Oh dear Week 6
Firstly I must start off by saying I’ve been rather sick the past week and so my absorption of information has not been the greatest. I know it’s not a fabulous excuse but bear with me; I’ve had very little strength and concentration levels. Blast winter!
No business studies references this week. The readings stood on their own in the PR world.
I thought the fist half of Chapter Four wasn’t very helpful or informative at all. It just seemed to focus on the laws and legal rights of publications. It felt like a textbook for Law, not Public Relations. However I did learn what defamation means! And also the three tests for defamation, the defences against defamation, and whether or not a person can or cannot be defamed. The section on copyright was just like having my common knowledge reinforced. Previous subjects such as Foundations of Media Productions touched on copyright and no matter what you are dealing with, the laws are generally the same. You cannot take information from anywhere else unless you have permission to do so. Similar to the copyright point was the section on contracts. It just all seemed to be information that I’d heard before.
I agree with the point made on page 105 of chapter five; “Today’s technology has further reduced the ability of practitioners to communicate truthfully with integrity, as PowerPoint slides and media news bites have reduced communications to bullet points, distilling complex issues into simple propositions”. The ideas and issues are put forward into measly little 4 word points, rather than full, informative sentences.
Chapter Five was much more interesting about the roles and frameworks of ethics in public relations. This is an issue I believe that needs to be reinforced over again; whether or not you may be hurting someone with what you are saying or writing. I particularly liked the reference of the “role of the corporate conscience” – how a job of the PR practitioner is to be the conscience of the organisation and serve as the moral keeper for both its communications and actions, and also to encourage truth telling.
The readings also taught me of all the different ethical dilemmas that arise on different levels being interpersonal, organisational and stakeholders. PR practitioners are put in very compromising positions when it comes to ethics, as they are the decision makers and peace makers in this particular issue.
I do believe my heavy headness has contributed to the flakiness of this week’s blog and for that I apologise. Tune in next week for a bit more intellectual and educational waffle :-)
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2 comments:
You have made some good points about PR practice in relation to law and ethics. I agree with all the points you have made particularly in the case of defamation. You gave a clear definition of this and a clear overview of ethics. However, I think you could have maybe added some more detail about what each chapter was about rather than commenting subjectively. Other than that, great work :)
I thought your blog was really good...even though you have been sick!
I liked the point you made about the comment on page 105 and i also agree.
The same goes with your comment on ethics, i too believe they are extremely important and are an integral part of the modern PR industry.
However i have to disagree with your comments on Chapter 4..i found it very informative and enjoyed learning more about all of the legal aspects and situations that will become apart of our jobs as PR practitioners.
Good Job!
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