Ray Kotcher, the former CEO of Ketchum and the Professor of the Practice of public relations at Boston University discusses:
1) How to navigate situations where your values and your organizations values differ
2) Why good managers think of themselves as the mayor of a small town
3) Will GenZ succeed where the Boomers failed?
4) What we need to do to thrive ethically in an era of disruption
Karen Swim, APR, the President and CEO of Words for Hire discusses:
– What to do when your friend acts unethically
– What to do when your organization values results over ethical behavior
– Why every PR person needs to step up and be an ethics champion
– Why ethics cannot be a uniform you wear
Joining me on this week’s episode is Craig Silverman, a reporter at Buzzfeed, who along with two of his colleagues in January wrote one of the most chilling articles I have read in a while, “Disinformation for Hire: How a New Breed of PR Firms is Selling Lies Online”. I wanted to have him as a guest to discuss the article and its implications for communication professionals and society.
Yesterday Weber Shandwick released a study: The State of Corporate Reputation in 2020: Everything Matters Now.
The study found ethics was a top 10 driver of corporate reputation and market value
Shonali Burke, a growth strategist and social expert discusses a number of ethical challenges. Including:
1) What to do when you are asked to protect a large donor’s reputation
2) Will public relations ever overcome its legacy of spin
3) New challenges with transparency and disclosure
4) How PR agencies need to adapt
Loring Barnes, APR, Fellow, PRSA, an independent practitioner and Chair of her town’s Selectboard, discusses a number of key ethical issues including:
• Tough ethical decisions during product recalls
• How communicators should approach ethical issues around cannabis
• The quickest path to redemption after making an ethical lapse
Marisa Vallbona, the founder and president of CIM, Inc PR and co-founder of the PR Consultants Group, discusses:
• Going beyond “that’s unethical” to understand the issues and better guide those you are advising
• What to do when people steal your ideas
• The challenges the lack of enforcement of PRSA’s Code of Ethics creates for the public relations industry
Blake Lewis, the Principal and Founder of Three Box Strategic Communications. Discusses a number of key ethics topics, including:
• Ethical traps for Millennials and Gen Z
• The importance of discernment
• How to make ethics training a regular part of your culture
• How compromise can destroy who you are
Mark Dvorak the executive director of Golin Atlanta and an expert independent consultant, discusses the three biggest threats to ethical behavior in public relations. During the interview he also shares his insight on a variety of topics, including: what ethical guideposts to use when you are facing a new situation and how managers should support their employees in difficult ethical situations.
This week on Ethical Voices, Robin Schell and Stacey Smith, senior counsel and partners at Jackson, Jackson & Wagner discuss a number of key PR and communication ethics issues, including:
• What to do when a client asks you to anonymously leak information
• Ethical issues with transparency and in-person research
• How to ethically leverage appeals to emotion
• The one ethics guidepost every PR pro needs to keep top of mind