It’s your first day on the job and you have a crucial decision to make. Should you ask as many questions as humanly possible or will you adopt the all-too-popular “fake it until you make it” outlook? It’s true that adopting this mentality has potential to lessen anxiety and build confidence, but when it comes to ethics, this is not […]
As young professionals entering the workforce, we may soon be forced to make the dreaded decision of what to do when a boss asks us to do something unethical. I know it’s easy to say, “This won’t happen to me.” But it might. And if it does, you need to be ready to react appropriately while following your own ethical […]
BuzzFeed’s Viral Politics Editor, Benny Johnson, was fired after BuzzFeed executives discovered over 40 counts of plagiarism on the site, according to a blog on Politico.com. In the late evening on Friday, July 25, BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith issued an online apology to BuzzFeed readers. “After carefully reviewing more than 500 of Benny’s posts, we have found 41 instances of […]
We’ve all been at that point — you’re working on your résumé and you’re stuck. Maybe a company is looking for someone who’s bilingual, and you completed two semesters of Spanish. So surely no one will care if you enhance your experiences, right? Wrong. Anything that you enhance, expand or elaborate is still a lie and is what PRSA calls […]
Integrity is a quality that most, if not all, public relations employers are looking for in prospective employees. With ethical conduct comes responsibility — the responsibility of staying true to your publics, your company and yourself. But oftentimes stakeholders have diverging motivations, and sometimes these clash and result in (potential) conflicts of interest. We are all members of different groups. […]
PRSSA Podcast host Austin Malcolm discusses the importance of getting PRSSA alumni involved in Chapter programming and activity. He also explores the topic of teaching ethics in PRSSA Chapters. This podcast is joined by Regina Flanigan, University of Texas at Austin vice president of Chapter Development. How are you getting your alumni involved? How are you teaching ethics? Austin […]
From a young age, parents continually remind their children to act honestly, to play fairly and to always adhere to the rules. As young pre-professionals, we can apply these same concepts to an ethical career in public relations. As public relations professionals, the public trusts us to act ethically through everything we implement and accomplish. One slipup and the well-being […]
Remember your first day of high school? Chances are, you saw a lot of things you never thought you would. You probably witnessed people engaged in activities that would make your parents gasp. You might’ve felt pressured to think, “If everyone else is doing it, then it must be okay.” As a public relations professional, you will face ethical dilemmas […]
Our constitutional right to the freedom of expression is truly a double-edged sword in the public relations world. It allows us to offer the best communication possible on behalf of our clients without having to appeal for government approval. In that sense, it really is a gift that enables us to communicate openly and freely with the public. At the […]
