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Asking for YOUR ethics experiences!
by Dr. Shannon A. Bowen
Rating:3 
March 24, 2008
Thank you for visiting my work on ethics! Now that you have visited the “ETHICS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS” part of the Essential Knowledge Project (generously supported by the Institute), I would like to ask—no, beg—for your feedback! I am particularly interested in hearing from practitioners.
I would love your thoughts on my work in the form of real-world examples. To help advance my work, I would also like to genrate some COMMON ETHICAL DILEMMAS PRACTITIONERS FACE, based on what you tell me. In so doing, I can (hopefully) create a section of the website along the lines of “Common Ethical Dilemmas” and provide some guidance for thinking through each type of ethical dilemma.
Before I can write that, I need your help! I would love for practitioners to post a brief summary of a REAL ETHICAL SCENARIO that you have encountered in your professional practice. SIMPILE GUIDELINES:
-->Please summarize your situation in a short paragraph.
-->Please do not use real names of others, cleients, or companies!
-->Explain a bit of how the issue came to be.
-->When did you realize it was an ethical issue?
--> Please TYPE ANONYMOUS or “NAME WITHHELD” in the identify box if you don’t want the comment attributed to you!!
A simple paragraph should give us plenty of EXAMPLES TO DISCUSS and not take up more than 5 minutes of your time. I appreciate your assistance in furthering our understanding of Ethics in PR, and I will provide any insightful comments that I can - or perhaps we can discuss the common themes emerging in ethical situations faced by practitioners.
Have things changed? What are cutting edge practitioners facing with regard to ethics today? Please take A MOMENT NOW to provide me with your real-world ETHICAL ISSUE EXAMPLES!
I invite your feedback!
Remember, ANONYMOUS SUBMISSIONS are welcome!
Thank you and best regards,
Shannon A. Bowen
Comment:
I have experienced a number of ethical situations in public relations. My first was as a hospital internal PR person at a large catholic hospital. I designed and wrote the hospital’s annual report and was told to write a letter to run beside a photograph of the president (a nun) inside the front cover. I reluctantly agreed. When I offered the letter to the president for approval, she told me to sign the letter for her. I checked with my boss and she said I should sign the letter.
To avoid forging the signature, I found a document signed by the president and reproduced it at the end of the letter.
I now teach mass communications and insist that public relations practitioners take the (small amount of) time to ask officials for direct quotes—and their signatures. I remind students that anyone refusing to assist is apt to practice sloppy ethics in other areas.
By Dr. Jane S. McConnell on 2008 07 07