Ok so this week our readings were concerned with law and ethics related to the public relations function. I found that this two chapters and the content were particularly pertinent in the environment of today where public disclosure and corporate social responsibility is premium. Corporate collapses such as Enron and closer to home HIH and OneTel have meant tighter controls on disclosure and organisational due diligence. Laws and ethics relating to organisations have been implemented not only to protect publics (stakeholders) but also the organisations.
I will admit I found the law chapter particularly boring (perhaps it was just me). That said it was helpful in defining the different aspects of law the PR practioners must be aware of in order to correctly protect not only themselves but clients and also respective publics. Laws are often evolutions of ethics, whereby that community value is thought high enough of to warrant legislation. Laws are often legislated by government bodies and have penalties, such as fines and jail, imposed if they are broken. Particularly interesting was the defamation information – interesting because of the electronic world that we live in nowadays and how defamation is affected by the Internet and our global community. PR practioners aren’t offered the same protection as journalists, although there have been moves to change this (Walsh, 2006), and as a result they must thoroughly ensure that the message delivery follows the letter of the law. The concept of ‘new journalism’ (Walsh, 2006) has afforded some increased protection however this is not absolute.
Ethics is a particular aspect of PR (more so Marketing) that I find very interesting and therefore I found the second chapter much easier to read and more insightful. Ethics, as opposed to laws, are often more complex in nature as they refer to one’s person and moral values. Organisations abide by a code of ethics that might be communicated by an industry regulatory body (such as PRIA or the AMA) and often penalties are condemnation by that regulatory body. Johnson and Zawawi highlight that PR has gone through an evolutionary change in regards to ethics and highlight that they are no longer subservient to organisation’s commands but rather they should be an active participant in the formulation of organisation strategy.
The key parts for us to remember from these readings is that the laws governing the dissemination of information in the PR functions is highly complex and often requires specialist information. With the increase in court action in regards to defamation and consumer protection, it is often the PR professionals in the front line and therefore they need sound legal advice to protect themselves, clients and the stakeholders. From the ethics chapter I took that PR are now more actively involved in setting the organisational agenda and they should always take an objective view when working with clients.
References
Johnston, J. and Zawawi, C. (2004) Public relations: theory and practice. 2nd edition. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin
Walsh, F. (2006) Qualified privilege: A defense for the public relations function, Public Relations Review 32, pp377-385
today I commented on Larissa's blog http://www.cmns1290larissaadamczyk.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
David
Don't restrict your consideration of law within public relations to just defamation. As the text points out, intellectual property, patents and copyright are just as much a part of the industry and something that is dealth with on a regular basis.
Corporate Social Responsibility is an emerging field and a major "selling" point for large organisations in local communities. We only have to look at the major coal companies in the hunter Valley and how they are utilising community realtions programs to engedner goodwill within the Upper Hunter.
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