Public Relations Ethics

As numerous public relations research studies and have noted, social media communication by employees and other stakeholders often impact public perceptions of their associated organizations, whether or not that communication is sanctioned by the enterprise or is a personal expression. Employees have been noted to go to social media to purposefully express anger or attempt to harm the reputation of organizations through negative “venting” or “flaming” meant to be seen by potential clients or new hires, thus presenting significant challenges for public relations (Jennings, Blount, & Weatherly, 2014; Krishna & Kim, 2014).
As resident social media “expert” commonly charged with monitoring and responding to such communication, public relations professionals are the primary resource for the development of social media policies designed to help protect and manage organizational reputations (Lee, Sha, Dozier, & Sargent, 2015; Messner, 2014). Even though organizations may not have a policy in place when they begin engaging their publics on social media, they often realize their necessity after gaining experience or by becoming aware of the need for consistency and guidance on content, brand identity, and tone (Messner, 2014).
This assignment was developed to address the task of policy development with practical training based on professional ethical communication guidelines, legal precedent, and collaboration with organizational stakeholders in mind. Researching and crafting the policy also prepares students for the emergent public relations role of social media policy maker and manager (Neill & Moody, 2015).

Abstract
Mental illness and suicide are complex issues which have significant social and economic implications. This study investigates the perceptions of public relations students towards ethics, following their exposure to resources developed to educate students about the ethical challenges involved in communicating mental health issues. The findings suggest students recognise ambiguity around ‘professional’ ethics in relation to these issues; the need for personal responsibility in ethical public relations practice; that ethical development is incremental; and that they learn most effectively through major assignments. The study includes recommendations for the teaching of ethics in relation to complex issues such as mental health.

Abstract: This article addresses shortcomings in the way that philosophers and cultural critics have considered propaganda by offering a new genealogical account. Looking at figures such as Marx, Adorno, Marcuse, Habermas, Bourdieu, and Stanley, this article finds that their consideration of propaganda has not necessarily been wrong but has missed some of the most significant and important functions of propaganda. This text draws on archival and published materials from propagandists, most notably Edward Bernays, to elaborate a new governmentality of propaganda and public relations. Through focusing on the concept of public opinion, I argue that propaganda is best thought of as an apparatus whose function it is to construct, modify, counter, and destroy relations of force within public opinion in order to produce the subjectivities and conduct that its disseminators and their clients desire.

Triantafillidou, A., & Yannas, P. (2021). Women in Public Relations in Greece. EUPRERA Report Vol 3., No. 2., in - Topić, M. (ed), EUPRERA report series. Leeds/Brussels: Creative Media and Communications Research Ltd. & EUPRERA. ISSN 2633-2353.

Did Gillette go too far in connecting the fight against toxic masculinity to its shaving products? A case study on the ethical challenges that occur when corporations engage social issues in their advertising campaigns. Authored by Grace Holland & Scott R. Stroud. More case studies at www.mediaethicsinitiative.org.

Społeczności internetowe pojawiły się w cyberprzestrzeni w zasadzie wraz z rozpoczęciem wykorzystywania internetu w komunikowaniu społecznym. Być może wcześniej tworzenie ich było trudniejsze, dystrybucja komunikatów ograniczona, a monitoring utrudniony, ale sieć sprzyjała tworzeniu się określonych społeczności wokół organizacji, osób, idei. Thomas R. Köhler i Robert B. Best na kilka lat przed powstaniem Facebooka, Twittera, serwisu Pinterest i innych instrumentów obszaru mediów społecznościowych (social media, SM) pisali o możliwościach budowania społeczności poprzez księgi gości, fora dyskusyjne czy miejsca w internecie, które określili jako „punkty krystalizacji z prywatnej inicjatywy pojedynczych osób bądź małych grup”[ T. R. Köhler, R. B. Best, Electronic Commerce. Koncepcje, realizacje i wykorzystanie w przedsiębiorstwie, CeDeWu – Centrum Doradztwa i Wydawnictw „Multi-Press” Sp. z o.o., Warszawa 2000, s. 182.] , które swym charakterem przekazu i formą przypominały dzisiejsze blogi. Istniała więc gotowość, aby w nowym środowisku, w przestrzeni online, gromadzić się i tworzyć społeczności.
Pojęcie nowe media, którym dziś tak często posługujemy się, dla różnych pokoleń oznaczać może różne media. Jak powiedział Marshall McLuhan: „Nowe medium nigdy nie jest dodatkiem do dawnego ani też nie zostawia dawnego medium w spokoju. Nie przestaje naciskać dawne media dopóty, dopóki nie znajdzie dla siebie nowych kształtów i miejsc ich ułożenia” [M. McLuhan, Wpływ jednych mediów na inne, w: Wybór tekstów, E. McLuhan, F. Zingrone (red.), (tłum. Ewa Różalska, Jacek M. Stokłosa), Zysk i S-ka, Poznań 1995, s. 399]. Oznacza to, że przestrzeń medialna wokół nas jest zmienna, przekształca się, a media podlegają procesom konwergencji. Przeobrażeniu ulega także środowisko społeczne, które wraz z rozwojem możliwości informatycznych, umożliwia nawiązywanie relacji, kreowanie treści i tworzenie społeczności.
Niezależnie od przyjętej definicji nowych mediów, analizując działania public relations (PR) warto przywołać słowa: PR jest o ludziach, nie o narzędziach [B. Solis, D. Breakenridge, Putting the public back in public relations: how social media is reinventing the aging business of PR, Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey 2009, s. 24], aby więc zobaczyć możliwości wykorzystania przestrzeni online w działaniach PR, należy obserwować ją przez pryzmat jednostek i społeczności funkcjonujących w jej obszarze. Słowa komunikować się „z”, nie „do” [B. Solis, D. Breakenridge, Putting the public back in public relations: how social media is reinventing the aging business of PR, Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey 2009, s. 46] zmieniają perspektywę realizowanych strategii, a oczywistym staje się komunikowanie z otoczeniem oparte o dialog. Dialog, który może być początkiem budowania lojalności i wiarygodności organizacji, tworzeniem przestrzeni dla zaufania, konsekwentną pracą nad wizerunkiem, zbudowanym na stabilnej podstawie. Obserwując działania organizacji w przestrzeni nowych mediów na szczególną uwagę zasługą media społecznościowe.
W monografii przedstawiono przegląd różnych aspektów działań public relations osadzonych w przestrzeni social media, czyli umożliwiających użytkownikom uzupełnienie dotychczas przyjmowanej roli odbiorcy treści, o rolę kreatora treści. Poprzez prezentację instrumentów social media możliwych do wykorzystania w działaniach PR starano się pokazać, iż obecnie, jak chyba nigdy wcześniej, PR-owiec nie miał tylu możliwości, aby – poprzez konwergencję różnych instrumentów i odpowiednio dobraną strategię – stworzyć efekt synergii. Z drugiej zaś strony, PR-owiec poprzez fakt, że social media umożliwiają komunikowanie się społecznościom praktycznie w sposób nieograniczony, nie miał przed sobą tak wielu zagrożeń mogących naruszyć wizerunek organizacji i pokus związanych z naruszeniem etyki zawodowej.
Monografia składa się z sześciu rozdziałów uzupełnionych przeglądem badań oraz opisami konkretnych przypadków dotyczących omawianej tematyki. Niektóre z aspektów dotyczących nowych mediów zostały uzupełnione grafikami.
Rozdział pierwszy jest wprowadzeniem i analizą środowiska, w którym organizacja może realizować działania PR. Dokonano charakterystyki terminów: nowe media, Web 2.0 i media społecznościowe, czyli kluczowych dla przedstawienia środowiska online. Omówiona została także charakterystyka social media ze względu na możliwość realizacji działań public relations.
Rozdział drugi zawiera ocenę potencjału obszaru social media dla działań PR. Omówione zostały modele komunikowania w PR i komponenty strategii public relations w przestrzeni mediów społecznościowych. Podniesiony został również temat etyki komunikowania online i etyki public relations jako szczególnie odpowiedzialnego aspektu komunikowania, związanego z oddziaływaniem na społeczności. W tym celu zdefiniowano obszary online i działania online, które mogą sprzyjać naruszeniom etycznym, określając je jako mimezja komunikacyjna online i mimikra komunikacyjna online.
Rozdział trzeci stanowi przegląd instrumentów przestrzeni social media, które mogą być wykorzystane do realizacji działań PR. Jednakże środowisko, jak i instrumenty, podlegają konwergencji i dzięki temu mogą wypełniać różne role założone w strategii działań public relations. Dlatego też zostały omówione ze względu na ich specyficzny charakter, zaś punktem wyjścia jest rodzaj aktywności, które są dominujące z punktu widzenia zawartości i dystrybucji treści.
W rozdziale czwartym omówiona została problematyka relacji organizacji z mediami w przestrzeni mediów społecznościowych. Starano się odpowiedzieć na pytanie czy nowe środowisko zmieniło je. Podkreślono fakt, iż social media rozszerzyły możliwości organizacji w zakresie tworzenia mediów własnych, czyli swobodnego dysponowania i zarządzania komunikacją organizacji z jej otoczeniem zewnętrznym i wewnętrznym.
Rozdział piąty dotyczy relacji pomiędzy pracodawcą a pracownikiem lub potencjalnym pracownikiem. Obszar social media, który umożliwia kreowanie treści, dystrybucję i modyfikację, niestety czasami staje się przestrzenią, w której pojawia się szerokie pole konfliktu. Związane one jest z jednej strony z prawem jednostki do swobodnej aktywności w mediach społecznościowych, a z drugiej – z oczekiwaniami pracodawcy związanymi z zachowaniem jednostki w kontekście dbałości o wizerunek organizacji, z którą jest ona związana.
W ostatnim rozdziale zostały omówione specyficzne aspekty zarządzania sytuacją kryzysową w świecie mediów społecznościowych. W przestrzeni tej, gdzie każdy może być kreatorem i nadawcą, zagrożenie ryzykiem kryzysu jest szczególnie wysokie. Dlatego też tak istotna jest świadomość działań, umiejętność zastosowania poszczególnych instrumentów i dobre relacje z otoczeniem, gdyż PR mówi o relacjach [B. Solis, D. Breakenridge, Putting the public back in public relations: how social media is reinventing the aging business of PR, Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey 2009, s. 67].

Komplexní a moderně pojatá publikace z oboru public relations, zaměřená na domácí podmínky a obsahující případové studie. Jejím cílem je stát se základním kánonem oboru. Je určená především studentům vysokých škol, PR manažerům, tiskovým mluvčím a dalším pracovníkům PR v komerčním, státním a veřejném sektoru. Představuje jak základní teoretické přístupy a koncepty, tak důležité poznatky ze souvisejících disciplín, a popisuje specifické oblasti PR včetně jejich etických a legislativních hranic. Jednoznačným odlišením od ostatních knih je silný důraz na domácí vývoj a případové studie, které umožní čtenáři snadnou orientaci v tématech, která jsou mu blízká. Kniha však využívá i řadu mezinárodních teorií a výzkumů (např. European Communication Monitor či Edelman Trust Barometer), které jsou nezbytné pro pochopení celosvětového vývoje oboru. Autorkou publikace je vedoucí katedry marketingové komunikace a public relations, která také úzce spolupracuje s praxí.

Organizations’ internal publics, which generally comprises two categories of personnel, namely management staff and employees constitute some of the key elements that contribute toward realizing the goals and objectives of the organization. However, unlike non-academic organizations, institutions of higher (academic) learning have two additional categories of internal publics — academic staff and students. This makes such institutions a bit unique. Public relations (PR) as a management function and tool is utilized by the management between itself and all categories of internal publics to facilitate smooth information dissemination and communication for enhanced job performance. Hence, a unique type of PR practice capable of addressing the characteristic needs of the academic staff (who are directly involved with the students) in addition to those of the non-academic staff will be required. A critically review of extant literature surrounding the impacts of the practice of PR on job...

Public relations is often perceived as unethical, yet professional associations and educators position the industry as an ethical profession. The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of public relations students (N = 45) in a communication school in Australia towards ethics. Research involving a survey and a focus group found that students perceived public relations ethics depended on a negotiation between practitioners’ responsibilities to stakeholders and their client or employer organisation, and broader societal expectations. They perceived professional codes of ethics to be of limited value and the development of ethical understanding as incremental over the course of their studies. The findings suggest ethics should be scaffolded in public relations education, the social impact of public relations activity should be emphasised and the limitations of professional codes highlighted.

The proliferation of social media technologies have seen public relations practitioners adapt their practices for the emergent digital media ecologies, with the growing phenomenon of social media influencers (SMIs) presenting new opportunities and challenges for the industry. Indeed, the profession s rapid adoption of SMIs as part of their campaigns raises questions regarding the ethics of their use and the extent to which they fit with normative models of public relations practice that promote genuine dialogue and responsible advocacy. This study explores this tension between the uses and potential misuses of SMIs by examining the worldviews, strategies and practices of senior public relations practitioners at several agencies in Sydney, Australia. It proposes a new critical framework for understanding the influences that SMIs are in fact having on public relations practice, which builds on models of dialogic public relations and a critical ecosystems perspective. Ultimately, this study argues that the affordances provided by the emergence of SMIs are predisposing practitioners to persuasive strategies and covert activities that lack transparency and are inconsistent with ethical ideals of best practice for organizational public relations.

This study employs a content analysis to examine news coverage concerning Toyota’s recall crises from January 16, 2009, through November 21, 2012, in the following media: The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the news releases listed on the Toyota official website. We examine how the media frame Toyota’s crises and responses, and whether the news coverage varied between mass media and Toyota’s releases. The findings shed light on the crisis communication in terms of response strategy selection. In tracking the ethics of the Toyota crisis in the years since its inception, combined with a content analysis conducted in this paper, the authors attempted to integrate the literature of crisis management with that of ethics in public relations. Ethics should be foremost among the considerations of an organization’s reputation and a primary factor of successful crisis management. The Toyota case has far reaching implications for ethical crisis management and recall strategy in the auto industry as a whole.

By grounding public relations praxis in Aristotelian ethos, practitioners can function as liaison officers with balanced perspectives, capable of cocreating meaning with both client organizations and their publics between whom experts are hired to facilitate mutually beneficial relationships. This approach locates persuasion at the nexus of speaker ethos in the public relations process. It allows practitioners to balance their commitment to the ethics of their profession with loyalty to clients, while empowering audiences (organizations and their publics) to function as the final arbiters of any courses of action proposed to them. Moreover, because the approach enables practitioners, based on their credible ethos, to participate in organizational decision-making, it has the potential to transfer their ethical worldview to client organizations. Ultimately, the central theoretical contribution of this essay is an alternative approach to public relations praxis founded on an analysis of Aristotle's notion of phronesis, arête, and eunoia.

Artykuł podejmuje tematykę rozbieżności pomiędzy zapisami kodeksów etyki zawodowej public relations (PR) o działaniami obserwowanymi na rynku. Zdaniem autorki opracowania brak możliwości skutecznej egzekucji zapisów kodeksów etycznych wynika ze słabości branży public relations w Polsce. Stąd też praca nad wartościami etycznymi w PR powinna być realizowana w oparciu o strategię wypracowaną przez stowarzyszenia branży public relations.

The article focuses on discrepancy between the conduct rules (PR ethics) and practical comercial activities. According to the author inefficient imposing of conduct rules is connected to the relative weakness of PR branch in Poland. Therefore implementation of the ethical values should be elaborated by PR branch associations.

In 1965, the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) adopted the International Code of Ethics, which became known as the Code of Athens (IPRA 2001). The Code was authored by Lucien Matrat, a French public relations pioneer, and reflected a hopeful, post-World War 2 ethical framework with its strong linkage to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (IPRA, 1994). A code of ethics was an early strategic imperative of IPRA, established 10 years before, and was coupled with a Code of Conduct, known as the Code of Venice of 1961 (IPRA, 1961, 2009). Both codes were adopted by many national public relations associations and widely promoted.
Using sources from the IPRA archive, which only became available in 2011, and an interview with the sole surviving IPRA founder, the paper explores the Code’s evolution and its subsequent implementation and modification. A feature of the debate within IPRA about the Code was whether it was a statement of moral standards or a statement of ideals to which members should aspire. IPRA’s archive (to 2002), however, does not show any disciplinary application of the Codes to its members and their conduct over 37 years from 1965. The paper also considers the historical issues of preparing and implementing deontological ethical statements for public relations.

Crisis Marketing is a form of marketing products or services that are controversial and how to market them. Using the controversial nature of the product to market the product as a strategy: leveraging the controversial nature of the product and in the face of critics using that criticism as a marketing strategy to advance the new product or brand.

Organizations’ internal publics, which generally comprises two categories of personnel,
namely management staff and employees constitute some of the key elements that
contribute toward realizing the goals and objectives of the organization. However,
unlike non-academic organizations, institutions of higher (academic) learning have
two additional categories of internal publics — academic staff and students. This makes
such institutions a bit unique. Public relations (PR) as a management function and
tool is utilized by the management between itself and all categories of internal publics
to facilitate smooth information dissemination and communication for enhanced job
performance. Hence, a unique type of PR practice capable of addressing the characteristic
needs of the academic staff (who are directly involved with the students) in addition to
those of the non-academic staff will be required. A critically review of extant literature
surrounding the impacts of the practice of PR on job performance among employees
of Nigerian institutions of higher learning was performed. Additionally, critical
intra-organizational PR media capable of addressing the characteristic and specific
needs of the overall and specific internal publics were underscored and some policy
recommendations offered. This article concludes that effective PR (a PR practice that
addresses both the comprehensive and specific needs of the various classifications of
internal publics) enhances job performance and productivity.

This paper traces the history and development of modern public relations practices in Nigeria over a hundred and fifty (150) year period, 1859 to 2008. Design/method/approach: This objective is achieved via a conceptual review of existing academic and professional literatures concerning Nigerian media history, public relations management, business studies and mass communication studies. Findings: This study dispels the notion that modern public relations practices began in Nigeria with the creation of a public information unit by the United African Company (then a British multinational) in 1949. The study presents evidence indicating that modern public relations practices actually began with the establishment of the first newspaper in 1859 by the late Henry Townsend (a British missionary). Findings from the study also indicate the dominance of four important periods in the development of modern public relations practices in Nigeria. These include public relations broadcasting era, political propaganda era, public information era and the professionalisation era. Theoretical implication: The review of conceptual literature in this study adds to existing literature on the development of public relations around the world. It gives indication that academic knowledge on public relations practices has not only grown in western countries but that it has also developed in developing countries. Practical implications: Insights given about the development of public relations practices (especially the recent rise of well established PR consulting firms) indicates that the practice of public relations in Nigeria has matured. Limitation of study and future research direction: Conceptual literature on the history of public relations in the public sector especially before Nigeria's independence in 1960 is growing. This paper adds to the volume of works in this area of study. However, there is a limited understanding of the developmental and historical use of public relations tools such as marketing PR, media relations, financial and consumer PR. Also there is limited information on how the use of PR developed amongst non-governmental organisations. It would therefore be educative to commission another study that will undertake a comprehensive research into this aspect of the Nigerian public relations history. This limitation provides an opportunity for future research. Original value of the paper: The paper provides insights on history of public relations in Nigeria which is under studied. Information on how public relations developed in a African cultural context provides western academics a balanced view of the development of public relations not just in western countries but also in a developing country.

Public service is a service which is provided by government to people living within its jurisdiction, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing provision of services. That certain service should be available to all, regardless of income.

The suspicion and fear toward public relations stemmed from the early practice in early 20th century, associated with the use of communication  by powerful business and representing ideological interest (Moloney, 2006, p.165). This stereotype seems continue to the modern era and ironically, requires ‘public relations of public relations’ to improve public understanding toward its field and profession.

This essay will examine the history, development and the practice of the field and cite several aspects of its practice, to gain a broader understanding of its limits and to better grasp the full practice of this field. It will examine public relations from both its supporters and critics. Lastly, the essay will briefly examine how new technologies have affected it’s practice, in particular the impact of social media.

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to establish the practices, approaches and tools used in measurement and evaluation of public relations in selected Kenyan parastatals.
Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey. The target population for the study comprised of 187 parastatals with 119,689 employees. Purposive sampling was used. The sample size was forty-seven (47) employees of public relations departments and six (6) senior PR officers who are working in the three selected parastatals, totalling to fifty-three (53).The study used both questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data was interpreted using descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages. Qualitative data in this study was analyzed, recurrent themes identified, and patterns of relationship that exist among data-groups searched manually and were used to augment the quantitative data. Percentages and tabulations of variables were used to present data analysis in tables, bar graphs and pie charts. The data was analyzed by a data analysis software called Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 software.
Results: The study findings indicated that evaluation practices are yet to be embedded as a critical component in most public relations work. With a sizable proportion of practitioners in the sample suggesting they evaluate infrequently, the need or value of evaluation has yet to be firmly established. AVEs and gut feeling are the leading tools of measurement and evaluation and a significant number of respondents did not use measurement and evaluation to demonstrate performance of the department. Most respondents also reported using media monitoring as a tool. Social media monitoring, website tools and media content analysis were least used.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study recommends that organizations should strive to increase the education level of practitioners, particularly in relation to research and communication theories and models, as well as management, through both professional development (short courses) and postgraduate education.

The rising influence of bloggers over consumers and other target publics has been noted in both scholarly and practitioner public relations, marketing and related strategic communications literature. Bloggers have come to be both feared and revered by strategic communication practitioners, painted as being able to damage a brand's reputation in a single keystroke or enhance it through virtual word-of-mouth. They have been labelled as 'prosumers' – that is, consumers turned producers. While motivations for blogging have been examined in previous research, the rise of the paid blogger has significantly changed the landscape bloggers work in. This paper examines the main motivations of a set of blogging prosumers: the so-called mommy/mum bloggers. While bloggers may be labelled prosumers, there is some academic opinion that mum bloggers may actually be vulnerable consumers. A total of 45 interviews were conducted with Australian mum bloggers and subsequent data analysed using the computer-assisted software, NVivo, and with a grounded approach to theory development. Findings distil six key motivators for the bloggers: community and connection; helping people; therapy and venting; being heard; improving or developing new skills; and making money. One standout finding is that previous research did not uncover moneymaking as a motivation for bloggers, despite the recent increase in sponsorship of bloggers by brands. The mum bloggers' motivations were also seen to evolve over time as they became more experienced and interacted with strategic communication professionals. Generally, these findings have implications for public relations and marketing theory related to prosumption, and for organisations, and the strategic communication professionals working for them, who are seeking to engage with bloggers.

In our information societies, we increasingly delegate tasks and decisions to automated systems, devices and agents that mediate human relationships, by taking decisions and acting on the basis of algorithms. Their increased intelligence, autonomous behavior and connectivity are changing crucially the life conditions of human beings as well as altering traditional concepts and ways of understanding reality. Algorithms are directed to solve problems that are not always detectable in their own relevance and timeliness. They are also meant to solve those problems through procedures that are not always visible and assessable in their own. In addition, technologies based on algorithmic procedures more and more infer personal information from aggregated data, thus profiling human beings and anticipating their expectations, views and behaviors. This may have normative, if not discriminatory, consequences. While algorithmic procedures and applications are meant to serve human needs, they risk to create an environment in which human beings tend to develop adaptive strategies by conforming their behaviour to the expected output of the procedures, with serious distortive effects. Against this backdrop, little room is often left for a process of rational argumentation able to challenge the results of algorithmic procedures by putting into question some of their hidden assumptions or by taking into account some neglected aspects of the problems under consideration. At the same time, it is widely recognized that scientific and social advances crucially depend on such an open and free critical discussion.

This essay will discuss the effectiveness of codes of conduct in the PR industry by drawing information from the official codes of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), the largest organization in the UK, and the Public Relations Verband Austria (PRVA), the independent public relations association in Austria. The essay will take a closer look at relevant literature, as well as the practice of both professional bodies to prove that various shortcomings within the industry are jointly responsible for the restricted effectiveness of codes of conduct in the PR profession, especially in the UK.

This article explores the creation of a Global Protocol on Ethics in Public Relations. It begins by looking into the global ethical debate. It examines existing Codes of Ethics of a selection of public relations institutes and associations around the world, provides comparative analysis of these codes and discusses the pros and cons of their enforcement.  It suggests that the immediate way forward in a highly litigious world is to provide some values-based guidance to member associations together with access to an evolving data base of case studies illustrating ethical problems.  In the medium term more effective sanctions may be possible.

A robust scholarly discussion had been conducted for more than 30 years on the professional impact of theory on communication practice, including Vocate's important observation in 1997 that a rigorous education in theory creates -learnable intelligence‖ in professional communicators. However, the question of the actual professional impact of studying communication theory has not been asked of those best positioned to judge-communication practitioners who have rigorously studied communication theory. This research attempts to determine whether learning theory actually has affected practice among communication professionals who have explicitly studied theory in pursuit of a master's degree in professional communication. As well, this research examines a linked issue in Canada-whether theory is being taught in practical post-secondary public relations programs. Following the latter question this research examines a pedagogical approach at the community college level towards teaching theory relevant to a professional setting. Finally, it examines the link between communication theory and the evolution of the critical communication professional.

The concept of distributed moral responsibility (DMR) has a long history. When it is understood as being entirely reducible to the sum of (some) human, individual, and already morally loaded actions, then the allocation of DMR, and hence of praise and reward or blame and punishment, may be pragmatically difficult, but not conceptually problematic. However, in distributed environments it is increasingly possible that a network of agents, some human, some artificial (e.g. a program) and some hybrid (e.g. a group of people working as a team thanks to a software platform) may cause distributed moral actions (DMAs). These are morally good or evil (i.e., morally loaded) actions caused by local interactions that are in themselves neither good nor evil (morally neutral). In this article, I analyse DMRs that are due to DMAs and argue in favour of the allocation, by default and overridably, of full moral responsibility (faultless responsibility) to all the nodes/agents in the network causally relevant for bringing about the DMA in question, independently of intentionality. The mechanism proposed is inspired by, and adapts, three concepts: back propagation from network theory, strict liability from jurisprudence, and common knowledge from epistemic logic.

Hardcover ▶ 99,99 € | £90.00 | $129.00 ▶ *106,99 € (D) | 109,99 € (A) | CHF 133.50 eBook Available from your library or ▶ springer.com/shop ▶ Insight into the collaboration of legal and communication experts ▶ Introduction of an adaptive business and legal culture, contending litigant parties, high-profile clients ▶ Explores key historical processes, important legal reforms, significant legal cases and personalities The book is a brief journey through centuries and jurisdictions and expands on examples of enactment practices of states that support, challenge or even reject communication during pending litigations. England, as the main representative of a jurisdiction, suggests communication solutions potentially different than the practice in the United States where litigation communication first time occurred. Accordingly, the author offers a comprehensive analysis and detailed historical narrative of the positions of various jurisdictions in relation to communication in the legal process.

Zaharna has done a great service to those interested in international communication, more specifically public diplomacy. Students, international researchers, and public diplomacy practitioners can learn from the book’s documentation of the apparently well intended but flawed mistakes made by some experienced American communicators charged with promoting the U.S. image abroad, especially in the Middle East.

Abstract The proliferation of social media technologies have seen public relations practitioners adapt their practices for the emergent digital media ecologies, with the growing phenomenon of social media influencers (SMIs) presenting new opportunities and challenges for the industry. Indeed, the profession’s rapid adoption of SMIs as part of their campaigns raises questions regarding the ethics of their use and the extent to which they fit with normative models of public relations practice that promote genuine dialogue and responsible advocacy. This study explores this tension between the uses and potential misuses of SMIs by examining the worldviews, strategies and practices of senior public relations practitioners at several agencies in Sydney, Australia. It proposes a new critical framework for understanding the influences that SMIs are in fact having on public relations practice, which builds on models of dialogic public relations and a critical eco-systems perspective. Ultimately, this study argues that the affordances provided by the emergence of SMIs are predisposing practitioners to persuasive strategies and covert activities that lack transparency and are inconsistent with ethical ideals of best practice for organizational public relations.

ZUM BUCH: Will Politik beraten sein?  Ja, aber nicht immer, nicht überall und nicht durch jeden, der Politikberatung professionell oder als Wissenschaftler anbietet. In der Berliner Republik hat sich die Nachfrage nach Politikberatung gewandelt. Ein klares Indiz hierfür ist die wachsende privatwirtschaftliche Politikberatung. Der Anspruch lautet heute: Zum einen zwischen Politik, Wirtschaft und Öffentlichkeit zu vermitteln; zum anderen die Brücke zwischen Wissenschaft und politischer Praxis zu schlagen.

Die deutsche Politikberaterszene sucht international nach Orientierungspunkten und ein neues Selbstverständnis, auch als Profession. Zur Professionalisierung gehört, angeheizt durch Affären und Skandale, die wachsende Debatte um Ethik, Verhaltensregeln, Selbstregulierung und die Grenzen von Lobbying, Spin und Kontaktgeschäft. Denn Politikberater bewegen sich oft auf dem schwierigen Gelände von Interessenkonflikten und geringer demokratischer Kontrolle.

Dieser Band dokumentiert zwei Berliner Fachtagungen der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Politikberatung und dem Deutschen Institut für Public Affairs. Zu Wort kommen Praktiker aus dem In- und Ausland. Ihre Analysen werden ergänzt durch eine bisher einmalige Dokumentation internationaler Beispiele für Verhaltensregeln für Politikberater und Politiker.