B.L. Ochman's Ethics Blog: What's the most unethical thing you ever did in business? Confess, anonymously. We'll rate how bad you were.

Does PR News Survey Have an Ethics Problem?

PR_News.jpgPR News is taking a survey on corporate social responisibility for an upcoming report. Its focus: “How are you communicating your Corporate Responsibility activities and initiatives? ”
PR News’ Ethics problem: to answer the survey, you have to give your name, address and phone number. They do not promise to send you a copy of the survey results. They do not list a privacy policy. So then, it would appear that the information is taken so you can be hounded with subscription and spronsorship requests. That does not seem ethical.
Not to single out only PR News, because many companies use this ploy. In the age of transparency, it would seem a given that people would be given a choice of whether and how they wish to be contacted. Does Sarbanes-Oxley address privacy issues?

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Ethics is More Than Just Telling the Truth

“Being ethical is more fundamental than just telling the truth.” says Australian publicist Trevor Cook in a podcast interview with Blog Forward about ethics in public relations.

“Don’t just repeat what a client tells you to the media,” Cook says. “Ask questions and make sure that what you are putting out is truthful. There is a broader social responsibility involved in PR than just putting forward the client’s case like a lawyer.”