Ethics, a strong sense of moral principles, is something that every journalist should have. It does not matter what platform you are reporting on whether it be in print or on television. By fabricating stories or plagiarising, a reporter or journalist loses all credibility.

The use of fabrication has been proven to be detrimental to a reporters career. Brian Williams can attest to this. Brians Williams career was officially suspended off air on February 11, 2015 following his reporting scandal. The primary news anchor for NBC News Weekly was officially suspended for six months without pay.
“As a tiny child, it was the only job I could imagine doing” Williams told TV Guide in 2004.

Stephen Glass, a journalist at the New Republic, was also accused of fabricating over half of his publications. As a journalist at the New Republic, his job was to write articles. Upon review of Hack Heaven, the editor at the time discovered that 27 out of of his articles were either partially fabricated or entirely fabricated.

“My life was a big procession of lies and lies to cover those lies,” he said to and interviewer in Sixty Minutes.

Finally Janet Cook, also accused of fabricating, was humiliated and suffered form many retributions. Jimmy’s World was mostly fabricated. The discovery of her fabrication came to light when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. After receiving the award, editors at the Post discovered that she lied about the credentials on her resume.

“Jimmy is 8 years old and a third-generation heroin addict, a precocious little boy with sandy hair, velvety brown eyes and needle marks freckling the baby-smooth skin of his thin brown arms.”