Journalism is “the art of capturing behaviour.” It involves observing the world around you, taking what you see and turning it into a story. But how far must you go to get these stories published?
Based on a true story and directed by Billy Ray, Shattered Glass explores the problems of a journalist’s ethical position and demonstrates the true pressures journalists can be under when trying to succeed. It tells the story of Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), a young reporter for The New Republic, who fabricated over half of his stories and fooled everyone, colleagues and readers, into believing they were true.
Christensen convincingly portrays Glass as an irritating and deceptive, yet charming, character. His continual asking of the question- “are you mad at me?”- made me want to scream “YES WE ARE MAD AT YOU STEVE!” He had his colleagues and editors wrapped around his little finger, it’s no wonder his blurring between fact and fiction went undetected for so long.
The film is brilliantly acted, especially by Peter Sarsgaard who plays Charles ‘Chuck’ Lane, the editor who decides to sack Glass. His portrayal of the editor who must go against the wishes of all his writers (who already aren’t too fond of him) in the name of ethical journalism is fantastic. He also creates a real eye-opener on how the role of editor is a 24/7 position, taking calls from Glass in the middle of the night and not even being able to bath his baby without being disturbed.
Watching the film in the era of ‘fake news’ it perfectly highlights how journalists will go to great lengths to sell their story and succeed. Glass got away with it for three years, so it begs the question; how many other journalists will get away with it for even longer?