Media Ethics - Handling Secret Information

When it comes to deciding whether or not to release information, one must consider a few things. Two of the biggest components are the level of the secret, and who will be impacted. Also it is important to consider whether or not that secret will allow others to use it for harmful reasons.

When looking at the case studies in our readings I found an interesting case that dealt with the releasing of controversial information, and the different reactions that came of it. The case took place in Uganda. The Monitor, the only independent paper in Uganda, was brought a photo from an unnamed source. The photo showed a young women being pinned down naked by men in Ugandan army uniforms. The picture showed the men shaving the women's genital area with scissors. Ugandan security agents were not pleased that there was a photo like this out there and they went after it to ensure that the photo was not released. This gave the paper a little added reason to publish the photo because they knew it held a certain amount a controversy which can be good for a newspaper. The paper was now in a tough predicament. The word was out that the paper had possession of this photo. Their credibility was on the line and they didn't want to seem as if they were involved in some kind of a cover up. The editor of The Monitor decided to print the picture on the back page with no story, just a caption.

The northern barracks where this photo was taken is the location of the United People's Defense Force, or UPDF. There has been a history of abuse in this area and as the reading states "It is in this context - a history of documented abuse - that The Monitor's editors made the decision to publish the photo." There was immediate reaction to the photo from a number of different groups. Some were very upset and other were fully supportive. Surprisingly, Uganda's women's rights group, and the national minister for ethics and integrity did not support it because they felt that women and children would be disturbed by the photo. Others felt it "promoted basic equalities and liberties for women."

The editors were later charged by the state with "sedition and publishing false news that could create fear and alarm." There was a trial in which the soldiers denied that the picture was true, saying that the uniforms didn't match the uniforms used by the UPDF. However, it was later determined that the officers were unaware of all the uniforms used. The defense lawyer for The Monitor was shot in the shoulder after his first day in court and Kandida Lakony came forward claiming she was the women in the photo. She claimed it was her ex-boyfriend in the photo. He was a soldier in the Gulu Barracks. Although the public was sympathetic to her testimony, Lakony was found guilty of lying and misleading the police. She was sentenced to 12 months in prison and died shortly after her release. After two years of trial the editors were acquitted of the charges.

If you'd like to check out the current online version of Uganda's The Monitor visit
http://www.monitor.co.ug

 If I was presented with the decision of whether or not to publish a photo like this, the criteria I'd use to make my decision would be a mix of Mills Utility principle and Bok's ethical decision making. I would have to use the utility principle to think about the outcome of publishing such a photo. If I knew that I was in a country where if I released such a photo I could easily be charged with sedition, I would have to really think about if jail time was worth it. However, I would have to also consider that releasing this photo could expose this horrible behavior and possibly have a positive impact on the stoppage of such problems. Bok's model would come in when I had to think about if there are other ways to deal with this photo that would help me avoid losing credibility, and at the same time not raise a big ethical issue. Also, I'd have to think about how the people would respond to the picture, and if I could present it in a way that could breed a positive outcome. I think the editor did a good job making a decision. By publishing the photo he avoided anyone finding out they withheld information, and by not accompanying the photo with a story the editor was attempting to minimize a bad reaction. Given the context of the abuse in Uganda, releasing the photo was helping to expose the brutality of the abuse, which may cause people to fight for a change. It is taking a risk that the image could be harmful for women and kids, however, it does open peoples eyes to what could happen if things don't change.

I think media professionals will always struggle with getting entangled in secrets. As long as there is competition in media there will always be the fight for the most attention grabbing story. Whenever a media professional is competing for a strong story, often times they will have to dig for compelling information. This means they may come across secretive information, and must use critical decision making on how to handle the information. I think the only way to avoid getting entangled in secrets is to not dig for information. Any journalist that avoids digging deep for information will have a hard time coming up with a big time story.

Media Ethics - My View and Experience

Ethics is not only important in media and business but also in all walks of life. Media is an extension of our lives. Whether it is a story we read, a product we see for the first time, a company's message, or the sale of a product, ethics will always be involved in the process. It is up to the creator or the distributor to decide if they are going about it with the proper ethical manner.

I'm still not positive of the profession in which I plan to enter, however, for the sake of this blog I'll use my upcoming internship and prior sales experience to provide my ethical approach. I've worked in sales for two years and my internship will be within the integrated media department at NBCU. Both positions have a sales and marketing components to them. Both sales and marketing have an interesting line between profit and ethics. The goal is to make the sale, increase profit and successfully market the brand. As a commission sales consultant my livelihood depended on getting the sales anyway possible. Ethics were not always stressed. However, I have trouble blatantly taking advantage of someone and providing false information in order to make the sale. I had to learn ways to combat adversity and promote the product in which ever way appealed to the consumer. If a client had an issue with a particular component of the product, rather than misleading them, I would empathize and then shift to another component that may help them look past what they didn't like and focus on another feature that could help. "A dialogic ethic does not ensure the "right" answer; it works to assist in meeting what­ ever diversity is before us, whether we like it or not." (Arnett)

Sales is mostly connected to the Arnett's Dialogic Communication Ethic. A good salesmen knows how to develop dialogue. Arnett says "A dialogic communication ethic acknowledges multiple goods that give rise to and emerge in ongoing conversations, protecting and promoting the good of learning." Learning is important, if you can learn your client you can better fit them to your product. Arnett goes on to say "A dialogic ethic is the protector and the promoter of the emergent, the unexpected, and the unforeseen-it is the communicative home of hope for an idea, a viewpoint, or an action that has not yet been apparent." When trying to connect with someone to make a sale or market a product pulling out the unknown viewpoint, experience, idea, or action can be critical in connecting the product to your client.

When it comes to me and my tools for ethical decision making, I believe I posses inherent qualities that will help me avoid making any major mistakes. First of all I consider my self a considerate person and don't like the feeling of taking advantage of someone. In sales it is almost your job to take advantage of someone but I never made anyone do anything they hadn't already given a good amount of thought to already. Secondly I am selfless individual. I've never been one looking to outshine others, and I think that's important when it comes to ethics. I don't think I would risk being unethical and putting out information that could be harmful to people just for the sake of my career. I believe in karma and anything that I feel would be wrong or harmful to someone is hard for me to execute. Thirdly I am a thorough thinker. Rarely do things go by me without me considering the consequences. I have been tempted to put edgy statuses on my social media however, I almost always refrain due to thought of what may come from it now or in the future.

Throughout my course work and readings I have learned skillful ways to communicate with clients in many different settings. So far from the readings in this class I have learned the many different theories based on how to handle and resolve dilemmas. I was unaware of all the different theories that are out there and I was glad to see that I use a mix of many in my own natural decision making. Also, the Plaisance readings offered the code of ethics for PR, Advertising, and Marketing, all of which I had never seen before and found quite interesting. None of the codes were very surprising to me because in most cases things should be handled with the correct amount of considerate thought. What I wonder is how often the professionals in these fields reference and abide by the codes, and how they find ways around them. I will take the information and theories that we will learn during this course and consider which may be the correct process when I come across a dilemma in the future. Due to my background, what I would like to see discussed in class and in the readings during this course would be ethical decision making on the business side of media.

Proctor and Gamble - Investor and Goverment Relations

P&G reaches its investors and government relations by providing in depth reports. They have a 28 page  sustainability report that provides all the information regarding their attempts to reduce emissions and harmful waste during the production of their products. The report also describes its efforts to help provide clean water to 300 million kids around the world. The reports provides the numbers reached and which goals were met. Further on in the report P&G provides how they have gone about producing more environmentally friendly products, making changes to raw materials and the packaging of the products. Along with the sustainability report P&G  provides their anaua report for investors to see their revenue action. visit http://news.pg.com/media_kits to see both reports.

16 P&G plants and distributing centers have achieved 0 manufacturing waste sent to landfills. This mean that all the waste they produce is re-used to make other beneficial things such as shoe soles for low cost shoes, bricks, and pillowsrused for industrial spill clean ups. The bricks are produced from waste left over, and excess floss is used as the lining for the industrial spill pillows.

This type of report not only reaches the government but also investors. With companies forced to make changes in the way they produce their products it is important to understand what is being done in order to see if their changes could effect their performance.

As I mentioned in previous blogs, P&G's strategies to reach communities and demonstrate corporate social responsibility are involving themselves in many relief efforts around the world. P&G Children Safe Drinking Water Program and Dawns Saves Wildlife program are just two examples of their attempt to pay it forward as a company do what they can to help using their products. Dawn Saves Wildlife is a program that gives Dawn dish detergent and money to organizations that help wildlife victims of oil spills.The safe drinking water program has provide 2.5 billion liters of clean water since 2004. P&G communicates their efforts through their blogs as well as video.

I think the most important things to do during a crisis are to be transparent, in touch, and always remember to make the victims the main focus. Make sure to update the audience regularly and be the ones providing the information not just responding to it. Press releases, social media updates,  video, and a spokesperson are good ways to provide the information. I think it is in the best interest of a company to hire a crisis team. Crisis Committees are fully focused on the issue and are experts at helping companies bounce back.

Procter & Gamble - Blogs and Spokesperson

P&G has an internal blog which they use to cover stories that involve the company and their brands.  However, P&G goes beyond only blogging about their products and brands. Their blogs cover useful knowledge about the company; What events and relief efforts that P&G has participated in, brand building, sponsorships, charities, and world organizations that P&G is working with.

Considering P&G's size, I think the best way for them to get external public attention would be to continue blogging the way the do. P&G does a great job involving themselves in relief efforts around the world and that's not only positive propaganda, it is the truth and the company should be proud to bring this to the attention of the public through their blogs. Many times big corporations are looked at in a bad light and helping less fortunate people is a strong way to give back some of the massive revenue that is drawn in. It's also a great way for them to continue to build on their mission of improving lives. They blogs are easy to access on the company site and are linked through their Facebook and Twitter pages as well.

Last August, P&G posted a blog about their involvement with a blogger convention called BlogHer. This showed their attempts to reach out and engage with outside bloggers, mainly the female blogging community. P&G used this as a way to establish rapport with these female bloggers and engaged them with new product introductions. P&G set up a "home away from home"  allowing the attendees to experience each product. This engagement was meant to provide information for positive press while developing new brand enthusiasts.

I think their blog strategy works for internal publics as well because it is providing stories that correlate and enhance the company personality - touching lives, improving life - which will give investors positive news and employees can earn more about what the company is doing.

Procter & Gamble does not have a spokesperson but they do have many famous spokespeople for their many different brands. Gillete uses Roger Feder, Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods, before his issues came out. Old Spice has used pro football players such as Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. Stacy London speaks for Pantene and Ryan Seacrest is the spokesperson for Crest and Scope. I think P&G uses their spokespeople wisely because the personalities match the audience and consumers of each product. Top level athletes are perfect attention grabbers for the male market that uses Gillete and Old Spice. P&G does not advertise for themselves, just their brands, so I don't think a spokesperson is needed but if they were to use one I think a well respected and charitable celebrity would be a good representative for the personality and purpose of P&G.

Procter & Gamble - Media Relations

Media relations is obviously a crucial part of any companies success. Back in the day it was done by  traditional slow mailing and press releases filled with corporate speak.  That is way less engaging than what the internet has allowed media relations to become. In today's media relations world the way to connect with media and the way to offer journalists information and story ideas is by having dynamic online presence. The use of blogs, microblogs, social media and video sharing provides faster and more interesting ways of receiving and develop information into articles.

Procter and Gamble has a dynamic corporate newsroom with loads of information about products, promotions, events and corporate movements. They provide links to their social media and microblogs such as twitter and Facebook. Even better they offer their four most recent tweets on the side of the newsroom home page to allow journalists to see their tweets without having to leave the page. P&G is very aware that twitter, as Argenti puts it, "crawls with media at any given time, day or night." P&G posts anywhere between 3-10 times a day. Each tweet is an invitation to a press release, blog, or product update. They tweet to market their brands and announce new sponsorships. Twitter is great way to announce your company news and P&G utilizes it well, and their logo, default picture and bio all incorporate the P&G branding.

The P&G newsroom homepage has access to all media relation needs and intrigues the user to dive deeper into the releases. The very first thing you see in the newsroom is a scrolling list of P&G's top seven "featured views" and underneath that are the top seven "featured news releases". These are the top seven corporate blogs and new releases that P&G wants you to see and they offer a picture and snippet to intrigue the reader to click and become interested in the release. Underneath the snippets they have recent videos. Currently they have a Youtube video that interviews the subject of one of the corporate blogs. They show an interview with the new leader of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) P&G's very own Asia Group president Deb Henretta. Henretta has been the leader for PG's Asia business and now will lead the APEC in its efforts to "advance Regional economic Integration and prosperity" as well as "reduce tariffs and other trade barriers across the Asia-Pacific region".  To read more about P&G's involvement click here http://news.pg.com/blog/innovation/asia-pacific-represents-%E2%80%98huge-growth-opportunity%E2%80%99. Visit the APEC site to learn more http://www.apec2011hawaii.com/what-apec. When speaking about newsrooms Argenti says "they give journalists access to information they want, when they want it. Plus, multimedia platforms like these are catalysts for increasing traffic to the corporate web site, and their content is completely in the control of the company"

P&G Corporate Newsroom  http://news.pg.com/.

P&G's media relations is consistent with their overall organizational personality. P&G is a company out to improve lives by offering products that make living healthier, cleaner and easier.  Their presentation of their media relation tactics is consistent with that personality and branding. When you enter the newsroom their is a picture of a mother with her small child smiling. The first snippet underneath is for a story about P&G's effort to help bring clean water to the Thai flood victims. Immediately without clicking anything the personality of P&G screams we care! and we will go out of our way to improve life with our products anywhere we can. They are targeting bloggers and journalists that will talk about their efforts and that care about organizations that are doing positive things around the world. In a quick search I found the P&G was benign covered in the Harvard Business Review blog, AdAge blog and multiple business blog. So P&G is doing a good job targeting high level media to match their high level brand.

Procter & Gamble - Online Newsroom, Social media and Blogs

I don't know about you but when I look for anything I like to find access to it all in one place. If I were in need of media relations I would praise any company that uses a corporate newsroom. Aregnti refers to newsrooms as "one stop shops for all media relations needs." This allows any media or stakeholder to become connected in to the company in multiple facets. Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, video's and photos, new releases, media kits, and company overviews.  P&G has a very professional yet user friendly online newsroom that provides all media content associated with P&G.

If you're a stay at home mom in this day and age you are most likely spending a good chunk of your time online with social media and blogs. P&G is very thorough and up on their social media presence. They are active members of Facebook and Twitter. Their Facebook page has a perfectly professional and inviting feel. It begins with their section "about us" which has quick snippets under categories such as, "about P&G", "News and Views", "P&G Innovations" and "2011 Annual Report". Each caption has a link to the full page on their corporate website. Their wall acts as a company news feed that P&G uses to announce new events, sponsorships, virtual tours and new products. There are pictures of all their products and the new innovations on the way. This is a nice way for people to see products and read a bit about their uses. The comment section on the page is a nice way to see compliments or complaints. Within their Facebook page they allow viewers to see their blog they have a wall with the first few lines of the story then a read more link which brings you to their P&G Views page on their website. They currently have 59,152 people who like their Facebook page. Check them out here http://www.facebook.com/proctergamble

As far as micro blogging P&G utilizes twitter as a corporation message board. Like their Facebook page they use their tweets as a way to announce events, innovations, awards and articles. They offer interactive links to RSS content on the corporate site as well as pictures and links to other sites that are covering a P&G products or involvement. They currently have 16,626 followers.

Who likes to watch video's rather than read? I do I do, and I'd bet most of you as well. Offering videos as a way to invite users and media into the company to get a visual understanding is a strong way gain supporters. P&G has not lagged in any digital field so of course they offers video sharing via their own Youtube channel. On there they provide video interviews, highlights of events all around the word, and product introductions and improvements. P&G has a blog roll that gives snippets of blogs within their newsrooms called P&G views which provides blogs within fourteen topics; Innovation, sustainability, leadership, purpose inspired growth and brand building, company strategy and product innovation to name a few. This gives media and users the chance to see inside 14 area's of the company and understand the motions being made within the company.

P&G's presentation throughout their online presence is consistently professional yet comforting and  inviting. They do a great job presenting their care taking personality in every piece of online content they present. It is important to not only present your brand identity but to make sure you do it consistently on all forums.

Procter & Gamble Authenticty, Uniqueness and Talkabilty

P&G maybe one of the most authentic corporations still around today.  P&G's heritage is above and beyond credible. Created in the mid 1800's as a candle and soap company, their business venture was clear, to provide people with honest quality soap and candles. P&G is still in business because of that passion to provide quality honest products. They have always made a point to foster strong individual employees, and connected them to the success by being one of the first companies to offer profit sharing. P&G’s motives have always been to provide quality and useful products, not just anything to make a buck. As I mentioned in the previous blog P&G has also been very generous with their earnings and donated to many struggling groups and communities around the world.

P&G’s business model has always been based on dealing honestly and directly with consumers, and they have always maintained a passionate pursuit to provide products "of the highest quality". P&G was one of the first companies to become a true brand. They began to mark their star candles with a simple star logo to ensure that the cables in the box were genuine. Consumers relied on the logo to ensure they were getting a P&G quality product. P&G removed the logo at one point but soon found that merchants began to refuse the deliveries because the products with the logo were the only ones that sold. Logo’s are crucial now, I could never buy a pair of Nike’s again if they removed the logo, it just wouldn’t feel right. Assuring their consumers the highest quality by branding their products, positioned P&G as the most unique and relied upon producers of soap and candles. And they created brand awareness.

P&G created a twist on business when with their innovative ways of marketing and connecting with their consumers. P&G began connecting with their consumers, by sending coloring books to children in exchange for wrappers. They sent prizes to consumers for writing poems about Ivory soap and sent free samples out with booklets explaining the many uses of Ivory. They went deeper into advertising by creating one of the worlds first radio soap operas and later entered TV. They placed P&G products in their shows as well as commercial breaks. Today P&G is active on both Twitter and Facebook, allowing consumers to see and read about whats new with P&G as well as allowing consumers to directly contact and pass on comments. P&G is constantly reaching their consumers and doing what they can to innovate and provide consumers with authentic products that will improve their lives.

P&G's talkability comes from their devoted pursuit to provide products with honest value.
Their hook is sharable because they continue to innovate new products with a commitment to high quality. When Swiffer came out their was a buzz amongst people because there was a new easy and effective way to mop floors, without the mess. No water bucks or drying clothes needed. Products like the Swiffer are what continues to make P&G successful and recognized. The last important piece of being talkable is, as Bhargava put it, to get out of the way and let consumers share their opinions. Well P&G has always welcomed opinions and valued feedback, and continues to respond by providing solutions through their products. Their openness with consumers allowed them to understand their consumers needs which was a huge factor in their success.

The personality of P&G is clear, their passionate about providing consumers with high quality products that deliver and help improve basic functions of life. They don’t just make it and put it out, they listen to consumers and respond. While making millions of dollars every year P&G still strives to do it honestly and never with a lack of quality.