Relationship Between Strategic Communication and Ethics

Relationship Between Strategic Communication and Ethics Discuss the role of strategic communication in relation to Ethics In the industry of public relations, understanding the ethical aspects of the profession has now become increasingly important. Just like any other professional industries such as journalism and psychology, public relations and ethics need to work hand in hand in order for the practice to be given a better name. As public relations have a bright future ahead due to the growing global economy, the professions’ most profitable days may still exist on the horizon. But public relations practitioners must know that in order to capitalize upon this growth, the hinge may lie on the ability for the industry to silence the critics of it being an unethical profession. However, due to the public’s negative perception of public relations, many people are saying that public relations and ethics are an oxymoron. In this essay, we will try to understand why there is a negative discourse of PR being an unethical profession and how we can change that perception. We will also analyse the importance of education in regards to public relations ethics. Before we proceed with the in depth discourse of Public relations ethics, we need to first define the meaning of public relations and ethics. According to Gunig and Hunt (1984), they wrote that ‘public relation is the management of communication between an organisation and its publics’. Harlow (1988) defined public relations in a more elementary level. He mentioned that Public relation is ‘a management function which deals with the relations between two or more organisations or public.’ There are many other scholars and practitioners that have produced their own definition of public relations but it is basically a communication process which uses different strategies to ultimately build beneficial relationships with publics or organisations. These obligations of serving the publics’ interest have caused heated debates amongst many practitioners and scholars over its fundamental values of public relations. It has also become a highly controversial indu stry as many people have negative stigmas towards public relations. It is obvious that for a long time there exists a negative perception of PR. It is not entirely a surprise that the general public has this negative stigma about public relations. BrautoviĆ¡ and Brkan (2009) said that ‘PR professionals have become manipulators of public mind rather than conveyers of truth.’ That is why the term public relations ethics is often understood as an oxymoron. There will be stories about PR making it to the media which are invariably the negative ones. Media outlets know that nice fluffy stories like successful charity work or meaningful campaigns don’t sell. But can we entirely blame the media for the bad reputation public relation has on the public? The tarnished reputation of public relations is often due to situations where PR was used to camouflage some serious problems, not to mention something that is today called spin. But what exactly is spin in the context of public relations? Spin can be classified as propaganda, where the ultimate goal is to persuade public opinion to be in favor or against a certain organization or public figure (Safire, 1994). Due to this term spin, publics often perceive the profession to be manipulative and unethical. According to Miller Dinan (2008), they mentioned that people believe the profession is about â€Å"spinning† stories in order to enhance the image of an organization at the expense of many others. One such case was the BP oil spill which happened in 2010 which falls under the category of spin. With regards to strategic communication, the oil company kept downplaying and deflecting the severity of the incident. BP (British Petroleum) underestimated the size of the spill and therefore tried to divert the attention of the oil spill as the â€Å"Gulf of Mexico oil spill.† The company’s attempt to sidestep the health and economic issues were s een as artificial and unethical. Case studies like these that are popularised by the media represent the problems that arise when public relations strategies are deceptive. Timothy Commbs, who teaches Public Relations at Eastern Illinois University said, â€Å"Wherever the fault lies, BP shouldnt be splitting hairs. Companies should take the fall and work out recriminations behind closed doors† (Beam, 2010). This goes to demonstrate why ethical public relations strategies are necessary to accomplishing the goals of an organisation. Though challenges still remain in the practice of public relations, there is also forward ethical progress. Much of this comes in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (2008) defines CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large†. It basically means that an organisation doing CSR will have also ethical and societal responsibilities that go beyond their economic responsibilities. CSR is also seen as a way of behaving, which draws on ethics. But most importantly, there are many public relation bodies all over the world which provides similar codes of practice/ethics for public relation practitioners to follow and abide to. It articulates the value these bodies places on honesty, integrity, loyalty, advocacy, fairness etcetera. As public relations becomes more evident in the 21st century, two reports from the Commission on Public Relations Education, A Port of Entry (1999) and The Professional Bond (2006), insisted on the need for public relations ethics education at a university level. Public relation scholars Shen and Toth (2008) reiterated that there aren’t enough university level courses offering the study of public relations ethics. They also wrote that public relations education needs to integrate the study of ethics into existing PR electives in order for students to become more viable and attain a comprehensive public relations education. However, Juditb A. Kolb, together with other prominent scholars and wrote that public relations ethics courses are not only limited but it is also expanding to more university classrooms (Kolb, Lin, Frisque, 2005). Nowadays there are many university schools which offer the study of public relation ethics. Schools like the University of Virginia in the United States, where students will need to complete a module called ‘Public Relations, Ethics and Law’. The unit explores the ethical issues that arise in the practice of public relations and the ethical standards that govern the practice. In Peth, Australia, Murdoch University also offers the study of Public Relations Ethics in a module called Campaign Management. It is understandable for practitioners and scholars agreeing that the study of public relations ethics is crucial for students to have as a public relations curriculum but students themselves needs to know the importance too. As The Professional Bond state, â€Å"While public relations professional education perhaps cannot make students ethical, either professionally or personally, such education can define and teach professional ethics as It can provide a body of knowledge about the process of ethical decision-making that can help students not only to recognize ethical dilemmas, but to use appropriate critical thinking skills to help resolve these dilemmas in a way that results in an ethical outcome.† Kate Fitch, a Senior lecturer at Murdoch University, did a study on how students perceives ethics in public relations education and practice. Participants of a focus group study done by her acknowledged that public relations ethics was a grey area; â€Å"The line is very blurry but the uni is doing a good job to try and show us that PR isn’t all about that† (Fitch, 2013). The study also found out that students see ethics in public relations as being responsible to themselves, client or employer. In this study, students were critical of the Code of Ethics provided by bodies such as the PRIA as it only emphasise on issues such as reputation and risk manager rather than practices that are socially responsible. To conclude, the industry of public relations has indeed left many people with a sour taste in their mouths. We found out that PR is often perceived by the public as unethical, as practitioners often use the term ‘spin’ whereby he or she may not give a truthful interpretation of events which would ultimately lead to the lack of trust in the PR practitioner. With practitioners’ lack of trust it leads to the lack of trust of the organization and leads directly to the loss of reputation. That is why public relations ethics is paramount. Although professional skills are important in this industry, it needs to be ethical. What it basically means is that PR professionals need to do the right thing. Referring to international PR bodies for their codes of conduct is the first step when in doubt. We will also need to provide more emphasis for education and approved courses as to ensure that students will be trained on ethics and ethical decision making in practice of publi c relations in the real world. Word count: 1472 Grunig, J.E., Hunt, T. (1984) Managing Public Relations. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace http://195.130.87.21:8080/dspace/bitstream/123456789/904/1/Ethics%20in%20Public%20Relations.pdf file:///C:/Users/Joel%20St%20Pierre/Downloads/MA6_11_Helena_Brautovic_i_Dragana_Brkan.pdf http://thornelyhill.co.uk/dirty-words-the-ba-reputation-of-public-relations/ William Safire, The Spinner Spun, New York Times, December 22, 1996. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (2008). Definition. [Online] Available: http://www.wbcsd.org/templates/TemplateWBCSD5/layout.asp?type=pMenuId=MTE0OQ. http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/Documents/2014SilvermanGowerNekmat.pdf http://www.academia.edu/6415032/Public_relations_student_perceptions_of_ethics

poetry is a social act rather than an isolated object :: essays research papers

Is poetry a social act rather than an isolated object? Is poetry meant to be shared with others, or meant for the individual? Personally I can think of examples that would justify both of these statements. Poetry itself is almost impossible to define but to describe a poem, as a â€Å"social act† or an â€Å"isolated object† doesn’t necessarily mean that the next poem is. There are however cases that would suggest that poetry does indeed lean more towards the â€Å"social act† description allotted by this particular essay-title. One point that arose during a discussion with a fellow student concerning this question was that poetry itself originated from song: the medium of song itself being a very social form of expression so logically poetry is also a social form of expression. I personally agree with this point and firmly believe that the origins of poetry do lie in the social act of singing. But one of the most unique, fascinating and potent qualities of poetry (of which there are a few) is its state of flux, it is constantly changing and re-inventing itself so to think of poetry as a mere derivative or deviation of song is to miss the point of poetry entirely. One prominent social re-invention of poetry that comes to mind is that of the â€Å"Beat Movement†. The "Beat Movement" in modern literature has become an important period in the history of literature and society in America in particular but also around the world. Incorporating influences such as jazz, art, literature, philosophy and religion, the beat writers created a new and prophetic vision of modern life and changed the way a generation of people see/saw the world. One of the most important contributions to contemporary verse was to take poetry out of the classrooms and into non-academic setting coffee houses, jazz clubs, large public auditoriums and even athletic stadiums making it an even more social act/form of expression. Poetry is more popular and more read at this time than anytime in previous history, not only spoken poetry but also sung poetry of a high order, reminiscent of poetries origins. Keeping this further socialisation of poetry in mind I would a lso like to stress the point that although poetry was in its most social environment yet the emphasis was firmly on the individual and their individual poetry, attempting to isolate their poetry from all previously heard. So in the ideal situation although the act would be social, the object would be isolated.

DBQ: Jacksonian Democracy Essay

In the 1820’s and 1830’s, the Jacksonian Democrats believed they were protecting many aspects of freedom for the American people and I agree with their beliefs to a limited extent. The Jacksonian Democrats were successful in maintaining the political democracy during this time. However, they were completely defeated in their attempt at establishing and preserving individual liberty. While, they were successful in some aspects of guarding the equality of economic opportunity. I agree with the Jacksonian Democrats on the topic of Political Democracy. As Andrew Jackson points out in Document B, â€Å"It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people† and further more, â€Å"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.†. He was criticized for his own actions by Daniel Webster in Document C, where he called him hypocritical and irresponsible. Webster claimed that Jackson was bad for the country and was not satisfying the needs of the majority. However, this is less fact, as it is pure criticism by Webster, one of Jackson’s biggest critics. In spite of these claims of power abuse, Jackson used a system of rotation of office to keep the members of equal power. Regardless of Jackson’s efforts to give power to the people, â€Å"the grand question of the time was ‘whether the people should be encouraged to govern themselves, or whether the wise should save them from themselves.'† As stated in Document D. Political Democracy was a priority for Andrew Jackson and he successfully established a government to protect it. Jacksonian Democrats did not protect individual liberty. Though Jackson was a strong supporter and activist in the fight for individual states’ rights, this did not carry over to individual liberty for all people. Document F contains two acts resolved in South Carolina. The third of the Acts and Resolutions was an attempt to regulate the media and one’s right of free speech, attempting to â€Å"make it highly penal to print, publish, and distribute newspapers, pamphlets, tracts and pictorial representations calculated and having and obvious tendency to excite the slaves of the southern states to insurrection and revolt† as stated in Document F. Also in  the document, they try to prevent mail distribution as a result of the transmission of incendiary tracts. While in Document E, a riot in Philadelphia causes â€Å"hostility to the blacks and an indiscriminate persecution †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Chief Justice Roger B Taney points out, â€Å"While the rights of private property are sacredly guarded, we must not forget, that the community also have rights, and that the happiness and well-being of every citizen depends on their faithful preservation†. Though this is true, the fact that individual liberty has not been protected remains. The Jacksonian Democrats partially fulfilled their role as â€Å"guardian† in relation to protecting the equality of economic opportunity. As in the case in Document H of Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837), the government enforced the set rules and was in no way lenient or giving, as they should be. In this case, Chief Justice Taney ruled that â€Å"there is no exclusive privilege given to them over the waters of the Charles River†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This ruling exhibits the effort the government put forth towards maintaining equality of economic opportunity. While in Document B, Jackson states, â€Å"The present Bank of the United States †¦ enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking, †¦ almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange.†, and this is obviously a failed element of maintaining this equality, and a very important one at that. Though Jacksonian Democrats were not in favor of the Bank of the U.S. as a whole, they were still not able to co ntrol it as a necessary. In the 1820’s and 1830’s, the Jacksonian Democrats believed they were protecting many aspects of freedom for the American people and I agree with their beliefs to a limited extent. Some of which, I completely agree with and others that I could not see in my wildest dreams. They did not protect individual liberty at all but claimed they were the official â€Å"guardians† of it. As for the equality of economic opportunity, they were able to achieve this in some arenas. The individual cases were decided in favor of this attempt but the national issues weren’t won. The Jacksonian Democrats were able to play the role of â€Å"guardian† and protect many of the rights they believed they did, but I don’t think they came near covering all of them.

Donald Harvey Angel of Death

Donald Harvey is a serial killer responsible for killing 36 to 57 people, many of whom were patients at hospitals where he was employed. His killing spree lasted from May 1970 until March 1987, only ending after a police investigation into the death of a patient resulted in Harveys confession. Labeled the Angel of Death, Harvey said he first began to kill to help ease the pain of dying patients, but a detailed diary he kept paints the picture of a sadistic, cold-hearted killer. Childhood Years Donald Harvey was born in 1952 in Butler County, Ohio. He was well liked by his teachers, but fellow students remembered him as being unapproachable and a loner who seemed to prefer being in the company of adults than playing in the school yard. What wasnt known at the time is that from age four and for several years after, Harvey was allegedly being sexually abused by his uncle and an older male neighbor. High School Years Harvey was a smart kid, but he found school to be boring so he dropped out. At the age of 16 he received a diploma from a correspondence school out of Chicago and earned his GED the following year. Harveys First Kill In 1970, unemployed and living in Cincinnati, he decided to go to Marymount Hospital in London, Kentucky, to help care for his sick grandfather. In time he became a familiar face at the hospital and was asked if he would work as an orderly. Harvey accepted and immediately was placed into a position where he spent time alone with patients. His duties included dispensing medications to patients, inserting catheters, and taking care of other personal and medical needs. To most in the medical field, a feeling that they are helping the sick is the reward of their job. But Harvey saw it as having the ultimate control and power over a persons life. Almost overnight he became judge and executioner. On May 30, 1970, just two weeks into his employment, stroke victim Logan Evans angered Harvey by rubbing feces on his face. In return, Harvey smothered Evans with plastic and a pillow. No one at the hospital became suspicious. For Harvey the incident seemed to unleash an inner monster. From there on, no patient or friend would be safe from Harveys revenge. He continued to kill 15 patients over the next 10 months that he worked at the hospital. He often smothered or hooked up faulty oxygen tanks to the patients, but when angered his methods became more brutal and included impaling a patient with a wire hanger inserted into his catheter. Harveys Personal Life Harvey spent much of his personal time away from work being depressed and contemplating suicide. During this time he was involved in two relationships. James Peluso and Harvey were an on and off lovers for 15 years. He later killed Peluso when he became too ill to care for himself. He was also allegedly involved with Vernon Midden who was a married man with children and worked as an undertaker. In their conversations, Midden would sometimes talk about how the body reacts to different trauma. The information became invaluable to Harvey as he plotted new, undetectable ways to kill. When their relationship began to fall apart, Harvey entertained fantasies of embalming Midden while he was still alive. Now, as his mind began to branch out from the confinement of the hospital walls, Harvey considered murdering lovers, friends, and neighbors who crossed him. Harveys First Arrest March 31, 1971, was the last day Harvey worked at Marymount Hospital. That evening he was arrested for burglary, and Harvey, who was very drunk, confessed to being a murderer. An extensive investigation failed to turn up evidence and ultimately Harvey just faced the burglary charges. Things werent going well for Harvey and he decided it was time to get out of town. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, but his military career was cut short after two failed suicide attempts. He was sent home with an honorable discharge for medical reasons. Depression and Suicide Attempts Returning home fueled his depression and he again tried to kill himself. With few options left, Harvey checked himself into the V.A. hospital for treatment. While there he received 21 electroshock treatments, but was released after 90 days. Cardinal Hill Convalescent Hospital Harvey got a part-time clerical job at the Cardinal Hill Convalescent Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. It is not known if he killed any patients during the two and a half years there, but the opportunity to kill them had been decreased. He later told police that he was able to control the compulsion to kill during this time. Morgue Job at the V.A. Hospital In September 1975, Harvey moved back to Cincinnati, Ohio and landed a night position in the V.A. hospital. It is believed while employed there that Harvey killed at least 15 patients. Now his killing methods included injections of cyanide and adding rat poison and arsenic to his victims foods. The Occult During his relationship with Midden, he was briefly introduced to the occult. In June 1977 he looked into it further and decided to join. This is where he met his spiritual guide, Duncan, who was at one time a doctor. Harvey attributes Duncan to helping him decide on who would be his next victim. Friends and Lovers Become Targets Throughout the years Harvey was in and out of several relationships, seemingly without harming any of his lovers. But in 1980 this all stopped, first with ex-lover Doug Hill, who Harvey tried to kill by putting arsenic into his food. Carl Hoeweler was his second victim. In August 1980, Hoeweler and Harvey began living together, but problems surfaced when Harvey found out that Hoeweler was having sex outside of the relationship. Harvey began poisoning his food with arsenic as a way to control Hoewelers wandering ways. His next victim was a female friend of Carls who he thought interfered too much in their relationship. He infected her with hepatitis B and also tried to infect her with the AIDS virus, which failed. Neighbor Helen Metzger was his next victim. Also feeling that she was a threat to his relationship with Carl, he laced food and a jar of mayonnaise she had with arsenic. He then put a lethal dose of arsenic in a pie that he gave to her, which quickly led to her death. On April 25, 1983, following an argument with Carls parents, Harvey started poisoning their food with arsenic. Four days after the initial poisoning, Carls father, Henry Hoeweler, was dead after suffering a stroke. On the night that he died, Harvey visited him at the hospital and gave him arsenic tainted pudding. His attempts to kill Carls mother continued, but were unsuccessful. In January 1984, Carl asked Harvey to move out of his apartment. Rejected and angry, Harvey tried several times to poison Carl to death, but failed. Although not living together, their relationship continued until May 1986. In 1984 and early 1985, Harvey was responsible for the deaths of at least four more people outside of the hospital. A Promotion All of his effort trying to poison people did not seem to hurt Harveys job performance and in March 1985 he was promoted to Morgue Supervisor. But by July he was once again out of work after security guards found a gun in his gym bag. He was fined and given the option to resign. The incident was never documented in his employment records. Final Stop: Cincinnati Drake Memorial Hospital With a clean work record, Harvey was able to land another job in February 1986, as a nurses aide at the Cincinnati Drake Memorial Hospital. Harvey was thrilled to be out of the morgue and back with the living with whom he could play God, and he wasted little time doing just that. From April 1986 until March 1987, Harvey killed 26 patients and tried to kill several more. John Powell is his last known victim. After his death an autopsy was performed and the smell of cyanide was detected. Three separate tests confirmed that Powell had died of cyanide poisoning. The Investigation The Cincinnati police investigation included interviewing family, friends, and hospital staff. Employees were given the option to take voluntary lie detectors tests. Harvey was on the list to be tested, but called in sick on the day he was scheduled. Harvey soon became the lead suspect in Powells murder, especially after investigators learned that co-workers called him the Angel of Death because he was often present when patients died. It was also noted that patient deaths had more than doubled since Harvey began working at the hospital. A search of Harveys apartment turned up enough incriminating evidence to arrest Harvey for aggravated first degree murder of John Powell. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity and was held on a $200,000 bond. Plea Bargain With the investigators now having his diary, Harvey knew it wouldnt take long before the full depths of his crimes were exposed. Also, hospital employees who had always suspected Harvey of killing patients began to talk confidentially to a news reporter investigating the murder. This information was turned over to the police and the investigation widened. Harvey knew his only chance to avoid the death penalty was to accept a plea arrangement. He agreed to a full confession in exchange for a life sentence. Confessions Beginning on August 11, 1987 and throughout several more days, Harvey confessed to killing over 70 people. After investigating each of his claims he was charged with 25 counts of aggravated murder, to which Harvey pled guilty. He was given four consecutive 20-year sentences. Later, in February, 1988, he confessed to committing three more murders in Cincinnati. In Kentucky Harvey confessed to 12 murders and was sentenced to eight life terms plus 20 years. Why Did He Do It? In an interview with CBS, Harvey said he liked the control that comes with playing God, in that you can decide who will live and who will die. As to how he got away with it for so many years, Harvey said that doctors are overworked and often do not see patients after they have been pronounced dead. He also seemed to cast blame on the hospitals for allowing him to continue to treat patients who angered him and to friends who tried to mess up his life. He showed no remorse for his actions. Donald Harvey is currently incarcerated in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. He is eligible for parole in 2043.