I sure picked a good week to restart the This Week in PR Ethics this year. Everywhere you turn there is an ethics discussion. From ChatGPT to Deepfakes to ChatGPT to M&Ms to ChatGPT and Chatting with Hitler there are topics galore rife for discussion. Did I mention ChatGPT?
Linda Welter, the CEO of Caliber Group, a brand marketing, public relations, and digital firm discusses a number of important ethics topics, including:
1) Where do you draw the competitive line?
2) What is our first responsibility in ethical situations?
3) Ethics issues with influencers
What are the top 5 public relations ethics interviews and podcasts for 2022 on EthicalVoices?
Rebecca Wilson, the Executive Vice President International for WE Communications International provides a great overview of the 2022 Brands in Motion Study and what it means for ethical communicators, including:
1) Addressing the diversity quota dilemma and tokenization
2) How many companies are delivering on their value-led commitments
3) How do brands balance their commitments to practical short-term issues versus long-term issues?
4) Key findings from the 2022 Brands In Motion Study
5) The two things every ethical communicator must embrace
Brian Peterson, the principal of Greater Life Communications, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:
1) How respect can effectively address unethical situations
2) The ethical threat of incivility
3) How public relations professionals are failing and what we can do
4) The need for a culture of kindness
Happy December! Less than five weeks left in the year, with the holidays, CES and NRF fast approaching. One thing that hasn’t changed is the plethora of ethics issues. There are a few doozies to highlight this week.
Following are 93 ethics issues the students and I identified and discussed. These stories were ripped from the headlines. If you missed them, they are worth another review. They make great reading and great discussion for the dinner table. Most even have nothing to do with politics. And only a few deal with sports….
While I could probably just write KFC and Twitter, drop the mic and walk away this week – there are some nuances that are worthy of further exploration.
Thank you! Ethical Voices: Practicing Public Relations with Integrity book launched a month early. And it quickly became the #1 and #5 new public relations book (print and kindle) on Amazon.
Well, the elections sure were interesting. Marlene Neill had a great assignment for her students this week where they had to analyze a political ad of their choice to see if it was ethical. Beyond the elections, the common theme in PR ethics issues this week was (the lack of) virtue.