Ethics as Electives: How import is ethics in relation to strategic communication

by Rashida Douglas

Why is business ethics distinguished from ethics in general? Is it because there is a separate code of conduct that is acceptable in business that is not acceptable in interpersonal relationships? The “Handbook of Corporate Communication and Public Relations: Pure and Applied” discusses the lack of emphasis placed on ethics in strategic communications academics and how this lack of proper ethics engagement results in public relations catastrophes like that of Enron and Arthur Anderson. Albert S. Atkinson, a contributing writer to the book, goes on to say that there was not enough culpability placed on the corporate communicators who acted as the “faces” of these organizations. “I found that out of 13 universities offering advanced accounting degrees only one required an ethics course, while of the 12 universities offering advanced communication degrees, none made ethics a required course.”

According to the book the public also has a keen sense of where the ethical barometer lies according to profession. Polls indicate 90 percent of individuals surveyed believe fire fighters have a high ethical standard, 58 percent for college teachers, 25 percent for executives and 11 percent for advertising professionals--the category most closely related to public relations. How can PR practitioners create the soul of an organization if they have no ethical framework for guiding their decision-making? Essentially, the text indicates there should be more emphasis placed on how ethics fits into strategic communications and the level of responsibility practitioners have for disseminating proper and correct information to target publics.

Ethics for Journalists

Ethics for Journalists

By: Tafara Cameron

Richard Keeble’s text, Ethics for Journalists (2nd Edition) examines the issues that journalists encounter on a regular, day-to-day basis from the perspective of the media. Keeble also tackles the various ethical dilemmas with provided interviews and overviews that can ultimately develop strategies to assist in 1) the representation of gender, race, health, disability, sexual orientation 2) the impact of competition on media standards 3) ethics and its challenges on “professionalism” 4) approaches regarding cynicism 5) the handling of confidential dilemmas and sources of war and 6) the power of the press and controversy thereof.

Ethics is somewhat expected to be defined in a variety of broad senses; for example one definition can imply that ethics promotes the freedom to choose. In retrospect, this would conclude that our actions are drawn by our very own self-interest. Some explanations of how to carefully examine the truth about ethics would derive from the stressors on professionalism/ public interest; including the idea of free press, the press/ media as a Fourth Estate, accuracy and truthfulness and the codes of conduct. Keeble comments on The Watergate Investigation and the ethical/ non-ethical opinions The media, including the Washington Post took this scandal and ran with it on all levels.

Even further, during the 1995 O.J Simpson Trial, The Gulf Wars of 1990-1991, and the death of Princess Diana in 1997 all critically evaluated because of the media’s depoliticisation with sports, lifestyles, sex and health. Some say that critics have been reluctant to the idea of political apathy and are obsessed with media coverage which ends up losing the value and ethical credibility in due time.

PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences

by Nick Holmes

PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences by Deirdre Breakenridge highlights the “new” Public Relations. Public relations has become a “Two-Way Highway” in the past few years. No longer does one send a press release and hope it gets published, then hope someone actually reads it. In the modern day, publics feel the need to interact with their lives.

Social Media is the face of this changing medium. Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have forever changed the way Public Relations practitioners interact with the publics. Using these new tools, PR professionals can place messages in places not traditionally known for news.

These new tools are developing around us. PR Practitioners needs to realize that this new medium is the way of the future and to embrace it rather than fight it.

PR Practitioners need to remember in this digital age to monitor what they send out, and the frequency in which information is released. The fastest way to lose followers is to pollute their streams with useless information. Publics are willing to share their social networking time with outside organizations, but this privilege should not be abused. As a twitter user, I have “unfollowed” many celebrities or companies when they pollute my Twitter feed. If I am doing this as a Public Relations student who understand and supports their efforts, what is this causing your average society member to do?

Social Media will continue to evolve and eventually be replaced by the next “big thing.” But until PR 3.0, this is the world we’re living in.

R.B.I. Hits a homerun

By Matthew Burris

Major League Baseball has been seeing a decline in urban American youths wanting to pick up a glove and bat.

It's a dangerous prospect, the concept of losing a whole generation of stellar athletes to other games, or, worse, a life of crime.

That's why the Major League Baseball offices have gone to drastic measures to reach out to these publics and target minorities in particular, in an effort to increase young minority participation in the game of baseball.

The program, Reviving Baseball in Inner cities, or RBI, and the accompanying PR campaign have been a great success.

MLB has used a variety of exciting and effective tactics to bring kids to baseball.

From the old stand-by's of news releases and press conferences, to community events and public service announcements starring real MLB stars (most of whom are a minority), MLB has reached out to community leaders as well as kids.

Going forward, MLB plans to open more RBI locations and give back to many more communities. Building baseball facilities around the country not only serves to improve the life of the game, but the lives of those kids who wouldn't have otherwise had the chance to play ball.

Great job, Major League Baseball.

"Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations and the Ethos of Advocacy" by Jackall & Hirota

by: Angenene Kendrick

I chose “Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy” by Robert Jackall and Janice M. Hirota.

This book traces the roots of American advocacy in the form of advertising and public relations back to World War I. The government’s role in the creation of the Committee on Public Information was the beginning of selling America’s international relations to its public. Public opinion was effectively altered through the work of the CPI, and subsequent messages from the U.S. government came from the strategic messaging and imaging models that were developed in the early part of the 20^th century. I think this is amazing, because the most popular media avenues which we now use weren’t even invented yet.

Today nearly 80 percent of production of “news” now comes from advocacy sources. Branding, centralized messages, and moral interpretation was propagated in the profession and vocation of advertising and public relations. In today’s integrated model, we see that sometimes the lines have blurred between the two divisions, but historically, they have worked in tandem also.

“Image Makers” also traces the connections between public policy, the market economy and strategic communications professionals. It follows the social and cultural changes in American thinking and how it was impacted and is still impacted by advocacy professionals.

Jackall is a sociologist and Hirota is an anthropologist. I think their views are very interesting in interpreting the historic advocacy and strategic communications fields. They define the modern expert as “the image maker skilled in the creation and propagation of symbols to persuade mass audiences to some action or belief."