Media Ethics

Media Ethics

by Chelsea Moore

Ethics have become a huge issue in the media. It's nothing new. We've been taught over and over to not re-invent the wheel. I chose an ideal book to encourage just that. The book, Media Ethics: Issues and Cases addresses ethics on a case to case basis. 

From chapter to chapter, Philip Patterson and Lee Wilkins introduce a new issue, such as information ethics, advertising ethics, loyalty, etc., and then presents cases on each of the issue. I found the cases to be really interesting.

Some of you may have seen the picture of the mother and son falling from a burning building. It is a picture of  a woman who is moments from death and a child that is only saved because he landed on top of his mother. The picture was plastered on the front page of the Boston Herald, despite the ethical reservations that the photographer, Stanley Forman, had. As a result, it received many awards. Among them, the photographer received the Pulitzer prize. Patterson and Wilkins tell the story and then ask the question: Must there be tragedy in order for someone else to succeed? In the text, they say that "more than half of all photos that have won the two major prizes in photojournalism have involved tragedy" (p. 116). 

                                                                    

I had never thought of the coincidence of good journalism and tragedy. This particular case reminded me of the Murrah Building bombing picture of the fireman and the child, who turned out to be dead in the picture. This picture was posted all over the newspapers at the time. This book continues to address different ethical situations throughout. At the end of each case, it simply asks a question to begin discussion. 

Since ethics are so important in media, presently and in the future, I think it would be beneficial for all journalism majors to be introduced to this book. 

The New Rules of Marketing and Public Relations

By Brittany Atwood

Originally this book was started on David Meerman Scott’s personal blog about marketing and public relations. In January 2006, he published an e-book and since it’s debut has been downloaded over 200,000 times. This is clear evidence that we are in a time where the Internet is a major form of communicating.

The New Rules of Marketing and Public Relations is not a book solely written by Scott. The book contains comments and suggestions that he received on his blogs as he wrote chapter by chapter as a blog. He used these suggestions as a way to make his findings more effective.

According to David Meerman Scott, corporate blogs are emerging as one of the most effective ways for different types of businesses to tell their stories directly to the public. Audiences are hesitant when viewing traditional forms of advertising such as print but with a good blog companies can showcase their abilities to go above and beyond what is needed of them.

In the old days, companies could only communicate through the expensive forms of advertising. However, blogging in today’s time changes the rules. We all know from experience that not only is it hard to get people’s attention but it is also hard to keep their attention. Blogging allows you to focus on getting the right message to the people at the right time.

Scott talks about the Internet in terms of people not just another form of technology. He discusses the ramifications of the web needed to pertain to the average person. He uses a variety of case studies throughout his book that makes the information more real. I think real life examples are important to showcase in terms of Scott’s views.

Interactive Ethics

By Christina Miner

According to Thomas Schear, author of “Interactive Ethics: How Ethical & Unethical Decisions Are Really Made in Organizations”, the original Interactive Ethical Model starts with an ethical dilemma. The ethical dilemma then meets cognitions, where Kohlberg’s Stages and Levels of Moral Development determine how you respond to moral/ethical decisions. Some questions asked at this stage are: “are you fearful of punishment? Are you concerned about looking good to those around you? Do you aspire to a higher sense of responsibility to others?” Individual Moderators are the things we bring to the dilemma, which Schear describes as ego strength, field dependence, and locus of control. The organization brings their own issues to the table, called Situational Moderators. Schear describes these as immediate job context, characteristics of the work, and organizational culture. These factors lead to the ethical or unethical decision that is ultimately made by an organization.

Schear presents two models to better decision-making.

Josephson Institute of Ethics
1. Stop and Think
2. Clarify Goals
3. Determine Facts
4. Develop Options
5. Consider Consequences
6. Choose
7. Monitor and Modify

Developed by Jon Pekel and Doug Wallace
1. Identify the Key Facts
2. Identify and Analyze the Major Stakeholders
3. Identify the Underlying Driving Forces
4. Identify/Prioritize Operating Value and Ethical Principles
5. Decide Who Should Be Involved In Making the Decision
6. Determine and Evaluate All Viable Alternatives
7. Test Preferred Alternative With a Worst-Case Scenario
8. Add a Preventative Component
9. Decide and Build a Short and Long-Term Action-Plan
10. Use Decision-Making Checklist

“But in the end it is hoped that through understanding and the insights gained from the model that the reader can learn how to make more ethical decisions as part of an organization that supports that path in every possible way.”

This information is extremely valuable to all PR practitioners because as people that work for a client we can easily be put into a situation where we our values can be put into question. Do you promote an item that goes against your personal views? Do you “spin” something so that your client makes more money and you don’t lose your job? These are issues that could face each one of us and by using Schear’s book (and others) as a tool we can be prepared to handle these decisions.

The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media

Blog by: Dara Pickering

Paul Gillin's book, "The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media," offers real-life advice for marketers and public relations professionals alike.

“It’s not that the younger generation shuns the media. They just shun the media their parents use.”

Gillin explains the book is solely about influencers, not necessarily the specific channels used to influence the social media market. This is understandable because our generation has seen these channels rise, adapt and fade over the course of just a few years. For example, Myspace used to be a popular social media site, but its influence has decreased as other sites have risen, such as Twitter and Facebook. These newer sites promise instant news and even networking for business purposes, rather than to tally up the friend list.

Gillin focuses on the world of blogs—the blogosphere as he deems fit. He argues that the lack of structure in the blogosphere is actually driving the usage of blogs. Ordinarily, a lack of structure would irrefutably lead to demise of the channel; however, bloggers create their own individual structure as well as determine what they deem fit as news and entertainment. The decentralized structure protects against spam messages and spam blogs, because individuals monitor their own content space. This phenomenon is changing the face of news and social media as we know it.

So, what does this mean for marketers and public relations professionals? This means that professionals can interact with their audience, creating a mutually beneficial relationship, and exchange information and input through what Gillin labels as “conversation marketing.” The market of today means a decentralized message that creates authenticity through information exchange rather than delivering those messages.

Trust has become an important word to professionals alike. In order to get audiences to deem a message as credible or follow information, professionals must first build trust. However, with the rise of the blogosphere, Gillin suggests that the youth of today is influenced by word of mouth (WOM), taking advice from bloggers or strangers rather than professionals.

Gillin created the five following commandments for the blogosphere:

1) Thou shalt Link—Linking is a form of attribution for blogs. Bloggers
should never steal content, so always link to your sources.

2) Thou shalt not diss— Respect the views of others.

3) Thou shalt be transparent— Bloggers must open themselves up either for ridicule or for praise. You have to show your true self and not be afraid of what others may say.

4) Thou shalt comment—Bloggers must interact in the blogosphere. Gillin
claims commenting is protocol for blogging.

5) Thou shalt not blather—Do not post blogs over 500 words because you do
not want to bore your audience.

Finally, Gillin argues that “no profession stands to influence social media like public relations.” This is due to the understanding of relationships to which many PR professionals have become accustomed. PR professionals also know how to use social media to their advantage, reaching and understanding audiences. The new era of blogs, wikis, and tweets will be one in which communications are shaped for the future.

Looking for a blog? Gillin suggests Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy.com, Disney,and a blog about all things google.

Life After Enron

By Leah Packard

Everyone has heard of the Enron scandal that took place in 2001. Enron was an energy company that filed for bankruptcy and came to stand for corporate fraud and corruption. When the market started to dip in 2000, Enron stock began to drop as well so few realized there could be an issue. What the public did not know was that executives were dumping millions worth of stock because they knew the actual state of the company. A few months later the company posted a $638 million loss. Not only was the company failing quickly, but investors and employees soon discovered that senior executives had received over $750 million in salaries, bonuses, and stock options the year before the company declared bankruptcy.
For my book report, I read a book titled Life After Enron: Not Business as Usual, Rise of the New Ethics Class by Stephen G. Austin and Mary Steelman. After reading the book I realized that it would have been extremely valuable for those associated with the banking bailouts taking place right now in America because many of the problems addressed in the book seem to have occurred within the banking businesses as well. The book was written in 2004 and could predict the The book is filled with charts about a problem or an issue for a company and a solution for each problem. Many issues are covered in the book but one of my favorite chapters is called “Tone at the Top” because it gives examples of successful businesses that have succeeded without corruption at the top. One example is Chick-fil-A, who built its company based on Christian values. The book explains that if corporations would use “faith-based principles” to structure their companies, they could succeed in the long run while not practicing in behaviors that test the code of ethics.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others who would find an interest in corporate ethics and suggestions for building a successful business. I feel the book is very relevant because although it references rebuilding the corporate community after the Enron scandal, I believe Enron is interchangeable with the likes of CitiGroup, Bank of America, and AIG, which are exampled of those involved in the banking bailout. Greed and corruption run our corporations, who have way to strong of a hold on the economy. Those who build success on lies and corruption will eventually fall, possible taking the American economy down with it. We need a structure like the one described in Austin and Steelman’s book.