Ethics In Action Workshop
- JMU PRSSA
- Dec 8, 2021
- 2 min read
By Alice Wholey, PRSSA General Body Member
On December 6, 2021, PRSSA held a General Body Meeting and held an Ethics in Action Workshop. In this meeting, the executive board gave a presentation of the different Code of Ethics values and principles and how they would apply in real world public relations situations.
Here are some of the takeaways:
Code of Ethics Values: Ethical principles:
Advocacy Free Flow of Information
Honesty Competition
Expertise Disclosure of Information
Loyalty Safeguarding Confidences
Independence Conflict of Interest
Fairness Enhancing the Profession
When you join PRSSA/PRSA you sign the Code of Ethics, a pledge to be ethical.
After going through the presentation, we moved onto the, “PRSA: Detroit Ethics Quiz,” so we could practice applying the Code of Ethics to real life examples.
An example of a scenario we touched upon was:
A high-profile football player has tested positive for a banned substance so the athletic director has suspended him. The violation has not been made public, but the athletic director is facing criticism on social media and talk radio to reinstate the player. The head coach has remained silent and only publicly refers to the player as someone who would, “help them win.” The head-coach asks you for help because the negative publicity is impacting recruitment and his program. What should you do?
Members Answers:
Holding a press conference and telling the public what happened
Have a spokesperson who represents the whole school, not just the football team and reinstate values
Actual Answer:
Safeguarding confidences: Protect the client and organization and reinstate the values while not overtly saying why the football player is suspended
The meeting was wrapped up by a reminder that on December 8th, 2021, there is a PRSSA Fundraiser at Chipotle 5-9pm!
תגובות