Shattered Glass

By: Shana O'Malley
so127906@ohio.edu


Shattered Glass is a film about a young, smart and seemingly talented journalist named Stephen Glass. However, throughout the movie Glass is revealed as a fake who makes up his stories and falsifies his sources. I think the main point of the film was to bring to attention this particular journalist who broke the rule of being an honest journalist. I think in the end, Glass got what he deserved by being fired from his job.

Throughout my journalism career I have been taught over and over about how to find sources, use sources and document sources. During the whole movie I just kept wondering why Glass would make up things when real life and real people are just as interesting. I think a lot of journalists do get caught up in wanting to be perfect or wanting to break a big story, so I see how the urge to gain a big name could impair judgment but, I don’t ever think stretching the truth or making something up, is a good way to make a name for your self (as Glass proved).

As a journalist, our job is to state facts, not write fiction. We DO need to be good story tellers, but we need to tell the truth and not something sensationalized or flat out wrong. I think that if you chose journalism as your career and you made it through journalism school, then you should know better. I agree with the editor in the movie who fired Glass, and I think all forms of journalism should have a zero tolerance policy on falsifying stories.