Business Memo
Re:
Introduction
In light of the scandal regarding Stephen Glass’ fabricated article - 27 articles out of 41 articles - this memo is to provide a clear explanation as to what happened along with recommendations as to what needs to be done going forward. Given that the paper’s reputation is clearly at stake, thanks to an apology that had to be made, this incident where we dupe our readers into reading fiction, as we can all agree, should never happen again at the New Republic.
Message
The journalist’s life is not an easy one. We have to churn out pieces every other week. If we can’t find stories, then we have no option but to make them up. In Glass’ case, he thought the more entertaining the better. This is quite sadly what we have been reduced to, compromising the truth for fluff, in order to obtain more readership. Is this what we have been reduced to, as a magazine? One can only assume that every time, Glass crossed ethical lines, the pressures to put out great stories month after month was certainly behind it.
Speaking of which, Glass’ first choice to write about Young Republicans and their antics at a convention that he faked his identity to get into was where it all began. Must we as journalists pose to be someone else in order to gather dirt - a juicy story, if you will - on kids who have no direction or idea what they are doing in Life. No differently, posing as an expert to get a story on the Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson interview as a “biting” expert was no better. This was his second choice as a journalist with no regard for the truth, even if it what we are taught to live by as we graduate with a Journalism degree. The third and most damning choice that he made was to fake the entire story related to the hacker who was offered a lucrative position at Jukt Micronics. Almost every time, it’s clear that Glass chose fiction as opposed to facts and made use of the loophole that the only way people can fact-check his writeups was based on the notes he prepared. At a revered magazine such as the New Republic, that is tantamount to sacrilege, given our reputation, and all this could have been solved if we only allowed for relevant pictures to be added along with the copy that was, no doubt carefully scrutinized. While the other two got past everyone unnoticed, the last poor choice that he made was caught by the Forbes online magazine, leading to flak for The New Republic. Lane, as we all suspected, was up to no good, and we were proved wrong in the end since he was actually looking out Glass who tried to turn the other employees against him. Despite being caught, he continued to “pitch” until the very end. As for the alternative choices that he could have made, taking the slow path to journalistic success by focusing on putting out good writing work instead of not spending all his time sucking up to his colleagues. Worse still was the choice that he made when trying to turn the staff against Lane and for which, he was rightly fired, even though Lane was only looking out for both the magazine while doing his level best to believe the kid. Of course, Forbes put paid to that completely and after which, Glass should have owned up to fabricating these stories. If he had at least done that, they could have suspended him instead of firing him in the end. To be blatantly honest, if you don’t have a penchant for the truth, obtained by ethical means, you have no business working in the profession of journalism in the first place. If only he had owned, given that he was still a kid, this ugly business of letting the truth out and tarnishing his name would not have taken place. It’s not just about his reputation being on the line but the New Republic’s reputation as well.
Conclusion
One thing is very clear: some changes need to be made around the New Republic, if that isn’t obvious already. For starters, we have to include pictures in our pieces while also scrutinizing every employee who works here - intern or otherwise - and for this, it is time to revamp our Value Statement along the lines of Netflix that has impressed me recently (Burke, 2016). Not only is the value described but its actions, to be upheld by employees, are clearly described. In violation of which, they can be terminated instead of all the issues that we had to deal with the Glass incident. Prevention is better than cure, they say. In this case, it will be appropriate to revise these values because another scandal of this proportion will put us all out of jobs - something that none of us want. Some of the values that I have come up with include: integrity, meaning and customer-centric where the code of conduct must be clearly elicited and offered to every employee on their very first day. Yet again, the stakes are high since we have a number of competing magazines vying for the top spot be it in the White House or on Air Force One. Let’s ensure, that we as a magazine, remain there as we let bygones be bygones.
Thanking You,
References
Burke, M (2016). The Nine Netflix Company Values. 6Q Blog. Retrieved from https://inside.6q.io/the-nine-netflix-company-values/
