Shattered Glass

So we're supposed to blog on this movie called "Shattered Glass" from journalism and touch on a moral issue or two that the movie encounters. I would say that one of the most prominent examples that stuck out to me while watching this movie was how Michael Kelly, the editor of The New Republic (the paper featured in the movie), stuck up for his coworkers after their sickeningly spiteful boss forced them all to sit in a room and circle every comma within a lengthy article. I would have to say that the most of us people, no matter how much we could admire characteristic traits like that and try to mimic them ourselves, would be able to emulate such actions in the dire situation Michael Kelly was in. After all, he didn't KNOW that doing this would consequently get him fired, but he sure as hell had a prestigious and difficult job at The New Republic that I'm doubting most people would offer up on the table in order to defend integrity. Hell, even at a point like this in my life, where I could very well still be working in a restaurant had I not landed my current job, I would still find it difficult to defend my own opinions if it meant putting my job on the line. It's hard enough to get a job as it is, and although working as editor for The New Republic puts Michael Kelly at a fairly reputable spot for other jobs, along with his only drawback being he stuck up for his own opinions, he still put it all on the line. It was such a daring thing to do in an industry (journalism) where opportunities only show up occasionally. I could easily sit back and say, "Oh yeah, if I were caught in that situation, I'd do the same. Circling commas is bullshit." (That was supposed to sound funny in a ridiculous way.) But I most likely wouldn't. Shit, the only scrap I have to work with right now is writing for the Saint. I've got more to lose than gaining by even considering a degree/career with writing.

I think a loooooooooooot of people would follow suit if they recognized how hard it is in the writing business.