When journalists like Stephen Glass break credibility many people are affected. From the journalist themselves to the people who read the magazine there are a lot of people who are affected by the article and therefore affected by the article’s credibility. The movie “Shattered Glass” goes through how Glass is proved to have “cooked” his stories or made them up, but the movie does not show all of the people that are hurt by his actions.
When a journalist’s credibility is broken, the journalist is hurt the most out of everybody that is affected. Since the journalist was proved to have lied about a story, he/she would have a very tough time getting hired by any other paper. Once something like that has happened, it is hard to even get looked at by another paper because anyone is just one internet search away from finding out about the past. Just one story that is found to be fictitious can ruin a journalist’s career forever.
The magazine or newspaper can also be hurt by a made up story. Even when a paper has just one author that is proved to be not credible people can be hurt. When a reader finds out that they have been reading a made up story when they believed it was truthful they are immediately turned off to that paper. This would hurt the paper company because they would be losing customers and possibly advertisers. Whenever a writer makes a mistake the paper has to protect its employee. When a writer makes a big mistake, like making up a story, the company has to issue apologies to their readers, find new writers, and try to fix their shattered image. This hurts the paper because it is doing something other than reporting the news and making sure the story is right.
The readers are hurt when a journalist’s credibility is broken because most readers trust what they are reading. When this trust is broken, a reader could find it hard to trust the paper, or any paper for that matter. The reader is then left to wonder if anything they had read before was the truth, or if they were all made up stories. When a reader’s trust is broken, he/she does not buy newspapers and does not trust the news. When this happens the reader becomes un-informed which is a problem in itself.
The advertisers are hurt in this process because they are associated with the paper and the phony journalist. When a reader sees an advertisement in the newspaper, and then finds out that the some of the stories were made up, then the reader could have a bad impression of that company. This could affect the company’s sales numbers and potentially close a company down if they were a big enough supporter of the paper.
Many people are affected when a journalist’s credibility is broken. From the journalist, to the paper, to the advertisers, and the readers; there are many groups that feel the aftereffect of a serious act like Glass’s. Credibility is something that is earned but cannot be gained back. A journalist’s job is to report the news and never to become part of the news.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Credibility
Rob Greene: Real or not?
By Joe Rausa
Robert Greene, an English teacher at Nashua High School South (NHSS), is a credible and well fit. Greene, who specializes in journalism and poetry classes, is exactly who he says he is.
When anyone is hired to work in the Nashua School District, they are put through both a background check and a check to make sure they are qualified to work in their specific job.
“Whoever gets hired by the school district is who they say they are” says the main office secretary at NHSS.
This fact alone proves that Greene is at least a credible source to teach his classes.
While looking at Greene’s resume posted on his Web site his past jobs were fact checked with trusted sources such as websites not made by Greene and other NHSS employees.
In Greene’s resume, he claims that he worked as the Director of Communications at an Albany, N.Y. based company named The Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS). The company’s website confirms he worked there with a name and a picture from 2004. Greene also edited the e-zine Humanist Network News which was a weekly free online magazine says the annual report.
Greene’s full name, Robert William Wright Greene was matched to a 37-year-old man who resided in towns across New England on the US Search Information Web site. These addresses match where Greene says he lives on his Web site.
As an assignment for his poetry class Greene challenged his students to prove that he was a credible source by fact-checking his past. Greene also refused to answer any questions during this process.
By Joe Rausa
Robert Greene, an English teacher at Nashua High School South (NHSS), is a credible and well fit. Greene, who specializes in journalism and poetry classes, is exactly who he says he is.
When anyone is hired to work in the Nashua School District, they are put through both a background check and a check to make sure they are qualified to work in their specific job.
“Whoever gets hired by the school district is who they say they are” says the main office secretary at NHSS.
This fact alone proves that Greene is at least a credible source to teach his classes.
While looking at Greene’s resume posted on his Web site his past jobs were fact checked with trusted sources such as websites not made by Greene and other NHSS employees.
In Greene’s resume, he claims that he worked as the Director of Communications at an Albany, N.Y. based company named The Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS). The company’s website confirms he worked there with a name and a picture from 2004. Greene also edited the e-zine Humanist Network News which was a weekly free online magazine says the annual report.
Greene’s full name, Robert William Wright Greene was matched to a 37-year-old man who resided in towns across New England on the US Search Information Web site. These addresses match where Greene says he lives on his Web site.
As an assignment for his poetry class Greene challenged his students to prove that he was a credible source by fact-checking his past. Greene also refused to answer any questions during this process.
Monday, February 9, 2009
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