Is Public Relations forgetting about ethics?

"Public Relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other."

The above statement is the definition of public relations according to an article titled “Redefining P.R. in the Age of Social Media.” Now at first glance one would assume that this definition “fits the bill” so to speak, however when media literate or involved in the public relations world, one can find many holes in that sentence.

To begin the statement claims that there is a mutual relationship between the organization being helped and the publics it promotes to. I would beg to differ that this relationship is not equal because the company or organization using the public relations firm has an agenda. This agenda is first and foremost to make money, not to necessary cater to the public. Are they really helping the public?

Second many would argue that the public relations firm does not help the organization adapt to the public, but to help them communicate a message through a given medium to the public. This being said, it means that P.R. and the organization decide what the message is and how it will be delivered. Does this sound like a mutual relationship with the public if they have the ability to decide what is said and when it is said?

In the same article mentioned above, several members of the Public Relations community discussed their thoughts of the current state of the P.R. professional environment.

Adam Lavelle, a member of the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association who is the chief strategic officer at the iCrossing unit of Hearst stated,

“Before the rise of social media, public relations was about trying to manage the message an entity was sharing with its different audiences. Now, P.R. has to be more about facilitating the ongoing conversation in an always-on world.”

Dan Tisch, chairman of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, said

“We as a profession have to explain what we do, in terms that are memorable, relevant, clear and consistent. In a world where the ordinary consumer is walking around with global publishing power in his or her pocket, the role of public relations and corporate communications has shifted from creating content to attempting to influence the content that’s created by others.”

Both professionals express concern with the current world Public Relations. They discuss the changes caused by technology and more importantly, social media. With social media, the general public is able to communicate their thoughts and feelings about a brand, product, or corporation. The problem with this scenario is that they have the ability to provide not only false information about the company, but also their negative ideas.

The definition of Public Relations should not allow for any doubt to argue for unethical decisions in business practice, which the current vague definition does. The classification of P.R. should emphasize the impact it has on the public and the business world, as well as show importance to telling the truth.

In the article “Time for Resolutions: Will You Commit to P.R. Ethics is 2012?” the author shows the influence P.R. has by stating, “The U.S. public relations industry concluded a remarkable five-year growth period in 2011, reaching $5.7 billion in annual client spending.” He also says that P.R. spending will double in the following year.

It’s hard not to see the power P.R. firms have over the way messages are delivered to us. It would not be a problem if they always told the truth, but as stated in the article above, there were many poor decisions made in P.R. in 2011.

One example was the P.R. smear campaign created by firm Buron-Marsteller. The firm was hired by social media powerhouse Facebook to secretly attack the new social media platform created by corporation Google. The smear campaign, which has been called “Whisper-Gate”, had journalists working for B-M and pitching false claims of privacy issues with Google’s site. Several news outlets including USA Today found the claims suspicious and after much research discovered they were all false.

This unethical campaign caused much controversy for not only impacting Google and its users, but also affecting the entire world of Public Relations. In the articles “PRSA official: Smear Campaigns Have No Place in PR” and “Why All of PR Will Pay for ‘Whisper-Gate’” the affects of the campaign are developed further.

The campaign when against what P.R. is believed to stand for which is representing brands and corporations in a fashion that is truthful and honest. Instead this P.R. firm went against the importance of credibility and focused on the monetary gains they would received from Facebook.

  

The FTC and PRSA are not trying to have P.R. practices monitored for their decisions when creating campaigns. I think this might help at first, but how it is possible to monitor what everyone is doing, is it really necessary? I think the problem to begin with is that people should know what decisions are unethical. The problems start when they lose that in the sight of money.

So the question now stands: What should Public Relations do now?

Interestingly enough the co-founder of Buron-Marsteller Harold Burson had it right back in 2009,

“The public relations professional helps hone the messages that will be most persuasive to the audience and selects the media (usually a mix of media) that will deliver the messages most credibly and economically. It goes without question that this process take place within the context of uncompromised dedication to truth and transparency.”

So I wonder what happened from 2009 to now?

Referenced Texts:

·      Why all of PR will pay for ‘Whisper-Gate’

·      PRSA official: Smearcampaigns have no place in PR

·      Time for Resolutions: WillYou Commit to PR Ethics in 2012?

·      Media Ethics: Issues & Cases

·      RedefiningPublic Relations in the Age of Social Media

Who is the villain here?

I'll let you decide.

The Falling Man

Who is he?

September 11^th was a day that would forever change the United States. It was filled with tragedy, heartache, and sadness. Many photos and videos were taken on the day, but none would cause more controversy than “The Falling Man.”

The Falling Man.

In the book, Media Ethics: Issues & Cases, a case study features the story of the “The Falling Man” photograph. It tells the story of photographer Richard Drew and how when he witnessed people jumping from the burning towers, he photographed them. The next day the photo ran in several papers with other photos from the attack. However, the photo caused quite the controversy with readers who began calling and emailing outraged by what they had seen.

The writers, photographers, editors, and other media professionals during the 9/11 attacks were faced with many ethical dilemmas. “In an event where every aspect of coverage was graphic, violent and horrifying, the decisions about what to show to tell the totality of the story became the decisions that relied heavily on the standards of those working the desks,” (Patterson 43).

So should the newspapers/television channels have run the photo?

To make a difficult decision like this one, journalism should turn to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. The code starts off with a preamble stating,

“The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.”

The code of ethics goes on to explain four main ideas:

·       Seek Truth and Report It

·       Minimize Harm

·       Act Independently

·       Be Accountable

This code of ethics is helpful to evaluate a decision such as running “The Falling Man” image. One of the main facts is that it is an event that happened on the day of 9/11. It is newsworthy. The photographer did not doctor the photo and he was just at the right place at the right time to capture this moment. The reason the newspapers and television stations ran this photo is because it is a power image that portrays the tragic events and also the difficult choices the victims had to make in a time of crisis – either be trapped on a burning floor or jump. While the media was accountable and minimized harm by refused to run photo after the uproar from the public, they did their job by seeking the truth and reporting it.

Despite the help the code of ethics provides, it also is important to use different ethical perspectives as well when making decisions. Two examples would be Kant’s Categorical Imperative and Mill’s Utility Principle.

Kant’s Categorical Imperative brings focus to the action. “Immanuel Kant is best known for his categorical imperative which is most often stated in two ways. The first asserts that an individual should act as if the choices one makes for oneself could become universal law. The second states that you should act so that you treat each individual as an end and never merely a means,” (Patterson 9). Therefore the journalist should focus on the action of running the photograph. By running the photograph they are bringing light to one of the horrific events of 9/11. Does this mean that photographs of any subject should be published if it is horrific event? What if this became universal law? What if people began running photos of people dying all the time?

While Kant provides emphasis to the action, Mill’s Utility Principle focuses on the outcome of a situation. “The consequences of actions are important in deciding whether they are ethical,” (Patterson 10). So what would happen after running the photo? Well in the case study many readers were upset and filed complaints with the media. The newspaper or TV station could lose their audience if they are unhappy with the photo. The media could then regret showing the photo and would withhold from showing similar images to the public and therefore would be keeping information from people.

I think that based on the journalism code of ethics, Kant, and Mill that if I was in the same situation as the case study of “The Falling Man” that I would run the photo. I feel it is the obligation of the press to show the public every part of events especially heartbreaking ones like 9/11. It is not helping the public by censoring images like “The Falling Man”. While it can be painful to those that were victims of the incident, it brings to light the pain and suffering everyone as Americans feel and honors those individuals in the photos, instead of exploiting them. People made difficult decisions that day, ones that changed lives, so it is only fair to share those moments with the public. Those events were not only newsworthy, but were part of history.

Referenced and Cited Texts:

·       Media Ethics: Issues & Cases

·       Society of Professional Journalists: Code ofEthics

My lips are sealed...well maybe...

Why yes Ron the glory of America is to make your own choices, however shouldn’t it be your right to be given accurate information from the media as well?

This video is from the NBC show Parks and Recreation. It tells the story of a Parks & Rec department and the problems they face on a daily basis. Now the clip above is from an episode titled “Sweetums.”

In this episode the town of Pawnee has decided to allow the popular candy corporation Sweetums to control the food stands in the town’s parks. When the corporation claims they have created a new health bar that would provide citizens and their children with a healthy snack, the department decides to try the bars themselves.

Characters Leslie and Ann soon realize that the bars are not healthy at all, and in fact are extremely unhealthy. The Sweetums corporation has been lying about its healthy benefits to not only the Parks dept., but the consumers.

So you are probably wondering what this example from a fictional TV show has to do with media ethics?

Well, every day media professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas. Whether they are a reporter and faced with releasing secret information, or a public relations firm backing a possibly harmful product, media professionals must make ethical decisions daily.

The big problem today’s media faces is that many media professionals do not realize the impact they have on the general public. “Profitability and deadline pressures, not ethical values, too often end up defining the quality of media content,” (Plaisance 234). So the question becomes, when faced with an ethical dilemma are you making the right decision?

The biggest mistake people make when dealing with an ethical dilemma is not analyzing the impact their decision might make. “Ethics addresses individuals actions or behaviors, but also deals with the big picture,” (Plaisance 21). People sometimes forget to take others into account as well as the many possible outcomes of a situation.

"I don't know why these bars are so good" (Click Me)

Character Leslie Knope has figured out that “nutriyums” were bad for one’s health. She has realized the corporation that will be sponsoring the food stands in her department are not only putting the children of Pawnee at risk, but also have been lying about the health bars. What should she do?

 If I were Leslie Knope I would first look at the stakeholders in the situation. The people invested in the situation are Leslie and the Parks Department, Sweetums, The City of Pawnee Government, and the Citizens of Pawnee or the Consumers.

I would begin with bringing the knowledge I have gained to a superior. I would let my boss know my findings and perhaps ask some advice on how to deal with the solution. Leslie tells her superior Ron about the unhealthy findings of “nutriyums.” Ron does not feels the “nutriyums” pose such an issue to cause a problem and tells Leslie to just let it go. Leslie does not agree.

So what should she do next? My thoughts would be to go to another individual or professional for advice. Leslie decides to take her information with Ann (a nurse) to a public forum.

So what would be the downside of her sharing this information?

The Parks and Rec department could lose the sponsorship from Sweetums. Leslie could cause a strained professional relationship between herself and her coworkers. There is even a possibility that Leslie could cause strain with the public for not looking into this issue originally.

Leslie’s situation is one that I think every media professional will face during their careers. While a career in the media might provide more of an impact than sugary snacks in the town of Pawnee, the basics of how to find the best solution are the same.

However one has to remember that even if you inform the public, you might not always get the response you hope for –

Referenced and Cited Texts:

• WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy

• Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practice

The Ethics of Media

It’s been almost six years since I decided I wanted to work in the media. The summer before my freshmen year I decided that I wanted my career to be a media professional, however I did not fully understand the responsibility that came with such a career path.

Working in the media means one can choose a concentration of newspapers, magazines, websites, television, film, and books. While each of these mediums are different in the ways they are distributed and disseminated by their given audiences, they all equally hold the power to create quite an impact.

After graduating college, I decided to move forward with a career in television. I worked for a popular television company that was quite the resume builder, however it was a company that strongly valued secrecy.

Before a person even began their career at this company they had to sign a several page confidentiality statement about the inner-workings they might see or hear at this business.

I found myself in constant ethical scenarios about situations I had see and heard. I would encounter secrets and rumors that if released to the media could cause large amounts of damage. I had never experienced a job like this one, but soon after I realized that many companies, corporations, and even educational institutions, have their secrets.

 One example would be the story of “Ed Dante” from The Chronicle Review. This article, written under a pen name to protect the individual, describes a business in which students pay writers large amounts of money to create custom papers for their college work. While the idea of turning in a paper that is not one’s own work is blatantly cheating, the question remains: who is in the wrong? At first it is easy to point the finger at the writer. He is the one aiding the students, and perhaps if he were not supplying the service then the students wouldn’t cheat. However on the other hand, the writer claims that it is the educational system itself that is causing the problem to exist in the first place with its importance on grading. So is what the writer doing really unethical?

Luckily through my college career I took a Philosophy 101 course so I have an idea of how to handle ethical situations. I also think I have a pretty good hold on what is right and wrong to help me with my ethical decision-making. However, I also think it is always beneficial to gain more knowledge on ethics, specifically because I am in a professional field that supplies the public with information.

  In Media Ethics:Issues & Cases, I reviewed several different ethical theories including: Bok’s Model, Aristotle’s Golden Mean, Utilitarianism, the Pluralistic Theory of Value, and Communitarianism. While I have studied many of these theories in great depth, it was interesting to study others. I find that I agree with many of them, but find that the Golden Mean and Utilitarianism really stood out to me. I find that I am always living by  “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself,” while at the same time looking for the best solution for all involved in a problem.

•  How does one make a decision about an ethical problem in a short timeframe?

• If someone in the media makes the wrong decision, what is the best way to fix it?

Referenced Texts:

• Media Ethics: Issues & Cases
• "The Shadow Scholar" The Chronicle Review