Ethics …feelings, beliefs behavior and the law?

I believe that we all have heard the word ethics but nobody really knows what it means.

So lets define what ethics really mean, well it may just be harder to do than what you think. Ethics are unspoken rules, opinions and thoughts of how people should act/behave in society.

Ethics vary but appear in education, business, government, sport and public relations. So it exists everywhere but is very abstract and seem to vary depending on culture, socio economic background, gender, ethnicity and other things that may affect how you view society and how people should act.

Seitel (2010) writes that “Roughly translated, an individual’s or organization’s ethics comes down to the standards that are followed in relationships with others”

There are several different types of ethics such as, utilitarianism- always consider the greater good for the most people, The golden mean-the middle of two extreme points of view all of these are just a few of ethical points of views that can be applied to different scenarios in life as well as in organizations.

The PRSA Memeber code of ethics is highly important if you work in Public Relations, it is a guidelines such as, advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness. Public Relations have a responsibility to uphold a certain standard to which we honer the profession as well as the law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seitel, F.P. (2010).  The Practice of Public Relations,  11th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson  Education, Inc.

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Public Opinion: What you and everyone else think (Chapter 4)

We all have one and we all use it at some point or another and it matters especially in the communication field.

The public opinion is what sways the way society thinks, it is the majority or the unknown that will command our organization to change and opinions can change everything. So what does this mean? Public Opinion matters !

The public relations profession usually deals with persuasion and crystallizing ideas meaning, we enforce what people already think. However, lets go to the beginning of this and establish what a public opinion really is. An opinion according to our textbook is an expression of an attitude on a particular topic. As attitudes become forceful enough they become verbal and behavioral actions. So we can look at it as; Attitudes->Opinions->Actions.

What we do know about attitudes are that they are based on our personal characteristics such as culture, education, religious beliefs, social class, race and family upbringing. All of these things affect the way we view society and other people and it will also effect our actions.

Persuasion is a powerful tool that many communication professionals use. However, persuading someone can be harder than what we think. Facts are quantitative and empirical which makes it very powerful, this is why it is so important to do research the facts. Emotions are something that most people respond to, empathy, compassion and the ability to relate often appeals to people. Personalizing a message is very important as to persuade someone is to direct it to personal experience, people should be able to relate to the topic.

The public opinion plays an important role in the communication field as the message needs to boomerang through the public for the sender to know how to create a well composed message. 

Public Relations people …horrible writers??

The book says that few people are born writers, I am sadly one of the majority.

Public relations take writing and writing well very seriously, it is very important to write well for both the ear and the eye. It take tremendous amount of practice and hard work to become a skilled and good writer. You as a writer need to be able to crawl before you run which means that the basics should be covered.

Know your audience when you write, the writer must have a target group to detail the message properly. Be simple and clear, using jargon and difficult words may impress The Nobel Literature price committee. However, communication is to reach as many people as possible. Revise, revise and revise. Draft your message and don’t be afraid to adjust it over time.

Rudolf Flesch must be my hero. Although I have to admit that I do enjoy and appreciate someone that knows how to use “pretty” words. However, Flesch battled against pretentious jargon. He believed that if people wrote the way they spoke then communication would become more clear and the audience would be more inclined to listen.

The 7 Flesch suggestions

1, Use contractions

2, Leave out (my favorite word) that as much as possible

3, Use pronouns

4, Don’t use fancy words instead of substitutions

5, Use short and clear sentences

6, Concentrate on one subject at the time

7, Write in a way so the reader understand you

Communication …. not that easy

Communication has spread in a rapid way more then anyone could ever think. The internet has created a whole new forum for people to communicate in many different way. Public relations have four important rules that should be enforced at any point.

Public relation have an obligation to inform. For example, important information that regards rules, regulations and safety to inform an educate. Persuasion has always been a strong agenda for public relations. However, most think of aggressiveness when in reality persuasion can be subtle. Motivation is always a strong point within organizations, this can be a handy tool to encourage employees loyalty. And last but not least, goals to build mutual understanding. Different groups with different points of views can build a mutual understanding by communicating with each other. All of theses rules can be applied in all sorts of communication as a helpful reminder of what is important.

Receiver’s bias is based on the feedback of the public that is being communicated to.  Most think that they are a “clean” slate, without judgment or preconceived notions. However, all of us are affected by opinions about the unknown or known. Stereotypes, symbols and semantics are issues that communication professionals always have to consider.