International Journalism Paper

Truth and Honesty in Journalism

The Importance of it as Journalists and the Reasons of why is it
Starting to Lack Nowadays

Written by:
Ginna Leviana Elda / 04120120031

Universitas Pelita Harapan

Faculty of Social and Political Sciences
Communication Major
2014

Truth and Honesty in Journalism

The Importance of it as Journalists and the Reasons of why is it Starting
to Lack Nowadays

1. Background

Ideally, journalism should strive to tell the absolute truth to the people. Its most important
role is to provide data and information according to the facts straightly. However, in the real life
application, this ideal often cannot be fulfilled because the circumstances forced journalists into
falsehoods. What we mean by falsehoods is reporting the news that is not true. These could be in
the form of plagiarism, which from the Merriam Webster Dictionary means: the act of using
another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person, or even worse, fabrications,
which from the same source above is defined as: to create or make up (something, such as a
story) in order to trick people. (http://merriam-webster.com/). Now, we as citizens and readers
expect journalists to be unbiased and to report the truth and honesty. These are the problems that
a lot of journalists are facing from times to times, and of course, there are reasons behind that,
that make them do not get their main job done, which is telling the truth to people through
medias.
Take an example about the case of Stephen Glass. He is a former U.S. journalist who
achieved notoriety in 1998 when it was revealed that as many as half of his published articles
were fabrications. Glass invented quotations, sources, and even entire events in articles he wrote
for that magazine and others. Most of Glass's articles were of the entertaining and humorous
type; some were based entirely on fictional events. He had his career rising at the age of 25 as a
journalist and associate editor of The New Republic (TNR) in Washington. Readers were at first
fascinated by his writings because of the interesting topics, but later editors in TNR realized that
most of his works were product of lies. His works were not the result of real0life happening
events, but from Glasss imagination. After the investigation, it was revealed that Glasss works

were 27 out of 41 full of fabrications, therefore destroying a portion of the always-fragile bond
of trust journalists try to form with their readers. (Day, 1991, p. 78).

There are a lot more cases about fabrications and plagiarism cases. The above Glasss
case was from United States. The same fabrication case was also happening in the country of
Indonesia, specifically in the newspaper called Jawa Pos, about a reporter doing a fabrication
interview of a performer of Bali boom incident on 2005. This will later be explained on the
discussion part.

1.1 Literature Review

So, what are the reasons that journalists are facing that make them cannot Sometimes,
due to surviving their companys prestige and protecting defamation, journalists write on
something that is not the real facts. Or sometimes, being in a job that requires working under
pressure and such a tight deadlines, forced journalists to fake news because lacking of reverences
and data.
What we are talking here that journalists are facing is not merely a plagiarism, which
mean copying others work and mentioned that it was their own. Instead, professional
journalism isnt facing a plagiarism problem. Its facing an originality failure. And you cant
blame the Internet. Our originality breakdown results from many pressures the overwhelming
volume of writing incessantly pushed out into the digital space, the pressure on writers to feed a
content beast thats never satiated, the diminishing economic forces that support professional
writing.

(http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/everyday-ethics/189900/journalism-has-an-

originality-problem-not-a-plagiarism-problem/).
There are more plagiarisms in journalism today than there was 20 years ago.
Before the Internet, newsrooms were lucky enough to stumble into a method for growing writers.

It wasnt perfect and there certainly were scandals, such as when The Washington Posts Janet
Cooke fabricated a character in a story that went on to win the Pulitzer, or when Boston Globe
columnist Mike Barnicle stole material from comedian George Carlin and others. And one of the
most widely publicized cases was the case of Stephen Glass, where he fabricated almost all of
his writings.
These days, it feels like hardly a week goes by without a professional journalist being
exposed for plagiarism, or fabrication.
If were going to solve the problem of unoriginal writing, we need to focus on the
process

of

writing,

instead

of

simply

careening

from

one

failure

to

another.

(http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/everyday-ethics/189900/journalism-has-an-originalityproblem-not-a-plagiarism-problem/).

1.2 Essay Question

From the Stephen Glasss case that was explained above, it shows that there is a lacking
of truth and honesty in journalism, even tough in the 10 Elements of Journalism and the Standard
of Journalistic Truth, this subject is the most fundamental, basic, and main in journalism.
This paper questioned why there is degradation in truth and honesty of journalism that
resulted in the increasing phenomena of plagiarism and fabrication, which involving famous and
professional journalists. So, why is truth and honesty is important to do as journalists and what
are the reasons that it is starting to lack nowadays?

1.3 Methodology

In order to perceive the role of truth and honesty in the journalism world, this essay will
provide an overview about the importance of truth and honesty in journalism and a highly
famous case of Stephen Glass about fabrications and plagiarism. The content of the essay is
divided into 5 parts: Looking Deeper into the Case: Glasss Apology, The Standard of
Journalistic Truth: how Glass has Failed it as a Journalist, The 1st Element of The Elements of
Journalism: Journalisms First Obligation is to the Truth, The Reasons of Why Journalists
Thrive Lies: Competition in Media Companies.

2. Discussion

Looking Deeper into the Case: Glasss Apology

The commitment to truth is perhaps the most ancient and revered ethical principle of
human civilization. (Day, 1991, p.81).
Maybe the above quotation is also suitable in the world of journalism, as in to explain
why there are more lies and falsehood in journalistic works. Fabrication and plagiarism are now
becoming an important issue for journalists. Several famous media companies and professional
journalists are proven to do these activities, which resulted in lowering the credibility of
journalism and thus, escalating assault on the values of truth and honesty in both media
professions and society at large. (Day, 1991, p.79).
It is explained before that Stephen Glass is one of the many journalists that did
fabrication to finish his work in write news for New Republic. Stephen Randall Glass was born
on September 15, 1972, and started working as a journalist at The New Republic (TNR) at the
age of 23, starting from the position as an editorial assistant, and afterwards achieved a higher
position as a feature writer. From the year of 1995 1998, Glass invented quotations, sources,
and even events in articles he wrote for TNR, and also other companies, like Rolling Stone and

Harpers. Most of Glasss articles were of the entertaining and humorous type some were based
entirely on fictional events.
It was all begun when on December 1996, Glass wrote an article called Hazardous to
Your Mental Health that was targeted for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
CSPI, noticing his writing, wrote a letter to the editor, and released a press to pointed there were
possible plagiarism hinted in Glasss article, even inaccuracies and distortions. The following
articles that he later wrote were also accused as false and fabricated, which are Dont You
D.A.R.E on March 1997 (Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) accused its falsehoods,
and Spring Breakdown on May 1997 was a fabrication about his scary experience of drinking,
and a lot of other lies with the total of 27 out of 41 articles that he ever published. At first, the
editor of The New Republic stood by and defended him from the accusations, forced them to
apologize to Glass and calling them liars.
But then on May 1998, the scandal was opened, and Glass was finally caught. At that
time, he was already risen to became and associate editor at TNR. The story that triggered his
downfall was "Hack Heaven". It was a story about a 15-year-old hacker who intruded a computer
network of a company called "Jukt Micronics". In the process of creating this lying article, Glass
made

serious

efforts,

including:

creating

fake

(http://web.archive.org/web/20031223023451/http://www.penenberg.com/jukt.html),
its

companys

voice

mail,

fabricating

website
including
story

(http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120145/stephen-glass-new-republic-scandal-still-hauntshis-law-career), having fake business cards printed; and even faking a computer hacker
community newsletter.
The Standard of Journalistic Truth: how Glass has Failed it as a Journalist
Based on the book Ethics in Media Communications: Cases and Controversies by Louis
A. Day, there is a discussion about The Standard of Journalistic Truth. In it is mentioned that
from a journalistic perspective, three concepts appear to underlie the notion of truth in reporting,
such as: accurate, promote understanding, and fair & balanced.
a) Accurate. The facts that are reported by the journalists should be verified, which mean it
should be based on solid evidence. If there is any lying or inaccuracies, it can lead to lowering

the credibility of the journalistic work. When reporters do not personally witness an occurrence
or when the information is not general knowledge, they should be sure to attribute the source of
their information. This is a fundamental requirement of accurate reporting (Day, 1991, p. 85).
b) Promote understanding. Based on the book, it means a story should contain as much relevant
information as is available and essential to afford the average reader or viewer at least an
understanding of the facts and the context of the facts. (Day, 1991, p. 87).
c) Fair and balanced. Fairness and balance require that journalists accord recognition to those
views that enhance the understanding of the issue. Every effort should be made to represent them
fairly and in proportion to their significance to the issue. (Day, 1991, p. 88).
Based on the three concepts that were explained above, Glass apparently didnt pass the
first one. The stories that were reported by Glass are not based on verification, nor based on solid
evidences, because there were no facts in it. Therefore, it is not accurate. Glass attempts for
doing the fabrication clearly lower the TNRs journalistic credibility.
The 1st Element of The Elements of Journalism: Journalisms First Obligation is to the Truth.
Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel identify the essential principles and practices of journalism,
in there book The Elements of Journalism. There are 10 of them, and the first one is:
Journalisms first obligation is to the truth.
In this element, it is explained that:
Good decision-making depends on people having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful
context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but in a capacity
that is more down to earth.
All truths even the laws of science are subject to revision, but we operate by them in the
meantime because they are necessary and they work, Kovach and Rosenstiel write in the book.
Journalism, they continue, thus seeks a practical and functional form of truth. It is not the truth
in the absolute or philosophical or scientific sense but rather a pursuit of the truths by which we
can operate on a day-to-day basis.
(http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles-of-journalism/).

This journalistic truth, as explained from above, is gained by the journalists

operating every time they are reporting news. The news that are reported, if done by the
journalists who follow this first element, will be reliable and accurate facts put in a meaningful
context. So, Kovach and Rosenstiel stated that journalistic truth is: a process that begins with
the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair
and reliable account of their meaning, subject to further investigation.
To report a truth in journalistic, journalists should be as transparent as possible about the
sources, without any subjectivity put aside from his or her point of view, so the readers can
assess and furthermore interpret the information by themselves.
The Reasons of Why Journalists Thrive Lies: Competition in Media Companies
Now, what are the reasons Glass fabricated almost all of his work? According to several
sources, he stated that he knew what he was doing, and he realized that it was wrong to do in
journalistic world.
I remember thinking, If I just had the exact quote that I wanted to make it work, it would be
perfect. And I wrote something on my computer, and then I looked at it, and I let it stand. And
then it ran in the magazine and I saw it. And I said to myself what I said every time these stories
ran,

you

must

stop.

You

must

stop.

But

didn't.

I loved the electricity of people liking my stories. I loved going to story conference meetings
and telling people what my story was going to be, and seeing the room excited. I wanted every
story to be a home run.
(http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-glass-i-lied-for-esteem-07-05-2003/).
Moreover, he admitted that he was sorry about it. Stephen Glass mentioned in his
interview I cant have any more people hate me Im sorry. I am truly sorry, Im sorry
But what surprising is that actually, the reason he did it because of the pressure as a
journalist he got from the company. Stephen Glass wanted to be admired by his work, so he tried
to avoid rejection. But he faced a workplace pressure, which stated from http://cjconline.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1595/1749:

Fails to find reportable facts that live up to what was promised, then faces pressure from editors
to provide more details---and, after that, more stories like it. He finds himself increasingly
encouraged to write snaky, glib, superior copy and learns that what a journalists is looking for
is a good story; accuracys only half of it.
Journalists, working in such tight deadlines and complicated atmosphere, may find
pressures attached to working in a high-profile journalistic workplace---a constant pressure to
produce a deep desire to get into the paper, and, especially, to make the front page, the
ultimate, through fleeting, measure of a reporters worth. (Shapiro, 2006). While most
reporters embrace accurate reporting as a first principle of ethical journalism, time and
competitive pressures sometimes compromise the accuracy of news coverage. (Day, 1991, p.
86). From this Glasss case, it appears that the major reason of why journalists lie to gain the
news is because of the stresses from the media company to publish their article.
Journalists, because of this tension, failed to accomplished their most basic mission,
which is becoming the public trust and a commitment to truth as a primary value. Instead, they
are blinded by journalisms lesser values, such as career ambitions and the thrill of getting a
good story. (Shapiro, 2006).
CJC also mentioned that another reason of these scandals is because of the the reaping
of big rewards, which mean that journalists, like every other profession, wanted to have a big
income and achieve a success. In media companies, they usually use the star system that
divides highly paid journalists and poorly paid ordinary achievers. This pressurizes them to do a
deviant way and forget that it is not a right way to work as a journalist, which is plagiarism and
fabrication.
Another Case of Fabrication: Wawancara dengan Istri Dr. Azhari Husin
On December 2003, there was a famous catastrophic incident in Indonesia, which is
Peristiwa Bom Bali 1. Dr. Azhari, a terrorist, boomed Bali, one of the most visited places for
tourism from all around the world, popular for its beaches and exotic landscape. Shortly after the
uproar in Indonesia, Jawa Pos, a local newspaper, sent Rizal Husen, a reporter, to wrote news
about it. He was asked to interview Dr. Azharis wife. There were no problems and everything
went smooth until the article was being published. 2 years after that, another boom incident

happened, and was named after Peristiwa Bom Bali 2. Dr. Azhari was killed in Batu, Malang.
Seeing no problems in Husens article on the previous 2003 incident, and deciding that he had
enough documents and references, Jawa Pos sent the same reporter to interview the wife again.
He came back, wrote the articles, and Jawa Pos published it twice.
But another Jawa Pos reporter, who was also a doctor, noticed there was an irregularity
in the interview. Dr. Azharis wife was suffering from thyroid cancer, which means that she
couldnt speak clearly if the interviews were conducted by phone. Husen denied by saying that
despite suffering from thyroid cancer, her voice still sounded clear and vague. The study was
continued with international connections to Telkom's checks, and it was true. There was never a
phone number to Malaysia at that time. The interview was merely a fictitious one.

3. Conclusion

Based on the discussion above, truth and honesty definitely play an important role in
journalistic world. It has a big impact for the journalists, and the civilizations that consume it,
too, because the most basic goal for journalism is to tell people the truth, which mean giving the
data, facts, and information transparently. While keeping up with the stresses from the media
company, journalists tend to fail doing this important job, forgetting their main role for the sake
of self-esteem and paid higher, and most importantly, the cause of lacking of this is from the
media company pressure. Tight deadline and the high-class working atmosphere pressurize the
journalists, which lead to plagiarism or even worst, fabrication.
The case of Stephen Glass and Rizal Husen are some of the very few examples of
fabrication. This degradation of the truth and honesty in journalism may result in the assault of
trustworthiness of both the media professions and the journalists themselves.
Therefore, it can be concluded that even tough keeping up the truth and honesty in
journalism is very hard from the media companys pressures, it is still a very important basic task
of journalists to do.

4. Limitation

To some extent, the results of this essay reflect the lacking of truth and honesty in
journalism and the case that is correlated to it, with the explanation according to elements and
standard in journalism. However, further research is needed to gain a comprehensive and up-todate comparison between two countries. Due to the time constrains and the locality of the study,
this research relies on academic journals, scholars review, textbooks, and news. More cases study
and interviews with journalists and media owners, especially on those who experienced or have
done a lie, deceiving, or falsehood writings are necessary to generate a better understanding of
the truth and honesty in journalism.

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