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Ethics Corner
By Jeff Courtright, Ph.D.
Ethics Chair
It’s a new year, but
the news continues to be filled with questions of ethics that affect
perceptions of our profession and of important public institutions as
well as corporate entities and non-profits. Here’s a sampling:
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Illinois isn’t the only state with a
governor whose performance has raised ethics issues. In Louisiana, Gov.
Bobby Jindal has done a great job of self promotion but a poor one in
doing his job, according to C.B. Forgotston, a political watchdog. The
Shreveport Times reports that Jindal has promised passage of
ethics reform, but Forgotston is skeptical that it will stop the
corruption that has plagued Louisiana politics for decades.
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The
Financial Planning Association, a trade association, has no plans for
public relations efforts, “despite the fact that a large majority of
financial advisers are looking to industry organizations to help bolster
their image in the wake of the Bernard Madoff scandal” (Investment
News, January 5).
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According
to the Miami Herald, Monsanto’s claims that genetically modified
(GM) foods will solve world hunger are a “gross overstatement at best
and at worst an outright lie.” Additionally, neither side of the GM
foods controversy can support that they are completely safe or unsafe.
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Encroachment
on public relations by journalism: Dan Abrams, former anchor and top
executive with MSNBC, is launching a new public relations firm that will
hire practicing journalists to advise corporate clients on handling the
media. Conflict of interest, perhaps? Certainly a violation of
journalistic ethics!
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Environmental
groups remain suspicious of business efforts to go green. Mark Jeantheau,
of GrinningPlanet.com, writes that corporate public relations engages in
doublespeak and code words to cover up a lack of sincere concern and
action for improving the environment.
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From
north of the border, the revered Royal Canadian Mounted Police has a
serious reputation building effort ahead. Part of it stems from
management’s improprieties in handling of pension and insurance plans
for the Mounties. A government report also noted that management
frequently disregarded the force’s core values of honesty, integrity,
compassion, respect, accountability, and professionalism.
Lapses in ethics
continue to abound. It behooves us as PRSA members to maintain ethical
practices and find ways to spread the word that public relations is not
about making bad organizations look good. |
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