When it comes to ethics, stand your ground

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There’s been quite a debate on the Inside PR podcast about why public relations practitioners rank near the bottom of any list of trusted professions (usually right alongside lawyers and politicians.)

The discussion started with a question in episode 101 asked by Rayanne Langdon . It’s carried on over several episodes. And yes, I’ve contributed my 2 cents to it along the way .

Bottom line for me: PR should not reference the legal maxim that every person has the right to a defence in court and argue that "every client deserves public relations representation." No they don’t. Some people just do bad things. And the best public relations advice to them is to own up and make good.

There are industries that refuse to do this. They play for time, using the profits from their morally dubious activities to pave the way for them to transition their companies into other industries. Yes, I’m thinking tobacco. And I abhor the fact that we allow these companies to continue to produce something that incontestably kills people every single day. My view is that they do not deserve public relations counsel and Terry Fallis (who shares this view) and I have refused assignments from tobacco companies when they have come calling.

So, am I claiming that I have the key to good ethics. Heck no. But I like the argument that Julie Rusciolelli has advanced . Every person should be prepared to state their reasons for accepting (or not accepting) a client assignment. Not everyone may agree with the reasons. But over time we will respect people who clearly and honestly argue their positions. And we will also be able to identify and isolate the bad apples, ensuring that they don’t contaminate the entire PR industry.

OK. So that’s easy for me to say. I own my own PR company. The only person I have to answer to is myself. (Well, not quite. I actually have to answer to every employee as she/he decides every morning whether they want to work for my company. But that’s a digression.)

Rayanne Langdon, who you may recall started the Inside PR discussion, has posted a comment on Michael Allison’s post on this issue. Rayanne’s comment:

I’ve already heard stories from some of my classmates that make me cringe. But, I guess I’m the stickler for ethics–being the one who started the IPR discussion. Everyone hates me for it! Hah.

Thankfully, I don’t feel I’ve been put in any compromising situations yet, but I don’t know what I would have done if I was. As bad as it sounds, it seems almost rude to stand your ethical ground and refuse work at this point. Do you know what I mean?

I know how Rayanne feels. It’s tough to be in a situation in which you feel you are at odds with people who have some authority over you. So, here’s my advice to Rayanne and other young PR practitioners:

  • If someone asks you to do something that strikes you as ethically dubious, state your view clearly. Ask the other person to respond. Consider their response. Ask for time to think about it.
  • If you come to see the other person’s point of view, then you may find that you have learned something and you can do what they’ve requested.
  • If, on the other hand, you still feel that you cannot do what has been asked of you, stand your ground! The good people in life don’t compromise their fundamental principles. Once you start to slide, it’s hard to regain solid ground. So, don’t start.

That’s the advice I’d offer. If young PR practitioners (or anyone for that matter) follow it, I’ll respect them for it. And if the people in my firm ever find me offside with the views I’ve stated here, I hope they’ll call me out on it.

Strumpette has thin skin; gives me the treatment

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Chris Clarke wrote something in the Blog Herald that Strumpette didn’t like. In a post in the Blog Herald on Friday, Chris wrote,

The PR community online is still growing. According to our official scorekeeper Constantin Basturea, the community almost doubled in 2006 to 630. Terrific, right? One would hope that with more PR blogs, the industry would be increasing it’s awareness of social media. More PR bloggers means more individuals telling their friends and colleagues, “Check out my blog.” Sadly, the second most-trafficked PR blogs is the self-appointed potty-mouthed ombudswoman of the PR community, Strumpette. Even when we do good, the bad stuff seems to stand out above the rest.

Well, it seems that Strumpette, used to visiting criticism on others, has a pretty thin skin. Chris’ post is time-stamped 11:00 January 12. At 11:15, my telephone rang and the first words I heard were, “Joe, it’s Brian Connolly.” Brian wanted to complain to me about what Chris had written. You see, I’m Chris’ employer and Brian felt that I was responsible for Chris’ scepticism about the merits of Strumpette.

Brian and I had a good long conversation. He made his points. Articulately. With some passion. He argued the importance in society of dissension. I listened and did not disagree with that. But I did tell him that I have a problem with people who attack the character of others from behind a veil of anonymity.

We had a good conversation that gave me some points to consider, but that did not persuade me to endorse Strumpette’s approach.

Well, a few minutes ago, I felt the fury of a Strumpette scorned. One of the anonymous Strumpettes has just written an attack piece targeted squarely at me, my firm and our approach to social media.

None of us will find total agreement with everything we say. There is merit in thinking through and expressing ideas and having them challenged. That’s how we learn. That’s how we move forward. That’s how we grow.

Social media provides channels through which new voices may be heard. Some will be intelligent and perceptive. Some will entertain. Some will educate. Others will seek to titillate and to appeal to baser instincts.

So, I’ve just had my Strumpette moment. It’s not nice. I have some scratches.

Time to move on.

Linkworthy

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On the Road … Finally Shel Israel and Rick Segal’s Excellent Adventures begin! Shel will draw on his experiences and observations during this journey when writing Global Neighborhoods.

More Evidence that Media 2.0 may be less profitable than Media 1.0 Scott Karp touches a nerve with his analysis of the revenue potential for new consumer generated and social media websites. At the time of this post, he had drawn 19 strongly worded comments – both pro and con his position.
Traditional Media Still Gain Consumers Trust Debra Aho Williamson points to a study released by Lexis Nexis that “that during major national events, consumers turn first to TV, radio and print.” Not surprising. Traditional media continue to have water cooler effect for the really big events.

Edleman, Wal-Mart and WOMMA’s Code of Ethics Constantin Basturea offers a perspective on the application of marketers’ code of ethics to the Wal-Marting Across America flog (fake blog).

Astroturf or legitimate grassroots mobilization? Kami Huyse answers my question

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Anti-astroturfingI’ve been following the discussion about astroturfing initiated by Paull Young.

The first participants rushed in to condemn astroturfing. Who wouldn’t?

Well, a lot of people, it seemed. And why were people holding back from such an important discussion?

Much of the early discussion focused on examples of outrageously bad behaviour. Of course, it’s easy to condemn clear cut, extreme cases. But what the average practitioner encounters on a daily basis is much less clear cut.

For serious practitioners that I talked to, the real issue is a working definition of behaviour that we can agree defines the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

I raised this question in a comment on Canuckflack. (Unfortunately, I can’t link back to the post, which wasn’t ported to Colin’s new site when he switched to WordPress in August.) The response to my comment was positive and thoughtful. Paull Young picked up the question in a post and added a related heading on the New PR Wiki Astroturf page. And then Steve Field nudged the issue forward.
Kami HuyseNow, Kami Huyse has published an Anti-Astroturfing Code of Ethics that I think will serve to guide practitioners as they encounter real world situations. Kami’s code:

  • I will not fabricate a public concern by paying or coercing individuals to falsely act as concerned citizens. I will only seek to help give voice to those who already hold an existing concern and/or provide education to stakeholders that might be affected by a particular issue.
  • When supporting grassroots efforts, I will ensure that I am transparent in all my actions and clearly and publicly state what actions I am taking and which organization or client I represent.
  • I will never knowingly distort or falsify information to help my client/interest achieve a strategic/emotional advantage in a public debate.
  • I will encourage all grassroots supporters to be open and honest in all of their communications, just as I will be open and honest in mine.

Well said Kami. I can live by that.

IABC International Conference – Stephen Lewis

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This is a long post, but read it through to the end … please.

When the bottom line isn’t enough.

Stephen LewisStephen Lewis, United Nations’ Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in stunningly and compellingly reminded us of our corporate social responsibility in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the communication professional’s role in elevating these priorities and encouraging the instinctive compassion of individuals. Globalization is failing to deal with some of the most pressing problems: poverty, disease conflict, the environment.Faced with this, the UN established a series of eight Millenium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015:

  • To cut in half the most extreme manifestations of poverty and hunger
  • Dramatically reduce infant mortality rates
  • Dramatically reduce maternal mortality rates
  • To put all the primary school age children in the world
  • To introduce a degree of gender equality
  • To drive back the scourge of infectious diseases like AIDS and tuberculosis
  • Environmental sustainability
  • An accord between the developed and developing world, in which the former delivers on its promises.

“Six years later, while progress is being made in other parts of the world, it is clear that not one of these goals will be met in Africa – largely due to excruciating poverty and the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.”

Some hard realities. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is spreading irrevocably, ineluctably around the world. In China. In India. In Russia. Eastern and central Europe and Asia. There is no part of the world that is immune. And in the epicentre of Africa, it is astonishingly catastrophic.

“If the present level of infections continue, by the year 2012, we will have 100 million on this planet who have died of AIDS or who will die prematurely from it. … The pervasiveness of death is absolutely heartbreaking.”

Lewis spoke of a class of 10 year olds in Zimbabwe in which the teacher asked them to write what was on their minds. Eight out of ten wrote the word, “Death.” And for these children, the only solace they have is prayer. There is no other hope.

“It’s 2006, for god’s sake. How are we prepared to write off millions of people who … with help .. could break the back of the pandemic.”

Women suffer disproportionately from this scourge. Burdened by gender inequality, they are victims of irresponsible behaviour by men. Women have become an endangered species in some parts of the African continent.

And the plight of orphans … “the unsung heroes of the African continent are the grandmothers, who bury their adult children and then return to parenting their orphaned grandchildren. … And when the grandparents die, you have the extraordinary situation of households of children where the oldest assume the responsibility of caring for the youngest.”

And yet, we can beat this scourge. Simply by the governments of western countries honouring their commitments and by corporations acting on their social responsibility.

“Where is the private sector in the midst of the colossal cataclysm?”, Lewis asked. How does the Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria get adequately funded? The governments of the world have begun to back away from their commitments. Hardly a penny has come from the private sector. The only quasi private sector contribution of moment is from the Gates Foundation. Why are corporations failing their social responsibility?

There are some glimmers of hope, Some companies have begun to provide testing and counseling for their workers in Africa. They have extended this to include families and communities of their workers. But what none of these companies has done is to go beyond the self-interest of dealing with the pandemic within their own employee groups to make a contribution of consequence to a real solution to the pandemic.

Lewis is traveling and meeting with leaders of corporations to ask them to exercise their corporate social responsibility by making a significant contribution to the Global Fund. “We need at least one major, significant contribution to break the logjam of indifference.”

“If there is one company anywhere that is prepared to take the first step, there is not a newspaper in the world that would not herald this in its editorial pages. … If you could construct a contribution to the Global Fund, this would be the leverage that we need to motivate others.”

Lewis challenged communicators to respond to this need. He asked that we all consider, what we can do. And that we take action.

He suggested that the IABC Research Foundation could play a role – examining why the coverage of this situation in Africa is under-reported. Awareness translates into a compulsion to act and the invisibility of Africa in western media makes it palatable to ignore the catastrophe.

Why is the communication around prevention not working in parts of the world? There are artful efforts to change behaviour … why are we finding it so difficult to change behaviour? To communicate how to protect yourself? To communicate the impact of gender inequality and the need to correct it.

“When one part of the human family is under siege, the privileged part of must respond.”

Stephen Lewis presented a compelling case for action on a human catastrophe. With wit, erudition and passion. We should not fail to heed his message.

 

 

 

IABC International Conference – Tuesday morning sessions

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Tudor WilliamsI thought the 7:15 start to Monday was tough. Today, we’re going at it 15 minutes earlier. But at least a continental breakfast is included. I’m planning on joining Tudor Williams’ breakfast discussion of Blogs, wikis and podcasts – what’s next?

Stephen LewisWell, Stephen Lewis is next. The United Nations’ Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Commissioner for the World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, Lewis will address “the role of corporate social responsibility in addressing global problems and the communication professional’s role in elevating these priorities and encouraging the instinctive compassion of individuals.” Serious topic. Passionate speaker.

FedExI’ll close out my morning with Jody Humble’s presentation on How the ancient art of narrative can inspire culture change. Jody is the communication manager who worked with FedEx Canada’s President Rajesh Subramaniam on his Excel Award-winning communications initiatives.   

 

Blogger relations & transparency: A must-listen/read for PR practitioners

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PR practitioners should not miss Shel Holtz’s and Neville Hobson’s discussion of the issues raised in the Edelman/Wal-Mart blogger relations controversy.

Shel and Neville kicked off a spirited discussion in the For Immediate Release Podcast 118. Many listeners (including me) kept the conversation going with comments on the FIR blog.

Shel Holtz posted on his own blog, a shel of my former self, a response to those who question the legitimacy of companies presenting their viewpoint to bloggers. In fact, Shel asserts, “Organizations have every right to engage in the conversation.”

For his part, Neville posted several times , arguing for full disclosure and transparency. One of Neville’s posts drew 29 comments.

Finally, Neville and Shel closed the circle with an update on For Immediate Release 119.

Shel and Neville, thanks for the great discussion. You’ve provided a gathering point for many of us to come together to consider the important underlying issues. This is what social media is supposed to be about!

Quacks like a duck. Walks like a duck…

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This courtesy of CBC news.

John Reynolds, the man who co-chaired the Conservative national election campaign, is now offering advice to some of Canada’s largest companies on how to access the government.

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“If I wanted to be a lobbyist – and I had lots of offers to go with some of the major firms in Canada – I would have done that. What we’re doing here is different,” he said.

Reynolds said a lot of his job will involve giving companies what seems like simple advice – approach your MP if you need to get your point across to cabinet. And although Reynolds may have the prime minister’s private number on speed-dial, he said he won’t use it.

“If a CEO of a company listens to my advice, he’ll be able to get that done, without me having to make a phone call.”

Read the full text of Lang Michener’s release .