Shattered Glass

1. According to the movie, there are several processes involved in writing. First, a topic on which to write must be sought. Then, the gathering of information and note-taking. Next, the actual writing. After the work is written, it is reviewed and edited by the editor. The facts are also checked. The writers talk about their work amongst themselves, too. Then the work is revised and turned in for publication.

2. Stephen Glass collected data by (supposedly) going to where the news was happening. He went to a Republican convention to see what the young Republicans did during down time. He also supposedly went to a meeting between a software corporation and the kid accused of hacking it. While he was allegedly where the news was happening, he took notes. He then used these notes to write articles.

3. The ethical issue I see emerging in the movie is that of the falsehood of publications. It seems as though Stephen Glass made up his stories in order to become popular and make money. Perhaps the real news stories were dull, so he made up his own to capture attention. It seems as though he made his stories up because none of the people or places he referred to could be traced (he lied about his sources). Another ethical issue that took place in the movie was the firing of the editor. The editor stood up for his writers when they were required to do a lousy assignment by complaining to the boss, and as a result the boss fired the editor and promoted one of his favorite writers to the editor position. The writer who was promoted was not qualified to be an editor, but the boss put him in that position merely because he liked him.