How big a threat are deepfakes? What drugs are OK to send to Russia? Do ethics matter to employees? What is ethical lobbying? This week there were some great stories – and a funny Dilbert cartoon on ethics.
Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA
Mark W. McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA, is the general manager of C+C's Boston office. C+C is a communications agency all about the good and purpose-driven brands. He has more than 20 years of tech and fintech agency experience, served as the 2016 National Chair of PRSA, drove the creation of the PRSA Ethics App and is the host of EthicalVoices.com
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The Irish Times discusses how ethical shoppers are driving a revolution. But beyond that, key ethics stories for the week all revolved around ethics and business.
Aaron Kwittken, the founder and chairman of KWT Global and the founder of PRophet, discusses:
1) An issue he still regrets not speaking up on 30 years ago
2) Ethical issues in merging the science and art of public relations
3) How augmented intelligence can help enhance our profession
4) How do we create belonging in a hybrid environment?
This week so many of the ethics stories revolved around people saying one thing and doing (or not doing) another. From International Women’s Day to Ukraine to employee activism, ethics is front and center in many of the most prominent topics of the week.
Dan Farkas, a lecturer of strategic communication at the Ohio State University, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:
1) Why we need to think slow cooker rather than Instant Pot when it comes to PR measurement
2) How can you ethically blend empathy and accountability?
3) What is the most engaging PRSA ethics case study?
4) What ethics lessons can we learn from Ted Lasso?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine resonated throughout the world and this includes business, public relations and communication. Businesses and organizations are willingly going beyond focusing on shareholder or stakeholder value, and doing the morally right thing – even if it hurts in the short term. The Global PR Trade Associations
From businesses thriving due to good works, to fairness in competition and the role of reputation – Virtue played a big role on ethics articles this week. Not to be outdone, there was a great Teleological article on navigating the ethical risks of doing business in China.
Rick Batyko, the chief marketing officer for the YMCA of Greater Cleveland, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:
1) What to do when your competitor intentionally causes panic
2) How to effectively fight disinformation
3) What the PR industry needs to do next
From spouses and conflict of interest, to the latest fashion industry ethics fail, to some skeevy monetization of user data, there were quite a few interesting ethics articles this week.
first interviewed Felicia Blow, APR, almost two years ago. She was one of my first 15 interviews for the blog and podcast. This year she is the 2022 National Chair or PRSA, so I thought it made sense to revisit the interview.
She discusses a number of important topics including:
• How to make the ethical choice when your bosses issue conflicting orders
• What to do when your employer lies to you
• New areas of PR ethics concerns
• The best ethics advice she ever received