Issues in Journalism

Issues in Journalism

By Erin Chancellor

The book “Issues in Journalism: a Discussion Guide for News Media Ethics” by Maclyn McClary (a professor at Humboldt State University), features a group of fictional reporters who work for a publication called “The Evening Star”. These reporters names are Burt, Charlene, and Mark. The author McClary uses these reporters to illustrate certain issues in journalism. These issues include discussions of the ‘the power of a reporter’, ‘ethics in PR’ ‘the importance of diversity in the newsroom’ and ‘journalists and political backing’. The book was meant to be used as a discussion guide and teaching tool. The stories, though they all feature the same characters, do not include a plot line that develops throughout the text. The end of each chapter also features discussion type questions that cause the reader to think about the issue being discussed.

A particularly interesting chapter discussed the role of a PR person. It featured the three characters talking about the benefits of good PR people today, and the differences between PR today and in the past. It mentions the hard work of Public Relations Society of America to bring a positive image to PR. The questions at the bottom of this chapter meant for discussion include “what are the connotations and denotations of the terms used to describe PR people and publicists?” and “describe several types of PR practices and policies”.

This book was easy to read and included good discussion points for journalism classes. I think a book like this would be great for teaching material in Gaylord College classes.

Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning

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By: Leslie Koch

Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning by Christians et al., does a great job at comprehensively discussing ethical issues involved with today’s media as well as society. The book not only makes the readers think about their own moral values, but brings up great points about the changing ways of thinking in today’s media.

The book outlines important issues in four separate parts; news media, advertising, public relations and entertainment. In the news media section the authors discuss the effect of corporations on the news, the difficulties of truth telling, the reliability of sources and portrayal of social issues. In advertising the book focuses on issues brought up by commercialization, image portrayal, and general moral issues in the profession of advertising. When discussing public relations ethics, the authors bring up issues involving conflict of interests, social responsibility and the challenges of representing an organization. The entertainment section of the book describes violence as entertainment, the pressure of profit, and censoring issues.

In each section, the book uses actual cases to illustrate the issues and defend the authors’ arguments. In the preface, the authors say that they believe in using case studies to learn, because that is the nature of the media industry. Media and communication is an experience-based and hands-on environment, where learning occurs by doing. Because of this, the authors choose to use real-life examples for the readers to learn vicariously through.

I enjoyed reading the book because of these cases. I found it very beneficial to be able to analyze the arguments by seeing how they were applied (or not applied) in an actual situation. I believe that ethics is a hard subject to teach, because it is based on moral reasoning and the answer is not always the same. However, I thought the book did a great job at working through those challenges and shedding light on sensitive subjects.

Media Training 101: A Guide to Meeting the Press

by: Simone Fraid

For my ethics study, I selected the book Media Training 101: A Guide to Meeting the Press by Sally Stewart.  

Stewart founded SA Stewart Communications, an organization that helps businesses formulate strategic actions for marketing, communication, and media relations.  She also was a reporter for USA Today, and therefore understands public relations from the perspective of the media.

In the book, she gives a wide range of advice, from dealing with crisis to creating a media kit.  Through it all, she weaves each topic together with its relationship to the media.  

And though she was a member of the media, she provides a very objective view of the media.  She concedes that they have a great deal of power, but that they also harbor resentment against public relations and so they must be dealt with carefully.

Pretty much all of Stewart's advice stems from the same idea: public relations needs to be about facts.  She says reporters are resentful of fluff and non-facts.

She also advises the reader to how to be a strategic communicator and get noticed in the press. Stewart tells businesses to use creativity and interesting angles to get their point across, but always while sticking to the truth.  She tells also them to be tough and have a thick skin when the media doesn't act in their favor.  

The entire book is a manual full of tips and steps to improve a business' positioning in the media.  As Stewart says, it's not a substitute for having leadership and good experts to guide a business' media dealings, but it does give solid instruction that would be useful to anyone dealing with the media on a regular basis.

Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work!

Can We Do That?!

By: Amy Crosby

For this class I chose to read Can We Do That?!  by Peter Shankman. This book talks about some of the crazy business stunts PR professionals have pulled in order to get their clients some publicity. Shankman is CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. located in New York City. In the beginning of the book, he starts out with the PR basics and gradually eases up from that point. From Chapter 3 on, Shankman engulfs the reader with numerous accounts of PR stunts than some think prove to be unethical, but Shankman shows us that these stunts are the mere result of PR professionals coming up with a great idea and actually following through with it.

My favorite section of the book is about the WebDive 2000. This was a time when the PR industry was booming and new clients were coming in and new employees were being added to the payroll. The Greek Factory decided to take a new approach to how they looked at clients. They ultimately decided to treat themselves, the employees, like clients. They decided to promote themselves as the agency that loves what they do. Skydiving became the theme around WebDive 2000 and they decided to take all of the employees skydiving. In late May, they posted a message saying, "Want to jump out of a plane? The Geek Factory is thinking of organizing a giant Skydiving Day for Silicon Valley area people. Interested? E-mail us." Within three hours they had filled up 100 spots and had a wait list almost as long. Of course the media stories were spectacular. BusinessWeek did a full-page story online. PR Week magazine gave them the headline "When Thee Geeks Say Jump, Bring Your Business Card," and the first line said, "Want to find out what your clients and media contacts are really made of? Jump out of a plane with them."

In the end, the WebDive was a successful event for so many different reasons. They got spectacular coverage and a host of new clients. The company also got a great story they can all tell forever. Reporters learned that they were truly creative and made friendships that have lasted.

Shankman on "putting ourselves into ruts."

"We settle into routine because it's comfortable. We take the expressway the same way to work each day because it's easy. We go to the burger place on the corner instead of the health food store because it's a block closer. We are trained to take the easy way out. And that's fine for some things. 

The problem, however, is when we do the same thing in all facets of our lives. Because we then become complacent. Complacency, as said many, many times, can lead to failure."

From this, among many of Shankman's other brilliant stories we see the following:

-Ideas come when you least expect them to: Be ready, not only to write down the idea, but ready to act on it immediately.

- Treat yourself as the client. Do it the same way you would if you were a client. After all, you're "paying" for your time in other ways; don't waste it.

- Be creative, and don't be afraid to fail.

The Father of Spin

By Brittany Robinson

Edward Bernays is known as the father of public relations. Bernays began the field of public relations without even knowing that he was creating a career for himself when he promoted the play "Damaged Goods," which was having difficultly raising the appropriate funds. For several years, Bernays continued to publicize theater productions until World War I when he offered his services to the government to promote public support for the war.

In 1922, Bernays married his business partner, Doris E. Fleishmann. Together, the pair promised to shape public opinion in the interest of their clients, or what we know as public relations.

Two of Bernays' best known public relations campaigns were Ivory soap and Lucky Stripe cigarettes. 

Bernays' Ivory soap campaign was successful when he hired a medical consultant to see which soap the hospitals preferred, the white and unperfumed Ivory soap or the color and perfumed competitors. Ivory soap was then backed by the medical community. In order to keep the Ivory name fresh in the public, Bernays organized Ivory soap-sculpturing contests and soap-boat races.

Bernays' most influential work, however, is the work he did for Lucky Strike cigarettes for women. Bernays' was able to influence the fashion world into making the color green in-style so the Lucky Strike cigarette carton would match women's outfits. Also, society frowned down on women who smoked in public. Bernays' transformed this view by holding a parade on Easter Sunday that feature debutantes walking down Fifth Avenue smoking. This was marked as an act of liberation for women all across the country. Bernays was even successful at promoting the cigarettes as a substitute for a sweet treat.

Bernays taught the first public relations class at a major university in 1923 at New York University. Bernays remained a public relations advocate until he passed away in 1995 at the age of 103 years old.

Creativity in Public Relations

By: Ashley Mistretta

I read Creativity in Public Relations by Andy Green. Usually when someone describes a public relations practitioner, the word creative is almost always used. Being creative is a lucky gift for anyone to have because it gives you an edge over everybody else. Creativity is important in this day and age because jobs are becoming more competitive, and the more imaginative someone is, the more they bring to the table.

The book I chose begins with a foreword by the Senior Editor, Anne Gregory, who talks about how creativity is a talent most people crave to have, but few are lucky enough to practice. She says in this book, people will learn that creativity can be for more people, but it will take hard work and involve several endeavors.

This book attempts to help public relations practitioners learn the creative process. The readers should be able to understand what and how the process works as well as how to keep it managed. There are also many techniques given throughout this book to explain how an individual can use their own creative skills.

An interesting way that Green starts off the book is by defining the general definition of creativity. He lists several phrases: as an individual talent; as a process; as a product; and as recognition by others. Then he talks about the adding value that public relations people can bring to this process. He says, “creativity is the ability each of us has to create something new by bringing two or more different elements in a new context, in order to provide added value to a task,” (pg. 8). This made sense to me as I was reading through the first chapter.

Creativity in Public Relations is a great book to have when you need those creative juices to start flowing. His book is written so the reader can ease through the chapters and find what they need. This book also helps PR practitioners learn how to communicate better with the media and clients.

Throughout the book, Green discusses debunking of certain myths about creativity, he talks about the creative process and the five ‘I’s. These include: information, incubation, illumination, integration, and illustration. He also talks about Green Light thinking and Red Light thinking. He lists obstacles to creativity and even offers more books, websites, training and courses for further study on creativity in PR. One thing that helped me get through this book with ease was that he included many charts and visuals. This is an important book for PR practitioners to have because it will have a great effect on their work, stimulate creative ideas, and allow them to open their minds to many opportunities.

Andy Green has his own public relations and marketing consultancy. He has over 20 years of experience in public relations and has won many professional awards for his creative work.

Inside Spin: The Dark underbelly of the PR industry

By Kristin Biery

For my book blog I chose to read Inside Spin, The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry by Bob Burton. Inside Spin is a “behind the scenes investigation of the billion dollar a year Australian PR industry.”
I knew this book was going to be an interesting read just by some of the titles of the chapters: food fights, pushing drugs, killing them softly, when corporations want to cuddle and battle tanks.
The most interesting chapter to me was Chapter Seven: When corporations want to cuddle. It’s an interesting concept but it makes sense. In Inside Spin, Burton talks about Peter Sandman, a low profile PR adviser who recommends his clients act like kindergartners “tell the truth, say you are sorry and share.”
While that is not a radical concept, it is quite strange to hear him recommend bringing in activists and critics where “they are provided with information, their advice is sought and they are even encouraged to help set standards for their operations.” I have heard of thinking of the opposition and planning to avoid their complaints, but to actually bring in critics and find out what they think is a brilliant concept.
The reasoning behind his thinking is that “PR managers need to pay the most attention to those who have the greatest overlap between passion and power.” Activists and critics have passion about their opinions and they have the power to boycott your company or your product. By getting them on your side and opening the door for communication it helps in the future when it comes to coming out with your product and needing support.

How Decisions are Really Made

How Decisions are Really Made
By Natalie Beasley

In Interactive Ethics: How Ethical and Unethical Decisions are Really Made in Organizations, Thomas Schear gives a inside look on how he believes that decisions are really made. He uses a model called the Interactive Ethics Model or IEM, that describes just how decisions are made, and how that determines if the outcome is one that is ethical or unethical. This model is a very systematic and thought out process that he believes gives everyone a better understanding on the decision making process.

Schear argues that although many people believe that all ethical dilemmas can be solved by looking back to a code of ethics, like the PRSA Code of Ethics, or by apply a decision making process, it may or may not be true. He states that these could be options but it is not what “really” goes on in the workplace of organizations. His argument is that the fact remains that some organizations consistently make unethical decisions and then there are some that have greater struggles when faced with a dilemma, as well as there are some that are not consistent in their decision-making. This is where the IEM model comes into play. This model suggests that there are reasons as to why some ethical and unethical decisions are made. A few reasons given in the book are that people often react to a dilemma with their emotions before they seek reasons for their actions. Therefore they are relying too much on their emotions instead of the actions they should be taking. Another way is that dealing with such dilemmas does not help to build the character of the individual, but it actually reveals the “true colors” of the all the parties involved. Schear describes these things as “baggage”. These reasons including a person’s ego, self-control, and dependency on others lead the individuals or organization to be less consistent and more predictable with their decisions.

Throughout the book, Schear gives different perspectives and insights on how organizations deal with an ethical dilemma. He goes more indepth about the IEM and gives a better understanding of the intentions of the IEM. Basically the IEM proves that decisions are not made by a carefully thought out process, but that it has much more to do with the psychological and social state of the organization or individual handling the dilemma.

In some ways some people may find Schear’s book controversial because it argues against what many of us learn in our college educations. Different codes of ethics have always been stressed in class, so it was interesting to get a different perspectives from Schear showing that in the “real-world” decisions aren’t always made based on those codes.

Guerrilla P.R. 2.0

By Brian Russell

I chose Guerrilla P.R. 2.0 by Michael Levine. Levine, is the founder of one of the most prominent entertainment P.R. firms, and has been called “ one of Hollywood’s brightest and most respected executives” by USA Today. I think the book is very practical for people who are on a budget (which is a great number of people in today’s economy) that need to still carry out an effective public relations campaign. The book gives the definition of ethics as the following : “ Ethics constitute the unwritten and unenforceable laws that allow us to get along with one another.”

The book goes on to explain public relations in the most simplest form, and helps people understand the basics of our field. This is a great guide for people who would manage their own small business or non-profit to get a campaign off the ground. The best advice that is given for ethics is, never deliberately lie. This sounds pretty self explanatory, but Levine elaborated in a small list that everybody should follow:

- Do not make a promise that you know you can’t keep.
- Do not fabricate anything about your project that you cannot in some way substantiate.
- Do not mislead the media about any of the central merits and attributes of your project.
- Do any of these, and, as they say in the movies, you’ll never work in this town again.

This list does a great job of summarizing the do’s and don’ts if you want your campaign to be taken seriously. If you begin to burn bridges in this business, it will catch up with you quickly. By not following these rules your credibility will be eliminated, and most likely your campaign will be in the same boat as you are in. It’s easy to think that most people have good ethics, but it is always tempting to take a shortcut and fall off the deep end. I believe the people who have read this book will know the consequences that it can do for not only yourself but also the campaign.