Ethically Ethical

Ethically speaking, I am in the middle. At least with Public Relations. A question that was brought up in class was would I be willing to work for a tobacco company. In this economy and job crisis I probably would. If the money and the job are there I would be stupid not to. Now if I had a choice on working for a ethical company over a slimy company then of course I would choose the ethical company. I suppose as I go through the job market and I climb the corporate ladder I will begin to develop my ethical views on what is right and what is wrong in the work place. At the moment though, I feel unequipped to really judge which track I will take. Of course there are things I wouldn't do including cheat, steal or sleep my way to the top, but the gray areas are still yet to be decided.

Public Relations Ethics in the News: (these are paraphrased from the article below)

1.) A public relations firm allegedly(using my mass media law jargon) created a program that would basically have a group of "tweeters" that would only say good things about the firms client and that client's products. Creating a false good image for the company.

• Though, this may not be ethical. I think its ingenious and kind of funny. I wonder if I could hire them to tweet about me and make me the most popular girl on campus. It's human nature to follow a crowd when it comes to liking someone or something. So, theoretically, this firm could make a company (or me) a fad just by creating the origional crowd.

2.) A public relations firm allegedly told its interns to write favorable reviews about the games sold by it's clients.

• Clever? Not saying I feel that this is right, but it is kind of what I assumed that companys did anyways. It's not as if they are taking the public by surprise by doing this and being caught. Silly them for being caught. These are the kind of firms that give Public Relations a bad name.

My Inspiration for this Blog Post:
http://prsay.prsa.org/index.php/2009/09/02/public-relations-ethics-and-the-role-of-prsa/

Freedom of Speech

This week I was in charge of publicizing the Times Talk. The topic was Walter Cronkite and the freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is of constant conversation in a Mass Communications concentration. Hence the term communications. It is what sets our country apart and makes me proud to say that I am an American. I will forever be a supporter of Protecting everyones freedom of speech. Kayne West, while completely inappropriate, has the right to say what he said. Just not when he said it.

In Article 11 of the Declaration of Independence
"The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the precious rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law"

This weeks was the biggest Times Talk in history (not to pat myself of the back much or anything). Perhaps being a Freedom of Speech topic had something to do with it.

My Box of Public Relations Chocolate

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get"

I wonder if my parents thought of that quote when thinking about how I would turn out. What skills would I acquire? What attributes would I possess? Would I be a cheerful person or a moody person? I believe some parts of my personal strengths and weaknesses were given to me naturally, others were from sweat and tears. So what's inside my box of chocolates you ask? Well, that question is influencing my topic for the week, "My box of Public Relations Chocolates".

According to a post on davefleet.com these are the skills, old and new, you need in order to be a Public Relations Professional.

Traditional:

• Writing
• Communications Skills
• Attention to detail
• Media relations
• Proactiveness
• Work ethic

New Skills:

• Blogging
• Microblogging
• Social Networking tools
• SEO
• Coding
• RSS, RSS Readers
• Blogger relations
• Social media ethics

So, lets start with the old. My top three strengths from the "traditional" include Work ethic, Proactiveness, and Attention to Detail. I do, however, have a little bit of the other listed strengths that will be presented to you through my examples.

Work Ethic and Attention to Detail: My work ethic is typically what I am known for. I have been referred to as Katie the choo-choo train (it was in 6th grade soccer). When working at Victoria Secret (No, I do not know Victoria's secret) I was typically known for my attention to detail and making sure the job was done correctly. Speed would be one of my weaknesses. I am too much of a perfectionist to finish a job half "butt", which can require extra time. I follow the theory of doing it right the first time so you don't have to do it again later. My managers, being the awesome people that they are, figured this out and began assigning me to tasks that required a more detail oriented person. They, along with my coworkers also found out that I am the one you call if you need your shift covered. I don't like saying no and letting the team down. I will work until I can barely move if it is required. I also like to get the job done, socializing is for after the work is done. Work is work, fun is fun. Though, at times, work can be a lot of fun.

Proactiveness: Why I say that I am proactive is because I tend to do research and "google" my way into solutions. Example being my buisness analysis homework the other day. The teacher was out so as a class we were assigned to watch youtube video's on the Microsoft Project Management tool. Well, the videos wouldn't play so over 75% of the class left and refused to do the work because they didn't "know how". I stayed with one other person and we googled our way into learning how to use the program and then how to complete the assignment. I also ask a million questions. It's how I learn. I didn't realize how many questions I ask until I took a road trip with my mom and sister to Baton Rouge. They kept laughing at me for asking so many questions. In my mind, if I don't know an answer, I like to combine heads with other people to see if they may know. I learned my lesson with them though, from now on I will only direct my questions at my dad... who also asks a million questions.

For the New Skills section, its easier to say what I am taking classes and working on to improve daily. Over the summer I did a social media internship, so I worked on many of these bullet points. My strongest ones would be blogging(hello, you're reading it!), social networking tools, and microblogging. That is only because those are the ones I am the most practiced in. I have dibble dabbled in each of them and am currently taking a class on webdesign that teaches HTML and I am taking a computer science course next semester. So, when I say it is a work in progress, it is. As it should be for everyone.

That's My Box of Public Relations Chocolate!

Advice: Katie Style

Assigned Topic:

"What do I know now, that I wish I knew then"

Typically I don't advertise the topic in such a blatant way, but I think it is the easiest way to approach this topic. Advice is not really something I give freely. Freely being the key word. Sure, I have given it, but in most situations I believe that one should learn from mistakes and by asking questions.

I keep getting told that I am a "tryer" not necessarily a "do-er", but I am. I try really hard until I become a "do-er". That is pretty much the theme of my advice. If you are afraid suck it up and try. How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time.

Put yourself in situations that you aren't sure if you are going to sink or swim, because thats the only way to realize your potential. I have drowned a couple times, learned from my mistakes, and tried harder the next time. Thankfully, that next time I swam.

Now it is time for the bullet list to answer the topic question:

- Do take Desktop Publishing before Writing for Public Relations

- Do volunteer to be Public Relations Chair for whatever organization you are interested in

- Keep everything!!!

- Be a do-er, don't be afraid to jump in

- Enjoy your first three years of college, because senior year is jam packed with school work

- Take on multiple internships throughout college

- Volunteer at local organizations and offer to help out with their PR work

- Don't keep pushing off your future, plan for it and act on it

- Become a To-Do lister. They help more than you can guess.

- Finally, have fun. Public Relations is hard work, but when you finish a project your amazed and have a warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy.

One of the major things I regret is not becoming active in organizations until my senior year. I always assumed I was too busy. Trust me, now I am too busy, not then. One of the major things you hear in college is about how when you go into the real world you don't have any experience, only book knowledge. Take it on yourself to get experience while in college.

Picture from http://ndn.newsweek.com/media/69/080102_CollegeApplications_xtrwide-horizontal.jpg