PR pros, in order to live up to the high ethics of their profession, “must allow and seek opposing views for the good of the public,” writes Prof. Timothy Penning in the September issue of Tactics of the PR Society.
PRS celebrates September as “Ethics Month.”
PR Society has informed Jack O’Dwyer that it will allow him 350 words in its November issue of Tactics to rebut charges in a PRS board letter published in the September issue that said he had “stepped far beyond the bounds of accurate and professional reporting” in writing about PRS and its volunteer leaders. |
“Critics of PR should not condemn it but recognize a profession that enables voices to speak in open democratic dialogue,” writes Penning, who is associate professor of communications at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Mich. The school has 23,000 students.
The article has 11 separate references to PR as a function that encourages public discussion of issues and uses the words “democracy” and “democratic” 11 times.
Philosopher John Milton is quoted as saying: “Let truth and falsehood grapple; whoever knew truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter.”
Milton pleaded for “open deliberation” in 1644 in a speech entitled “Areopagitica” to the Lords and Commons of the Star Chamber court in England.
John Milton and John Stuart Mill |
Philosopher John Stuart Mill is quoted as saying that truth is not always easily discerned and that citizens will look for a consensus among multiple points of view.
“Truth in the great potential concerns of life is so much a question of reconciling and combining of opposites,” said Mill.
Grunigs' 'Symmetrical Model' Is Cited
Also cited by Penning is the “two-way symmetrical model” of communications described by Professors James and Larissa Grunig.
The model involves “collaboration, negotiation and mediation as PR pros listen as well as communicate to their publics,” says Penning.
Also deplored is censorship. Penning quotes Milton as saying that government censorship, even if well intended, does great harm to society.
Timothy Penning |
[A group of PR professors has been trying without success for two months to get PRS national or chapters to carry their 14-point essay arguing for a discussion and vote on publishing the printed members’ directory.]
PR people who are caught trying to cover or bend the truth reinforce the image of PR as “nothing more than intentional deception, sleazy image crafting, or spin,” Penning writes.
He concludes: “The ethical and democratic role of PR is to help provide equal and diverse expressions, to encourage deliberation, and to enable informed decision making.”
Penning Has Own Firm
Besides teaching PR courses at Grand Valley, Penning has his own PR firm, Penning Ink. He was president of West Michigan PRS in 2004 and was on its board seven years. He is a founder and board member of Interchange: The Assn. for West Michigan Communications Professionals.
A graduate of Central Michigan with a B.A. in journalism, he received an M.A. in Organizational Communication from Western Michigan University and is working on a Ph.D. in Media Information Studies at Michigan State.
His early career in journalism included working as a staff writer and editor for Traverse Magazine and Advance Newspapers.
Illegal Copying Is Blasted
In another article in the September Tactics, readers are told that copyright permission must be sought in order to "Copy articles from publications and reproduce them for distribution at a trade show or in a sales packet."
Also forbidden is using "an entire article in an internal newsletter or blog."
Steve Shannon, executive VP of BurrellesLuce, says, "Staff and printing expenses are substantial" and "publishers of newspapers, magazines and web sites rely on advertising and subscription revenue to cover their costs and make a profit..."
Shannon quotes Keith Kupferschmid of the Software and Information Industry Assn. as saying that "Copying and mass distribution of copy-righted articles is a serious offense--it is stealing, just as much as using unlicensed software is stealing." |