Joshua Daughtry

Final Essay
Stephen Glass violated many of the principles that the Society of Professional Journalists
Code of Ethics stands for. Glass most profoundly demonstrated a lack of truthfulness, a failure to
minimize harm and a lack of accountability for his works. Not only did Glass demonstrate a
failure to adhere to the SPJ Code of Ethics, Glass editor, Michael Kelley did as well. Glass
editor would cover for him and overlook minor discrepancies in the story. Glass wrote for the
magazine known as The New Republic. During his time there he wrote forty-one articles. It
was alter revealed that Glass had fabricated partially or completely twenty-seven of these
articles. Glass broke every principle of the SPJ Code of Ethics in varying degrees.
Glass failed to Seek Truth and Report It. Glasss works were often falsified in
completeness. Not only would he falsify entire stories, Glass would go to extreme measures in
order to get around the fact checking process. Glass would use his likable personality to take
advantage of his coworkers and editors. Glass would also deceive the fact checkers by creating
stories that could get past the fact checking system in place at The New Republic. Glass would
even go as far as to create fake websites and have relatives impersonate those that were listed in
his works. Glass knowingly fabricated tightly knit lies using his personality and whit to bypass
the system. Glass refused to take responsibility for the extreme inaccuracies of his work. When
Glass editor would find inaccuracies in his work, the editor would defend Glass and not take
responsibility for these inaccuracies. The SPJ Code of Ethics principle of Seeking Truth and
Reporting It, was all but forgotten by Glass and his editor. Glass editor failed to recognize the
signs of Glass fabrication of sources and articles. In his failure to do so, he let many of Glass
pieces that should have never been published, escape.
Glass failed to Minimize Harm in his works. Works by Glass such as Spring
Breakdown painted a false picture of young conservatives that attended the Conservative
Political Action Conference in 1997. Glasss writings could have spiraled into false accusations,
charges, and other troubles for students who had attended the conference. Articles such as Hack
Heaven, could have encouraged hackers to commit crimes against major companies or caused
confusion amongst major software companies. Very little thought was put into the damage that
could have potentially been caused by Glass works. Not only did Glass show no concern for
those who he deceived in the public, he also showed a lack of concern for those who he worked
with. Glass works could have potentially caused the end of The New Republic and the loss of
the integrity and positions of many of those employed by The New Republic. Glass played to
their emotions in order to make them tools and accomplishes in order for him to accomplish his
own goals.
Glass failed to Act Independently. Glass failed serve the public in almost every way,
though he did make up entertaining lies for the readers. Glass would utilize the others who
worked with him to his advantage by playing on their emotions. Glass utilized his co-workers by
bribing them with his personality and entertaining qualities. Glass also the public down with the
many fabricated facts and articles he was able to sneak through. Many of Glasss works were
completely falsified which led to a spreading of misinformation to the readers. In making false
claims and fake sources, Glass was unable to come up with any answers about the accuracy of
his works. Glass often listed anonymous sources in order to make it impossible to argue against
his quotes and claims.
Glass failed to take responsibility for his actions. In doing so Glass went against the SPJ
principle that is, Be Accountable and Transparent. This principle was by far, the principle that
Glass neglected the most. Glass not only stuck to his mistakes, Glass often would not admit his
wrongdoing in his fabrication of facts, sources, and articles. Glass even went as far as to make
fake website for a company he had made up called Jukt Micronics. When Glass brother was
caught posing over the phone as an executive of the fake company, Glass still held to his lies that
he had in fact spoken with one of the companys executives and that the company was not a
fabrication. It is abhorrent to see someone who has been caught red handed, lie to the very end.
No matter how much evidence and proof was amounted against Glass, he would not take
responsibility for his mistakes.
Glass failure to take responsibility for his actions was perhaps the most horrible and
blatant disregard of the SPJ Code of Ethics. Being truthful and honest is perhaps the most
important and fundamental trait that a journalist should have. In the end Glass paid for his
actions greatly. Perhaps the cost of his actions would have been lessened if he had come out and
admitted that he had made up a minor detail early on in his career. In many instances, those who
do wrong start small and work their way up. It wouldnt be much of a stretch to say that Glass
likely started bending facts before fabricating entire pieces. If Glass had admitted to his poor
decisions early on, this whole dilemma could have been avoided. The thought of how things
would have played out if Glass had admitted his wrong doings early on is quite intriguing.
In the end Glass got the only thing that he could have expected to receive, a loss of his
integrity as a journalist and the end of his journalistic career. While Glass story is tragic, it has
done some good for the journalistic community. Stories of writers such as Glass serve as an
example to journalists of the future. There can be no excuses for those who think they can
fabricate facts, sources, or articles. Glass may have been an extremely intelligent and deceptive
journalist, but in the end even he could not escape from his own lies. It is important above all
else that a journalist displays only the facts and only the truth.