September is Ethics Month for PRSA and PRCA. While I believe we should talk about ethics more than one month a year (one reason I created this blog and podcast), the good news is, there should be a ton a content for those that are interested. This week there are interesting articles on meaning, character and the rise of moral leaders. I also liked Tim O’Brien’s piece on ethics and AI.
Erin Callanan, the director of media relations for WGBH, discusses a number of ethics challenges including:
1) What to do when you are asked to make inflated claims
2) Balancing the desire to bring in revenue with the desire to only work with clients you believe in
3) How to combat misinformation
This week the PR ethics discussion is all around ethical leadership. From a new model detailed in the Harvard Business Review, to a new ethics guide for leaders implementing AI in PR, to ethical leadership in purpose driven conversations. Some great reading to bring the month to a close.
Dianne Danowski Smith, the president and founder of Publix Northwest, covers a broad spectrum of ethical issues, including:
1) Unexpected ethical lessons from Tonya Harding
2) What to do when ethics and legal opinion lead to different conclusions
3) What to do when employees don’t want to represent a specific client
4) How to handle the ethical challenge of reporters with agendas
This week, there were a number of profound and eminently debatable ethics issues including a number of articles looking at ethical issues in advocacy and technology. The most fascinating discussion for me though deals with potential virtue-based ethics failings around the pardon of Susan B. Anthony.
Joining me on this week’s episode is David Calusdian, the President of Sharon Merrill Associates David is my first guest who focuses on investor relations. He shares his insight on a number of key topics, including:
1) Should you work with someone when their values do not align with yours?
2) What are ethical issues companies face with ESG
3) Core ethical issues with investor relations
This week is chock full of high-profile ethics issues. I can’t wait until I start teaching my PR Ethics course again at Boston University in less than a month as we will have great discussions on these and other issues. Some highlights (or lowlights) include the ethical use of money, bad behavior and inspiration from Marilyn Laurie, the first female CCO.
Lisa Gralnek, the Principal and Founder of LVG & Co., has some great insight to share, including:
1) The ethical trap of enabling toxic, abusive high-performers
2) How can companies best live their values?
3) Why you shouldn’t always fall on your sword
4) The perils of “me before we”
This week I came across three different but interesting stories looking at ethical issues around virtual people. Authenticity was a theme that wove through most of the articles as well. Plus, we get to look at payola in sports media and a really fascinating article on the communication metaverse which introduced a few new areas of concern to me, including brain computer interface data.
Dan Tisch, the CEO of Argyle, one of Canada’s largest and best agencies, discusses:
1) What to do when you can’t convince others to do the ethically right thing
2)Why reputation matters more than image
3) One ethics question every agency owner needs to ask before taking on a new client
4) How communication professionals must prepare as the risk of deception increases daily