Journalistic Ethics

      Journalism is meant to be honest, insightful and informative of actual events that affect people and their community. Journalists are expected to gather important information and quotes, reference their work and maintain an unbiased tone. Stephen Glass is a former American Journalist who was found guilty of producing work based on events that he made up and even going as far as to create fake websites to reference it all. His entire career was made off of a pathological lie. It has also been reported that some of his work involved negative statements about ethical and political groups that offended many people. I strongly believe that when a journalist lies the consequence should be that they do not receive any profits from the work , they should be fined with money going to the editors and people who wasted their time helping publish the work. However, I think with an sincere apology and a fine that prison is not necessary and will not accomplish much. Of course this depends on the severity of the situation. From the information I have read about Stephen Glass, I get the impression that he may have mental health issues that should be taken into consideration when investigating his story.  

Stephen Glass