PR Ethics Comm Law Free Speech Freedom of Speech How much freedom of speech do we have What avenues of speech communication do we have access to i e mass communication etc Do people have equal rights in terms of free public speech Freedom of Speech In the US the First Amendment guarantees Freedom of speech Freedom of the press Right to peaceably assemble Freedom of Speech Limits on free speech tend to come in two forms political limits and economic limits Political debates about freedom of speech concern whether civil rights have been violated Ex Hate speech hate crimes Ex Bullying hot issue Ex Wikileaks Economic debates concern the loss of financial value the ability loss of ability to make money ownership intellectual property and harm to reputation that is financially damaging Ex Paparazzi Ex music sampling Freedom of Speech How does free speech in the US differs from other countries cultures Model of journalistic freedom and free expression Authoritarian Model State controlled or Communist model Social responsibility model Libertarian Model Freedom of Speech Authoritarian Model prohibits any press or speech act that undermines gov t authority the common good is defined by the ruling class and objection is not tolerated still exists in some developing countries with authoritarian governments Critical scholars would argue that media conglomerates may act as authoritarian forces to prevent subversive press and speech acts State controlled or Communist model The state government controls the press subversive speech acts are not tolerated China North Korean Myanmar Freedom of Speech Social responsibility model works under the premise that the press should be concerned with the social good and what is best for society values plurality of viewpoints and opinions press seen as fourth estate watch dogs American European media Libertarian Model values extreme individualism and constant criticism of the government opposes all restriction of speech and personal freedoms Counter culture non mainstream media Media is support of under represented groups Freedom of Speech Censorship in the US Two important SCOTUS decisions Pentagon Papers decision 1971 top secret document from DoD leaked to NYT and WP Courts upheld First Amendment rights of the papers no censorship based on national security Progressive Magazine decision 1979 tried to publish article on nuclear weapons Injunction by the federal government was initially upheld in favor of censorship though the entire case was eventually dropped Freedom of Speech The media in the US is regulated by the Federal Communication Commission The print media tend to have the most freedom given that freedom of the press is in the constitution Broadcast media has tighter restrictions because air time is consider a national public resource The Internet is changing so fast that it is hard for regulators to keep up especially with privacy and bullying issues Media industry self regulation Ex Movie ratings system G PG PG13 R NC17 Equal opportunity of political broadcast time Freedom of Speech Speech not protected by the First Amendment Sedition opposing US war efforts this one is murky Obscenity material that is offensive often sexually lacks artistic value goes against common decency What is considered obscene is constantly changing Controversy over online obscenity rules Freedom of Speech Speech not protected by the First Amendment Copyright infringement using someone else s intellectual property without permission or payment Copyright includes things like music films choreography but not raw ideas Libel written broadcasted defamation of character not like slander which is only spoken concerned with reputation and livelihood Involves defamation publication identification Privacy violations PR Ethics Ethics How do we know what is right and wrong What do you value most What do other people value most What motivates us to act in certain ways Why do we need ethics Ethics Ethics is the study of what constitutes right and wrong in our society Ethics is the set of criteria by which decisions are made about what is right and what is wrong A form of inquiry concerned with the process of finding rational justification for our actions when the values that we hold come into conflict Deals with our struggle to justify doing or not doing something when values of our belief system clash Ethics Different kinds of ethical codes International Societal Professional PRSA Organizational personal Ethics What do you do if you get into an ethical dilemma Examples Overworked can t handle the load quality slips Legal ethical confusion what is legal may not be ethical Libel Copyright Privacy violation Short sightedness do what is best in the short term at the expense of the long term Virtual organizations front groups formed for a particular purpose can sometimes clash with the Ethics Cultural conflict ethical problems due to misunderstanding or differences in culture Cultural relativism no cultural system of ethics better than another Ethical imperialism ethnocentric believe your system is the right system Must strike a balance between the two PR Ethics PR ethics are not mandated by laws necessarily PR professional use a code of ethics decided upon by members of the profession PRSA is perhaps the biggest and most influential