Week 6.

This week, chapters 4 and 5 of Public relations: Theory and practice (2004), discuss the legal and ethical aspects of pubic relations practice.
Firstly, chapter 4 raises some really interesting points that made me realise how complex the legal environment in which PR practitioners practice is, as there are a number of areas of law they need to ensure they are familiar with in order to provide quality PR.
Within this chapter, Breit (2004) suggests that "To ensure quality public relations outcomes,practitioners need to take an active role in developing strategies to minimise the legal risks associated with the functions and roles they perform." (p.75).
This scared me, because there are so many things you have to consider as a practitioner. You can't just be worrying whether your work is effective, but you also have to ensure that what you are doing is legal.
I believe the key points to remember within this chapter are the bodies of law that practitioners must have a sound knowledge on.
According Breit (2004), these are:
The tort of negligence
The tort of defamation
Contempt law
Contract law
Statutory obligations
Intellectual propoerty law.

The tort of defamation tended to interest me the most, as it changed my previous understanding of this law and broadened my understanding of PR practice, as I learnt that a practitoner must be aware they do not breach this tort.
The part of this tort that was a surprise to me, was that even human gestures can be considered as defamation. Also, actions of defamation can even be identified if the action is indirect, thus meaning that it is based on innuendo arising from special knowledge between the person who does the act, and for whom it is about.

Chapter 5 was about ethical practice. Obviously, an important aspect to remember from this reading is the definition of what ethics is.
McCoy defines it as "The personal values which underpin the behaviour and moral choices made by an individual in response to a specific situation." (p.106).
Some of the values that the Josephus Institute for the Advancement of Ethics (2003), considered essential to ethical life are honesty, integrity, fairness, respect for others and accountability.
The inclusion of this example helped me to understand exactly what ethical judgements are based upon.

I also learnt within this chapter, that according to Seib and Fitzpatrick (1995), public relations practitioners have five ethical duties. These are: To themselves, the client, employer, profession and to society.
This list should be used as a guide to help practitoners decide upon ethical dilemmas.
I really liked reading about ethical issues within PR because it was very insightful and provided you with hypothetical situations which I found really interesting.

I am however aprehensive to learn about the legal side of this subject, however I hope it will turn out to be more interesting than intimidating!

This week I commented Kellie O'Sullivan's blog and replied to a comment from Sara Shanahan about my blog.

References:
Breit, R. (2004). Ethical pracitce. In Johnston,J. & Zawawi, C.Public relations: Theory and practice.(2nd ed). (pp. 104-133). Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.

Josephus Institute for the Advancement of Ethics, (2003). Making Ethical Decisions. Retrieved: August 14, 2007, from www.josehpsoninstitute.org.

McCoy, L. (2004). The legal environment. In Johnston,J. & Zawawi, C.(2004).Public relations: Theory and practice. (2nd ed). (pp. 75-103).Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Seib, P. & Fitzpatrick, K.(1995). Public relations ethics. Florida: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.