Shattered Glass- What Would You Do?

By Layne Palmer

Shattered Glass, a 2003 film starring Hayden Christensen based on a true story, tells the story of the very likeable, seemingly ambitious journalist, Stephen Glass, who ruins his career at the New Republic by fabricating over half of his stories.

The movie brings the subject of media ethics into focus for viewers, as we watch how Stephen's lies negatively influence the entire newsroom. We watch as his co-workers struggle with whether or not to stand by him, we watch the pain in his editor's face as he slowly learns the truth about Stephen's story, and we watch Stephen's slow demise as his secrets leak out.

Sadly, as journalists, it is not unlikely that we will experience a situation like this where our values are tested. But the question is, how will we respond?

Let's say you work for a large newspaper and you find out that one of your co-workers, who is also your best friend, is accused of fabricating stories. Would you be able to look at the situation objectively? Would you feel the need to defend him and stand by him, or would you break your loyalty to him in favor of saving the paper and the image of the news profession in general?

Or, consider this. Let's say you're the editor at this particular paper. As editor, you're supposed to stand by your staff and support them, guide them. But what if you find out someone on your staff is fabricating his work. Would you take the easy way out and ignore it to save your employee's career and hopefully maintain the integrity of the paper (after all, what the public doesn't know won't hurt them, right?), or would you make the harder choice of firing the employee and admitting publically the mistakes that have gone unnoticed by the paper.

While this movie may be enjoyed simply as a form of entertainment, or even as a historical work given that it is based on a true story, I would argue that the real value in Shattered Glass lies in the fact that it forces us to consider how we would handle the many challenging moral and ethical situations in which we may be placed in the newsroom.

What ethical values are important to you? For ideas, follow this link to find out how the tride-and-true lessons we learned back in kindergarten may still provide us with a framework in which to make ethical decisions as adults.