Communications 300 Lesson 11

Accuracy is not as important to advertising and public relations as it is to journalism

Accuracy is not as important to advertising and public relations as it is to journalism

Ambiguity in both advertising and public relations is usually intentional

Made-up quotes are as unethical in public relations as they are in journalism

Made-up quotes by PR professionals in speeches and press releases are ethically illegitimate, even if they are approved by the supposedly quoted person

It is ethically problematic for a ghostwriter to distort a communicator's character and sentiment

The created contexts of advertising are inherently unethical.

The ideal of balance is as important to public relations and advertising as it is to journalism

Our American political system is based on the marketplace of ideas theory, as well as the notion of reasoned persuasive argument

Aristotle thought that rhetoric was so important to the health of society that rhetoric could be used legitimately even to persuade an audience of something that was untrue

Grunig's two-way symmetric public relations model proposes creating change through mutual understanding.

According to Foss and Griffin, ethical persuasion would be grounded not in domination, but in equality and autonomy among the parties

Emotional appeals are most often associated with information, not persuasion

Arguments based in reason or logic are considered to be the least ethical form of persuasion, because they undermine a person's thinking.

Advertisements for parity products are almost always based on images created by logical appeals.

Emotional appeals are only unethical if they hide the true objective of the message: to persuade.

The motives for one's actions in professional communications are not ethically relevant as long as one's actions fall within certain ethical guidelines

The persuasive message, the persuasive technique to be used, and the motive of the persuader must all be considered in creating a plan for advertising and public relations.

As long as the persuasive message is true, the professional communicator need not worry if it is understandable to the target audience; understandability is not the communicator's ethical responsibility

As long as the persuasive message is true, the professional communicator need not worry if it is understandable to the target audience; understandability is not the communicator's ethical responsibility

Caveat emptor assumes that an intelligent consumer will not be able to discern nuances in messages

The QER test would require that a photo should be labeled as having been manipulated if it isn't readily obvious to the viewer that the manipulation has occurred.

The expectation of the target audience for truth or fiction is one of the primary considerations in determining the ethics of photo manipulation, PR, advertising, and information programming.

Our ethical obligation as professional communicators is to remove all doubt concerning the reality of the context of our message.

Withholding information, and the resultant gaps in knowledge caused by the withholding, can have disastrous consequences for those who rely on truthful and complete information to make good decisions for their lives.

Withholding information, and the resultant gaps in knowledge caused by the withholding, can have disastrous consequences for those who rely on truthful and complete information to make good decisions for their lives.

It is not ethically acceptable to violate client confidentiality, even when the client has done something that would harm the reputation and credibility of the communications professional.

Presenting incomplete information is not necessarily unethical for PR and advertising because these professions are supposed to be biased in favor of the client.

The autonomy of other persons is not respected when they are deceived (and thus coerced and manipulated).

Persuasion is ethical, manipulation is not.

Deception in the name of the public's right to know (as in undercover journalism) is unquestionably ethical because of its higher purpose

Since news is a business with bottom-line interests, its motives can be questioned when it claims to be acting d. on behalf of the public

The rationale for the news media exposing an individual's private life is generally the public's right to know

The media clearly can operate under a proscription of "do no harm."

Causal harm is harm that an individual brings upon him- or herself

Moral responsibility refers to being held accountable for an action

Journalists, advertisers, and public relations practitioners cannot be held accountable for every potential harm they may cause through their communications.

The test for cases in which journalists are considering reporting on the private lives of public individuals should be: does the private information being reported affect the public figure's public performance?

The harm that results from covering a story can both add to existing causal harm and create additional harm

Journalists, as well as PR and advertising professionals, cannot be expected to operate within a parameter of avoiding unnecessary harm

Journalists should not be held morally responsible when their actions do not amount to causal harm.

Democracy and capitalism are competitive, which almost always implies that there is a winner and a loser, with some degree of harm visited on the loser.

Even if harm is done in the service of a greater good, it is not an acceptable side affect.

Some harm caused by the publication of news is either a necessary by-product or literally unavoidable.

First Amendment protections are inviolable

The harm principle holds that a person's liberty may not justifiably be restricted in order to prevent harm to others.

Although there may be many factors causing harm, it does not absolve the media from responsibility to do something about the factors for which they are responsible.

The harm principle would require journalists, but not PR and advertising professionals, to consider the degree of harm their work causes weighed against the benefits of their actions.

The principle of legal moralism is the most defensible of the liberty-limiting principles

The offense principle is controversial because what offends one person may not offend another

The American press is premised on the principle of paternalism

The harm principle is noncontroversial and widely accepted

In the clash between personal and professional ethics, journalists should usually choose the side of personal ethics

The test for withholding a publication should be to weigh the public need to know against the principle to avoid harm

In cases in which a story may cause harm, the public's right to know is a justifiable defense for not weighing competing interests

Compassion, civility, and common courtesies are fostered by the cocooned environment of journalism.

Insist on acting legally, in accordance with company policies and organizational codes, and in the interest of acceptable consequences on third parties

Determine early the ethical ramifications of the campaign.

Carefully evaluate potential clients before taking them on.

Assume that the ultimate determinant for the advocate's behavior is what the client wants

Confucian philosophy and public journalism share some basic perspectives

Feminists suggest that Enlightenment notions such as individualism, autonomy, competition, and justice should be tempered by an ethic of care

The ethics of care are not and should not be embraced by communicators because the media are justifiably based in objectivity (journalism) and loyalty to client (PR and advertising)

Failure to act with "due care," including causing unnecessary harm to innocent others, can result in charges of professional negligence

We should expect that the media will do no unnecessary harm and that they will respect the dignity and integrity of every one whose lives they touch.

A goal of mutual understanding is as appropriate for advertising as it is for public relations.

The professional is under a special obligation not to harm others in the pursuit of his client's interests.

Professional communicators should stop thinking about what they have the right to do, and start thinking about what is the right thing to do.