Ethical Engagement in the Digital Age

Module Objectives

· Identify ethical issues in the use of social media in public relations and advertising.

· Apply professional ethical standards in public relations and advertising.

Read

· Shannon A. Bowen (2013). “Using Classic Social Media Cases to Distill Ethical Guidelines for Digital Engagement,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 28:119–133.

· Jeremy Langett (2013). Blogger Engagement Ethics: Dialogic Civility in a Digital Era, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 28:79–90.

· Kelli S. Burns (2008). “The Misuse of Social Media: Reactions to and Important Lessons from a Blog Fiasco,”Journal of New Communications Research, 3:1, 41-54.

· Deceptive Online Practices and Misrepresentation of Organizations (2008)

Actions

 . PRSA Ethical Standards Advisory.

Watch

· Andy Sermovitz (2014).  Social Media Disclosure and Ethics for Big Brands Links to an external site. . Presentation at SocialMedia.org’s Member Meeting, New York, NY, April 2, 2014.

Assignment

· Case Response: Prepare and post an approximately 500-word response to a contemporary case of your choosing. Identify a current situation, case, disclosure problem, success or failure story, advertising/PR case that relates to/resonates with social responsibility and ethics. Briefly summarize the issue, analyze it, and propose a solution/additional ideas. For full credit, please include citations of this week's readings, especially the Bowen (2013) article and the lecture by Andy Sernovitz.