Shattered Glass: Made-up facts!

Truth is sacrosanct in journalism. It is the thread that holds the very fabric of the journalistic world together. But what happens when the facts of a published story, the revered 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why) and 1 H (how), are just fictional? The whole journalistic medium comes apart at the seams.

Director: Billy Ray

Film Clip

Shattered Glass is a film that captures the unravelling of this scenario by detailing the life of a reporter who concocts tall tales in the guise of truth. Based on the real life of the infamous print journalist Stephen Glass, the movie is a lesson in media ethics and a cautionary story for media professionals. 

Directed by Billy Ray, the movie plays out like a suspenseful thriller. The movie is set in the late 90s, at a time when Stephen Glass, played by Hayden Christensen, was at the height of his career. This young, ambitious and affable reporter was a rising star at The New Republic, a magazine known for its strong political analysis and commentary. The movie depicts how Glass circumvented the editorial process of fact-checking and source verification. The editor at the magazine, played by Peter Sarsgaard exposes Glass’ tenuous web of lies. We watch as Glass’ meteoric rise to fame comes crashing down in a devastating fall from grace.

The story of Stephen Glass is not an isolated one. In 2003, Jayson Blair from the New York Times was also convicted in a similar scandal for manufacturing stories. Renowned Indian journalists have also been accused of breeching journalistic ethics. Numerous reporters have been accused of plagiarism, having a close mutually-beneficial nexus to politicians and corporates, and partaking in paid news.

Journalists have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of their position as the fourth estate. But the abuse of this power, as evidenced in the film, has catastrophic consequences.

- Parinitha Shinde

The Bang Bang Club: Duty vs humanity

What comes first to a journalist, photographer or such other media person? Is it his/her duty as a professional or humanity? This is not an easy question to answer. The famous case is that of Kevin Carter and his Pulitzer Prize winning picture of a Sudanese girl and the vulture that was waiting to devour her. The picture, even as it won the coveted award, raised many questions as to the ethics of journalism in general and photo journalism in particular. Apparently, Kevin Carter made sure not to disturb the vulture, lest it should fly and he lose a ‘precious moment’. 

 Kevin Carter's Pulitzer Prize winning picture

Kevin Carter

Director: Steven Silver

Film Clip

Kevin Carter’s story is part of the film The Bang Bang Club (2010). The film as such is about a group of press photographers who covered the South African ethnic violence in the early 1990s. They were exceptional photographers who made news all over the world with their rare pictures taken in highly dangerous terrains of human violence. The film quite simply portrays the risk that a committed photo journalist takes just to get that ‘precious picture’. At the same time, of course, it raises questions in the minds of the audience as to why one has to push himself so hard – is it for the glory that his work would eventually bring or genuine concern for humanity? The girlfriend of one of the photographers puts it depressingly straight across to him: “May be you have to be like that to do what you do. I think you have to forget that they are real people!” Do journalists, press photographers, broadcast journalists lose their humanity in the din of getting those crucial bites and moments? The film might just throw some light on the subject. The film, though, is quite engaging and full of action throughout. 

- Melwyn Pinto SJ