Ethics In a Row

Despite all the lying in the movie “Shattered Glass”, did anyone find it the slightest bit fabulous? Sure, Glass made up story after story, but what mind would it take to do all that? And get away with it that long? Skill! Being in a room full of journalists that were shocked and awed by every move made by Glass, made me wonder how far Glass really went. I almost think they should have kept him on as a non-fiction writer in a portion of their magazine. (Well... I suppose there is the trust issue). The New Republic is a magazine, after all, not a newspaper. Okay okay... what Glass did was wrong, but I couldn’t help but think he was brilliant. I am definitively not saying it is justified. I used to think undercover reporting was flat out WRONG. However, I noticed a lot of good that has come out of it. There was the Watergate scandal or undercover reporting in nursing homes to see the treatment of the elderly. I cannot deny these issues needed to be known to the public. “Investigative” or undercover reporting is simply necessary if it can be justified in the end. However, the price of deception is trustworthiness. If a source finds out you did go undercover, other sources may not trust you, which is essential in journalism. I suppose this is the reason we need to have our ethics in line to guide us!