a criticism of the media and essentially brings attention to the fact that a journalist can make up stories and get away with it. Film Critic Clint Morris says that the film is a “Do Not guide to journalism” (www.citypaper.com). Mark Sells of the Oregon Herald believes, “This film caused the entire industry to rethink and evaluate its editorial practices
and it's a great learning tool for young, aspiring journalists; particularly in the way it engages you in the editorial process” (www.oregonherald.com). Sells explains that the pressures in journalism can drive journalists to cross the boundaries between uneventful true stories and sensationalized interest stories. Perhaps director Billy Ray produced Shattered Glass as a warning to be more critical of the media and not believe everything we read. Throughout the film a series of ethical dilemmas arise that ultimately reveal Stephen Glass as a liar and suggest that had they been addressed earlier, he may not have gone on fabricating stories for so long.