Communication Arts

Topic: Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the spread of information
between an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a
nonprofit organization) and the public. Public relations may include an organization or
individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news
items that do not require direct payment. This differentiates it from advertising as a form
of marketing communications. Public relations is the idea of creating coverage for clients
for free, rather than marketing or advertising. But now advertising is also a part of greater
PR Activities. An example of good public relations would be generating an article featuring
a client, rather than paying for the client to be advertised next to the article.[4] The aim of
public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers, investors, partners,
employees, and other stakeholders and ultimately persuade them to maintain a positive
or favorable view about the organization, its leadership, products, or political decisions.
Public relations professionals typically work for PR and marketing firms, businesses and
companies, government, and public officials as PIOs and nongovernmental
organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Jobs central to public relations include
account coordinator, account executive, account supervisor, and media relations
manager.
The term public relations has three meanings: (1) the information given to the
public, (2) persuasion directed at the public to modify attitudes and belief, and (3) efforts
to integrate attitudes and actions of an institution with its publics and of its publics with
that institution.
Source:
https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=wBFP_qrOYk8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=public
+relations:+career+and+profession&hl=fil&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNhvzysaXeAhWVWX0
KHS9hBlwQ6AEIUzAG#v=onepage&q=public%20relations%3A%20career%20and%20
profession&f=false
Public relations specialists establish and maintain relationships with an
organization’s target audience, the media, relevant trade media, and other opinion
leaders. Common responsibilities include designing communications campaigns, writing
news releases and other content for news, working with the press, arranging interviews
for company spokespeople, writing speeches for company leaders, acting as an
organization’s spokesperson, preparing clients for press conferences, media interviews
and speeches, writing website and social media content, managing company reputation
(crisis management), managing internal communications, and marketing activities like
brand awareness and event management. Success in the field of public relations requires
a deep understanding of the interests and concerns of each of the company's many
stakeholders. The public relations professional must know how to effectively address
those concerns using the most powerful tool of the public relations trade, which is
publicity.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations
Public relations (PR) is the way organisations, companies and individuals
communicate with the public and media. A PR specialist communicates with the target
audience directly or indirectly through media with an aim to create and maintain a positive
image and create a strong relationship with the audience. Examples include press
releases, newsletters, public appearances, etc. as well as utilisation of the world wide
web. Source: http://www.ipr.org.uk/
 Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains
mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its
success or failure depends
Source: Broom (2009) Effective Public Relations. page 7
Ivy Lee, the man who turned around the Rockefeller name and image, and his
friend, Edward Louis Bernays, established the first definition of public relations in the early
1900s as follows: "a management function, which tabulates public attitudes, defines the
policies, procedures and interests of an organization... followed by executing a program
of action to earn public understanding and acceptance." However, when Lee was later
asked about his role in a hearing with the United Transit Commission, he said "I have
never been able to find a satisfactory phrase to describe what I do." In 1948, historian
Eric Goldman noted that the definition of public relations in Webster's would be "disputed
by both practitioners and critics in the field."
According to Bernays, the public relations counsel is the agent working with both
modern media of communications and group formations of society in order to provide
ideas to the public’s consciousness. Furthermore, he is also concerned with ideologies
and courses of actions as well as material goods and services and public utilities and
industrial associations and large trade groups for which it secures popular support.
Historical Development of Public Relations:
Public relations is not a phenomenon of the 20th century, but rather has historical
roots. Most textbooks consider the establishment of the Publicity Bureau in 1900 to be
the founding of the public relations profession. However, academics have found early
forms of public influence and communications management in ancient civilizations, during
the settling of the New World and during the movement to abolish slavery in England.
Basil Clark is considered the founder of public relations in the United Kingdom for his
establishment of Editorial Services in 1924.
Propaganda was used by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and
others to rally for domestic support and demonize enemies during the World Wars, which
led to more sophisticated commercial publicity efforts as public relations talent entered
the private sector. Most historians believe public relations became established first in the
US by Ivy Lee or Edward Bernays, then spread internationally. Many American
companies with PR departments spread the practice to Europe when they created
European subsidiaries as a result of the Marshall plan.
The second half of the 1900s is considered the professional development building
era of public relations. Trade associations, PR news magazines, international PR
agencies, and academic principles for the profession were established. In the early
2000s, press release services began offering social media press releases. The Cluetrain
Manifesto, which predicted the effect of social media in 1999, was controversial in its time,
but by 2006, the effect of social media and new internet technologies became broadly
accepted.
PR has been around for almost 100 years. While many believe that Edward
Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s, others point to Ivy Lee,
who opened a “counseling office” in 1904. One of his first clients was the Pennsylvania
Railroad. In 1906, he invented the “press release” to distribute the company’s “news”
about an accident before reporters received other versions of the story. It worked like
magic.
In 1915, Lee became publicity counsel to John D. Rockefeller. Lee advised
Rockefeller to hand out dimes to poor children as a way of showing his philanthropic
impulses. He also invented the Betty Crocker symbol and the “Breakfast of Champions”
slogan for Wheaties.
According to the Georgia Historical Commission, these “facts” make Lee “the
founder of the profession of Public Relations,” but Lee didn’t envision his eclectic
collection of tactics and techniques as anything more than short-term solutions to client
problems. He supposedly told Bernays, who was a contemporary and also operated out
of New York, that when they died, public relations as a profession would die with them.
Bernays, on the other hand, had a grander vision. He tried to put public relations
on a scientific footing, often applying lessons he had learned from his uncle, Sigmund
Freud. Bernays was actually the double nephew of Freud. (His mother was Freud’s sister
and his father was Freud’s wife’s brother). He applied his uncle’s concept of “mass
psychology” to sell bacon, cigarettes and soap. He also staged “overt acts” (what would
now be called “media events”) to awaken apparently subconscious feelings.
For example, George Washington Hill, an eccentric businessman and president of
the American Tobacco Company, hired Bernays in 1928 to solve a problem: Women
weren’t smoking cigarettes in public. Hill recognized that changing public opinion could
expand his market for Lucky Strike cigarettes. Bernays consulted a psychoanalyst, Dr.
A.A. Brill, who suggested that smoking in public, which men did openly, be linked to the
freedom to vote, a right that women had just won. With the help of his wife, Doris
Fleishman, Bernays convinced a group of former suffragettes to march down Fifth
Avenue, carrying Lucky Strikes in the air – as if they were “torches of freedom” – as a
gesture of demonstrate their equality with men. It was one of his biggest successes.
Bernays also solidified his reputation as “the father of spin” by writing books,
including Crystallizing Public Opinion in 1923 and Propaganda in 1928. In fact, Bernays
often described what he did as propaganda, and didn’t apologize for using the term until
after it was adopted in the 1933 by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister for Public
Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany.
In 1939, Germany’s frighteningly effective use of propaganda prompted President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create a group of “top men” to start working on an American
version of propaganda – just in case it was needed. One of these “top men” was Harold
Lasswell.
Lasswell had received his bachelor of philosophy degree in 1922 and his Ph.D. in
1926 from the University of Chicago. He also studied at the universities of London, Paris,
Geneva, and Berlin during those years. In 1927, he wrote Propaganda Technique in the
World War. He taught political science at the University of Chicago until 1938, when he
went to Yale University to become a visiting lecturer at the Law School.
Then, in 1939, Lasswell was named director of war communications research at
the US Library of Congress. He quickly developed a “Model of Communication” that was
just as quickly classified “Top Secret.” Like a scene out of the movie, “Raiders of the Lost
Ark,” Lasswell explained to the other “top men” working on the project that propaganda –
or what the American’s called the communication process – entailed five key elements.
Lasswell assembled these elements into a model and then turned the model into a simple
question: “Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect?”
If you found the right answers to each of the five elements of the question, then
you could create effective propaganda – unless, of course, too much “noise” – unplanned
static or distortion during the communication process – resulted in the receiver receiving
a different message than the sender sent.
Source: http://www.seo-pr.com/public-relations-history
Public Relations: Career and Profession
The field of public relations offers a lot of exciting opportunities for recent grads
who are interested in learning about media relations and enthusiastic about helping
companies promote their brands. If you’re considering a career in public relations, you
might be wondering about the different types of PR jobs and trying to get a sense of which
one is right for you.
Here are some of the most common roles within public relations.
 Publicist
A publicist is typically the role people think of when they think of a PR professional.
Based either an agency or on an in-house team, publicists work directly with clients to
help develop and execute their brand strategy. They are also responsible for coming up
with publicity campaigns and identifying the best ways for clients to promote their brands
to the press and to their customers. Many publicists also work with celebrities to promote
their personal brands and professional projects.
 Copywriter
Another role that can be part of an agency or in-house team, a copywriter is
responsible for writing publicity and marketing materials on behalf of clients. This can
include everything from press releases to blog posts and is usually done in accordance
with a public relations strategy created by the PR team. In addition to writing different
types of copy, copywriters are also responsible for maintaining a consistent brand voice
and identity across multiple channels at the same time.
 PR specialist
Acting as the first point of contact for media outlets, a PR specialist is responsible
for generating positive press coverage for clients by developing relationships with
journalists and coming up with relevant story pitches. In order for these pitches to be
successful, they have to serve two functions: 1) They need to resonate with journalists by
being newsworthy items and 2) They need to represent the client in a positive light.
 Social media manager
A social media manager is another potential role on a public relations team. This
position can be based either at an agency (working on multiple client accounts) or an in-
house team (managing the social channels of a particular company). Working to promote
the brand on various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,
the social media manager is responsible for creating engaging content, interacting with
the brand’s community and measuring the success of various campaigns.
 Spokesperson
Acting as the face of the brand, the spokesperson is responsible for making
statements on behalf of the company. This role is generally part of an in-house
communications or PR team and is tasked with handling interview requests, making TV
appearances and responding to any criticism the company might face.
The world of PR offers many great opportunities for those interested in developing
exceptional communication skills and helping companies to build and maintain their public
images. The best way to know which of these opportunities is right for you is by taking on
an internship and getting some hands-on experience.
Source: https://www.wayup.com/guide/what-are-the-different-types-of-public-relations-
jobs/
PUBLIC RELATIONS: TARGETING AUDIENCE, MESSAGING AND MARKETING
Your target audience is the people who may be potentially interested in the
business’ products or services. They could be customers, potential customers,
stakeholders, clients and more. It’s important, particularly in PR, to identify who your
target audience is to help you direct your messages and communication to the right
people in a way that is meaningful to them. Once you have identified your target audience
you can create a PR strategy to communicate with them. This will help you to build a
relationship with them, encourage them to become customers, build their brand
awareness and increase your sales leads. Here are some ways to help you reach your
target audience. Engage on social media It’s likely your target audience is already active
on social media. Social media is also a cost effective and direct way to engage people in
conversations with the business. It’s a good idea to research which social media channels
your target audience uses the most and create profiles on these channels. You can then
encourage your audience to follow you by adding social media buttons to your website,
marketing materials and in store or sending them an email inviting them to connect with
you. You may even consider using a form of social media advertising to help attract
followers. You can start conversations with your target audience by posting content they
would be interested in, asking them questions, replying to their comments and more. Pitch
to the publications they read Your target audience is likely to read certain publications
which interest them such as newspapers, websites, blogs, magazines or trade
publications.
You can use PR tactics to get your business featured in these publications and
increase your chances of being seen by your target audience. Being seen by your target
audience in the media can help to build your profile and brand awareness. Start by
researching the types of publications your target audience reads and the journalists who
write for these publications. You can then pitch a story idea to one of the journalists and
suggest yourself as an expert to be interviewed on this topic. The story idea must be
newsworthy and relevant to the publication. You could also write an expert article on this
topic and pitch it to the publication. Improve your SEO Many people search for products
or services using online search engines such as Google. It’s important for your website
to appear high in search engine results to get seen by your potential customers. Some of
the ways you can improve the search engine optimization of your website include
regularly adding new content, adding the right keywords, creating back links to your
website and sharing your content on social media. Speaking opportunities, A great way
of getting in front of your target audience is by speaking at events and conferences. Start
by researching conferences and events your target audience usually attend. You can then
pitch yourself to the conference organizers to speak on a particular topic in your area of
expertise that’s also relevant to the event. This is a great way to build your brand
awareness and talk to your target audience directly after the presentation. Include these
four tactics in your PR strategy to help you reach your target audience and achieve your
communication goals.
Source: https://publicrelationssydney.com.au/4-ways-to-reach-your-target-audience/
ETHICS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS PUBLIC RELATIONS ETHICS?
Current research supports a historical trend of associating public relations with all
things unethical – lying, spin-doctoring, and even espionage. Many critics argue that there
can be no ethical public relations because the practice itself is akin to manipulation and
propaganda. An unfortunate belief among many journalists, policy makers, and laymen
is the belief that the term ‘public relations ethics’ is an oxymoron: either an unreal
possibility, or smoke and mirrors to hide deception.
Source: https://instituteforpr.org/ethics-and-public-relations/
Groups like the Center for Public Integrity (http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx)
criticize the public relations industry for a lack of ethics, counting the influence of public
relations and lobbying as one of the primary threats to truthful journalism. Other groups
like Corporate Watch (http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=1) are less restrained in
their criticism and consider public relations firms and professionals as deliberately
unethical:There is a considerable body of evidence emerging to suggest that modern
public relations practices are having a very significant deleterious impact on the
democratic process … by giving vested interests the opportunity to deliberately obfuscate,
deceive, and derail public debate on key issues the public relations industry reduces
society’s capacity to respond effectively to key social, environmental and political
challenges. (http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=1570)
NSPRA Code of Ethics - Policy 120.1
The National School Public Relations Association shall have a Code of Ethics for
members, as follows: Source: https://www.nspra.org/code-ethics
The education public relations professional shall:
1. Be guided constantly by pursuit of the public interest through truth, accuracy,
good taste and fairness; follow good judgment in releasing information; not intentionally
disseminate misinformation or confidential data; avoid actions which lessen personal,
professional or organizational reputation.
2. Give primary loyalty to the employing organization, insisting on the right to give
advisory counsel in accordance with sound public relations ideas and practices;
cooperate with other groups while avoiding conflicts with primary responsibilities; object
to untenable policies or activities.
3. Be aware of personal influence, avoiding promises or granting of unprofes-sional
advantages to others; refrain from accepting special considerations for influences on
organizational decisions; avoid unauthorized use of organiza-tional facilities, resources
or professional services for personal gain or for promotion of the candidacy of aspirants
to elected offices; forego derogatory acts or utterances against other professionals.
4. Recognize that effectiveness is dependent upon integrity and regard for ideals
of the profession; not misrepresenting professional qualifications; give credit for ideas and
words borrowed from others; cooperate with professional colleagues to uphold and
enforce this Code. A member shall, as soon as possible, sever relations with any
organization or individual if such relationship requires conduct contrary to the articles of
this Code.
Adopted: July 1981
 PR is often seen as a profession that is always working behind the scenes, gliding
in and out troubled situations. But PR is also often considered to be a corporate
conscience which fits well with the business ethics of social responsibility. The PRSA
(Public Relations Society of America) developed its code of professional standards for
the practice of PR to meet three goals:
• to provide behavioral guidelines to its members
• to educate management on public relations standards
• To distinguish public relations professionals from those individuals who use the title but
are perceived as giving the profession a bad name.
What is important to remember is that ethic codes are not universal, because it
cannot be assumed that everyone, regardless to the situation and culture, abides by the
same ethical standards. It can be difficult to balance the interests of all of these publics
with the interests of the organization itself. Ethics need to have main role in
communication because unethical communications are not as obvious as false
advertising. Using words in certain way good communicator can affect other, change their
expectation and behavior. Good strategies can create a powerful message that tells
people to take action. Skills and knowledge as that are very powerful and easy to abuse8.
The power of PR to shape opinions is one of the most compelling reasons to consider our
duties to society, and to take care not to abuse that power by dishonest use of
manipulation. PR shelter an organization’s reputation and are, at the same time, its
conscience. It is a very powerful position that they hold and also face different challenges
as misleading information, influence of management actions, and promotion of inferior
products, discrimination or political influence. The definition itself of what Public Relation
Ethics are should be: the knowledge, understanding and reasoning to questions of right
or wrong behavior in the professional practice of public relations.
Source: https://www.nspra.org/code-ethics
Public Relations, Advertising & Marketing - What's the Difference?
Here is a quick rundown of these three fields. How are they related and what are their
differences?
PUBLIC RELATIONS, ADVERTISING & SOCIAL MARKETING
Public Relations
The local news broadcasts a segment on the availability of music, games and
internet options via a new cell phone service or a national magazine covers a story about
the amazing new cancer drug being developed by a biotech company-these stories are
the end results of successful public relations (PR) campaigns. These campaigns most
likely included writing press releases, contacting the media, and creating a buzz about
the client to entice the media to report on it. While the advertisements produced by ad
agencies are easily recognizable, the work of PR firms is much less conspicuous. Public
relations, like the title implies, is about managing the public's perception of clients. PR
firms work for politicians, entertainers and sports teams as well as corporations.
In addition to trying to get their clients noticed by the media, PR firms also keep
track of how and how often their client companies are mentioned in the press. They comb
through various publications and other media, clipping articles and compiling the
information. PR firms are also called into action when there is a crisis that requires a client
to take a public stance. For example, in the case of product tampering decisions need to
be made about pulling products from the shelves, assisting victims and their families, and
strategies for buoying consumer confidence in the company and its products. A public
relations firm will assist their clients in good times and bad to manage their public image.
Advertising
Advertising agencies conceptualize and produce the advertisements we are
exposed to everyday via TV, radio, billboards, newspapers and magazines. Ad agencies
also help their clients strategize their market appeal and brand themselves with targeted
audiences. A full-service ad agency will develop an advertising strategy, conceptualize
and produce the ads, and even buy the print space or TV/radio air-time needed for ad
placement. Here is a quick overview of the core departments in an ad agency that ensure
all this work gets done.
Account Management acts as a liaison between the ad agency and the client. They
coordinate the efforts of the various departments within the agency to meet the client's
advertising vision on time and within budget, as well as pitch the ideas developed for the
client to the client.
The Creative Department comes up with concepts and drafts the initial designs for
the ads. The creative team that produces the words and images used in the ads is made
up of copywriters and art directors.
Production is responsible for making the finished product. Many agencies will
produce print ads using artists and graphic designers that work in-house. The production
of TV and radio ads is often contracted to outside TV and sound production companies.
The Media Department is responsible for placing ads where they will most
effectively reach their target audiences. Media planners decide where ads should be
placed based on market research they conduct. If the market they want to hit takes public
transportation, a billboard located on BART may hit the mark better than one placed on
the side of the I-80. Media buyers negotiate with various media outlets to purchase ad
space or airtime within the client's budget.
Marketing
Public relations and advertising functions often are preformed by outside agencies
that specialize in these areas while the marketing functions are usually performed within
a large or midsize company or corporation. The marketing department hires the PR,
advertising or market research organization to perform these functions. Some smaller
companies that don't have an in-house marketing department will also contract outside
marketing firms to handle all their marketing needs as well, but the majority of marketing
jobs are found within larger companies and not at marketing firms.
Some marketing positions are closely related to sales while others are more
involved with the strategic aspects of the job. A marketing director may help the sales
force reassess how they target potential clients or may be involved in the development of
a new product to insure that consumer expectations (and needs) are being met. She may
suggest a new feature be added to an existing product based on feedback from the sales
staff or review potential ads submitted from the ad firm she hired.
The marketing department of a large organization is like the center of a wagon
wheel with each spoke connected to other departments (in- and out-side the company)
including sales, production, research, advertising, etc. The center of the wheel connects
the various parts so they work in harmony. With this analogy it's easy to see that the main
function of marketing is managing relationships in the organization, with outside vendors,
and the consumer. Without marketing there is no consumer and without the consumer
there is no use for the product or service the company is producing.
 Public relations, advertising and marketing all use strong communication skills to
get across their message, apply psychological principles to understand and influence
consumers, and utilize basic data analysis to assure they are hitting their target markets.
In addition, these fields require the use of creativity to generate the ideas and messages
as well as critical thinking skills to make sense of the market research.
Source: https://career.berkeley.edu/Communications/PublicRelationsAdvMktg
Advertising in Education:
Educational advertisements are ad campaigns in which the creators attempt to
inform, update, or persuade the public to engage in or avoid current issues. This type of
advertisement is often negatively associated with propaganda. While similar to public
service announcements, educational advertisements often cross into commercial fields
whereas public service announcements are oriented on strict non-profit basis.
Educational advertisements focus on a number of modern social, political, religious, and
consumer-based issues. They traditionally appear on television and radio, but more and
more campaigns are turning to the internet, especially email, as a cheap and efficient way
to spread their messages. While most educational advertisements are deployed in the
United States of America, there have been campaigns across Europe, Canada, and New
Zealand. However, due to the dependence on technology to broadcast their messages,
campaigns usually appear in developed countries where the largest possible population
is likely to encounter their message.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_advertisement
Advertising as a tool, is one of the most powerful tools that a Brand can make use
of to announce its arrival in a market. By the sheer nature of its mass appeal, varied forms
and reach, it not only has the ability to disseminate information to the target audience but
also creates a space for the Brand in their minds when used effectively. Hence, be it a
consumer product, fashion, automobiles, medicines, education or any other sector,
‘Advertising’ has its own role to play and in an equally effective manner.
When we talk about advertising in the education sector, it definitely helps a Brand
to cross the first step effortlessly – of introducing it to the target audience. However,
considering the nature of this sector, the type and medium of advertising needs to be
carefully selected as: (1) When it comes to education, people want more customized
messaging on what the school / institute offers, and (2) When choosing an Institute, Word-
of-Mouth and other specialized advertising media like the social media or direct marketing
vis-à-vis mass advertising plays a more decisive role.
Direct advertising and marketing give the target audience a 1-to-1 feeling where
the school is talking to them personally to address their needs. Hence, this leads to more
enquires and ultimately conversions. While the mass media including display ads, outdoor
media and press ads is a great way for creating general awareness about a school, it has
its own limitations in delivering results when it comes to the education sector.
Just like the media for dissemination has to be customized for a school, so also
has to be the content. Education as a sector is very sensitive as it is concerned with the
lives of children. Advertisers in this sector carry an extra responsibility on their shoulders
when advertising a school or institute.
While misinformation and tall-claims may attract eye-balls, these have the
capability to cause an irreparable long-term damage and bring disrepute not only to that
particular school / institute, but sometimes to the whole industry as well. If the audience
find a mismatch in what is being advertised and what is being actually offered on-ground,
it can mar the image of the school beyond repair, as ‘Word-of-Mouth’ is one of the most
relied-upon tools in this sector. Advertising will then have very little role to play to undo
the damage.
The focus of advertising in this sector, therefore, should be on facilities offered by
the schools, the latest research in child development and how it is being utilized and
implemented at the school and not just academic development but the overall personality
development avenues being provided by preschools and other higher institutes for the
children.
Advertising, thus, like in the medical field, is a double-edged sword in the education
sector as well which needs to be handled very carefully. Advertisers needs to follow the
ABC of advertising with due diligence, i.e., A – Audience, B – Brand, C – Consideration.
To make their efforts effective and successful, they need to have a complete
understanding of their audiences, the Brand and its offerings and the considerations they
wish to highlight (reasons why the audience should come to the school) so that there is
no gap between what is being communicated and what is being offered as when it finally
comes to selecting a school, the proof is in the pudding. By: Jitendra Karsan
Source: https://www.adgully.com/ag-voice-effectiveness-of-advertising-in-the-
education-sector-60215.html
Social marketing is the use of marketing theory, skills and practices to achieve
social change. It has the primary goal of achieving "social good". Traditional commercial
marketing aims are primarily financial, though they can have positive social affects as
well. In the context of public health, social marketing would promote general health, raise
awareness and induce changes in behaviour. To see social marketing as only the use of
standard commercial marketing practices to achieve non-commercial goals is an
oversimplified view.
Social marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other
approaches to social change. Social marketing aims to influence behaviors that benefit
individuals and communities for the greater social good. The goal is to deliver
competition-sensitive and segmented social change programs that are effective, efficient,
equitable and sustainable.
Increasingly, social marketing is described as having "two parents." The "social
parent" uses social science and social policy approaches. The "marketing parent" uses
commercial and public sector marketing approaches. Recent years have also witnessed
a broader focus. Social marketing now goes beyond influencing individual behaviour. It
promotes socio-cultural and structural change relevant to social issues. Consequently,
social marketing scholars are beginning to advocate for a broader definition of social
marketing: "social marketing is the application of marketing principles to enable individual
and collective ideas and actions in the pursuit of effective, efficient, equitable, fair and
sustained social transformation". The new emphasis gives equal weight to the effects
(efficiency and effectiveness) and the process (equity, fairness and sustainability) of
social marketing programs.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_marketing
ONLINE MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
“What happens online is you are constantly dealing with invisible audiences.”
-By Danah Boyd
According to my opinion, the correlation between online media and the public
relations has always been a symbiotic one, with both bashes getting benefit from the other
in several ways. Digital technologies have become universal in existing daily life. A
moment ago, online media have drawn attention due to exponential development and its
adoption as tactics for many public relation professionals. Additionally, Contiguous
scientific fields such as marketing, organizational communication and managerial theory
present wider views on the effects of online media on communication, organizations and
society in general. In recent times, these extensive tactics can also be originated among
public relations’ academics.
If you are public relation professional, have you started executing search? Have
you developed online media optimization in to your news strategy? How are you
educating yourself and your teams on these top practices?
All big business needs some kind of public relations strategy. Whether they are
marketing products or promoting their services. Firms lack the capability to excellently
communicate their messaging and show worth to consumers, without a tactical approach
that incorporates public relations.

Online Media and PR Success Factors

Like many other channels of communication, the PR business has altered fairly a bit and
it has adapted to the progressively digitalized world. In other words, we can say that the
role of online media relations for almost all industries is more significant than ever. On the
other hand, with digital PR, you also have to attention on where your bookworms are
online and how you can tell a story that will best encourage them to visit your website. As
a result of this, you will get the opportunity to further market them.
Firstly, you have to decide your target media type. In the beginning, your media
outreach should be restricted or reserved for planning a consistent strategy. In general,
good PR results don’t happen immediately, it takes time. So you have to make a plan for
your employees to grab maximum customer though online media. For example, ask
yourself, what makes sense for your brand in terms of media type? Some brands are
based on storytelling to grab customers. Do you have a representative for your
organization that could speak on TV or on the radio? Do your products look appealing if
snapped for print publications? Are industry influencers significant to your clients?
Secondly, find out the perfect beat. Next, you have to pay attention on the right
outlets. Most prominently, to take hold of right contacts and it’s very easy to find news
site, magazine or newspaper. Because any expert PR professional knows how imperative
relationship building with media contacts is, and unfortunately, journalists can be affronted
if your field misses their beat. You have to clutch the journalist or editor’s attention and
want to deliver them with the need-to-know information. Furthermore, your email
message should be eye-catching especially the subject line. You must also provide a link
to your website for more information.
Thirdly, in the world of Digital PR, the best thing is to leave 3-4 days between your
first outreach and your follow up message. Because the inboxes of journalists are flooded
on a daily basis so it’s better to have waited for few days. After that if you don’t get
response from the contact you pitched and then send a follow up message. Whether you
get a yes, no, or an “it’s on our radar,” it’s important to agree the reaction you receive.
You should be responsive. Now you will need to guide the procedure and synchronize all
the essential pieces to secure a prosperous placement.
Fourthly, if you put more links about your outlet so the higher you will show up in
relevant searches. A key difference with digital PR and traditional PR is the close
connection between digital PR and SEO. So the better your search engine rankings, the
more likely users will be to visit your website and convert.
Simple manners for online media and public relations
Lastly, you have to show simple manners. Because establishing long-term
relationships is the essence of PR. Therefore, Say “thank you” when you secure a
placement and are alerted by the journalist or you do your own research. Just to sum-up
my writing, The online public relation process is time consuming but if it’s done properly,
the paybacks can be incredible for building a brand’s existence online. Do what you can
to uphold the relationships, you have started to cultivate. Therefore, interact on twitter,
LinkedIn, Facebook. Your little attention goes a long way and the contact will start to
remember you and show positive affiliation with you and your brand.
Source: https://www.marcodegroen.com/online-media-and-public-relations/
PROS AND CONS OF ONLINE MEDIA
Pros
 Cost – compared to newspaper placements or TV spots, online banners
are still relatively inexpensive.
 Measurement - there are countless ways to track the success or failure of
an advertising campaign, and with digital, it has never been easier to
connect the dots from an ad buy to the impact on the bottom line.
 Instant gratification – your customers can see your ad, shop and buy (if
you sell products online) without leaving home. That sort of convenience is
hard to beat.
 Testing – if you create a brochure, you have to print and distribute it before
you are able to measure response. On the Internet, response (or lack of
response) is lightning fast. Also, since it’s relatively simple to switch out
banner ads, online advertising gives you the ability to test creative
campaigns and fine tune messaging. This can help increase effectiveness
of your campaign and enhance results.
 Geo-targeting – online advertising gives you the ability to geo-target your
ads, ensuring that they are only viewed, and clicked, by your intended
geographic and niche audience. This allows you to create localized
messages that appear on national sites.
 Constant exposure – your online ad works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Cons
 Advertising overload – every advertiser wants consumer attention, and often
there is simply too much information to digest. The solution is to develop creative
campaigns that will cut through the clutter and strike an emotional connection with
your target audience.
 Too much data? The statistics you are able to gather on your online advertising
campaign are so immense that they can often become paralyzing. That’s why it’s
important to determine at the onset of your campaign how you will measure
success – is it impressions, click throughs or sales?
 Scope – while the vast majority of Americans are active online, there are still a
number of people out there who are relying on traditional forms of advertising as a
means to gather information on products and services. That’s why, in most cases,
online advertising campaigns should run in tandem with other marketing efforts.
 Too many choices – there are so many websites out there that it can be hard to
identify the ones that will most effectively target your audience. Make sure you take
the time to research the appropriate niche sites for your product or service.
Source: https://www.mindfirecomm.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-online-advertising/
ONLINE MEDIA IN EDUCATION
The advent of digital technologies has presented significant new opportunities and
challenges for media educators. Over the past 20 years, there has been a massive
investment in providing information and communication technologies in schools. To date,
however, the emphasis has largely been on providing access: some policy‐makers still
appear to assume that ‘wiring up’ schools will produce automatic benefits, irrespective of
how these technologies are actually used. In fact, many teachers remain resistant to the
intrusion of technology in the classroom, often for very good reasons, and evidence about
its contribution to raising students' achievement is, to say the least, ambivalent
(Buckingham, 2007 Buckingham, D. 2007. Beyond technology: children's learning in the
age of digital culture, Cambridge: Polity.
The notion that technology will single‐handedly bring about a transformation of
education has been around for a very long time, yet radical and long‐lasting change has
largely failed to be materialised (Cuban, 1986 Cuban, L. 1986. Teachers and machines:
the classroom use of technology since 1920, New York: Teachers College Press.
Now that the initial euphoria surrounding computers in schools has begun to wear
thin, we need to look more closely at what children need to learn about these digital
media. The Italian semiotician Umberto Eco (1979 Eco, U. 1979. Can television teach?.
Screen Education, 31: 15–24. once argued that if you wanted to use television to teach
somebody, you first had to teach them how to use television. Eco's argument can equally
be applied to newer media. As Eco implies, media should not be regarded merely as
teaching aids or tools for learning. Education about the media should be seen as an
indispensable prerequisite for education with or through the media. Likewise, if we want
to use the internet or computer games or other digital media for teaching, we need to
equip students to understand and to critique these media: we cannot regard them simply
as neutral means of delivering information, and we should not use them in a merely
functional or instrumental way. The meaningful and effective use of media in education
therefore depends upon students developing a form of critical media literacy that goes
well beyond a training in how to operate the hardware or software.
Yet there are also broader arguments for media educators to engage with digital
technology. Digital media—the internet, mobile phones, computer games, interactive
television—are now an indispensable aspect of most children's and young people's
leisure‐time experiences. Young people now enjoy unprecedented levels of access to
media although they are also being enthusiastically targeted as a valuable consumer
market. For most children, computer is no longer primarily an educational medium as it
was 10 or 15 years ago. Their uses of computers in the home are massively dominated
by video games; and leisure uses of the internet (for example in the form of social
networking, instant messaging and entertainment sites) are becoming increasingly
significant. Young people's relationship with digital technology is no longer primarily
formed in the context of the school—as it was during the 1980s and even into the 1990s—
but in the domain of popular culture.
This has led to what I have termed a new digital divide. While the ‘old’ divide
between the technology rich and the technology poor undoubtedly continues, there is also
a new and widening gap between young people's out‐of‐school experiences of
technology and their experience in the classroom (Buckingham, 2007 Buckingham, D.
2007. Beyond technology: children's learning in the age of digital culture, Cambridge:
Polity.
The curriculum subject ‘Information and Communication Technology’—now
compulsory in UK schools—is typically dominated by narrow training in technical skills.
Students are taught about spreadsheets, databases and file management—the Microsoft
Office curriculum—while outside school, many of them are engaging with technology in
much more informal, active and sometimes creative ways. Attempts to bridge this divide
through the use of digital ‘edutainment’ materials, or through the incorporation of the latest
technological gadgets, have often proven superficial or self‐defeating. It is hardly
surprising that so many young people find the classroom use of technology boring,
frustrating and irrelevant to their lives (see Levin & Arafeh, 2002 Levin, D. and Arafeh, S.
2002. The digital disconnect: the widening gap between internet‐savvy students and their
schools, Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Media education could have a great deal to offer here. Contemporary approaches
to media education have moved well beyond the defensive or protectionist approaches
of earlier decades, and the narrow forms of ideological critique that were popular in the
1970s and 1980s. Media education offers a clear and rigorous conceptual framework that
can be extended across the range of media, and that goes well beyond the instrumental
approach of ICT training. Best practice in media education involves a combination of
‘hands‐on’ creative production and critical reflection, which seeks to build on students'
existing pleasures and experiences of media (Buckingham, 2003 Buckingham, D. 2003.
Media education: literacy, learning and contemporary culture, Cambridge: Polity.
Even so, digital media raise new questions for media educators, and throw into relief
some of the continuing tensions and limitations in the field. To some extent, these
questions are to do with content. Is it possible to extend existing curriculum frameworks
and methods of study, developed primarily in relation to ‘old’ media like film and television,
to these newer media such as computer games—or do they require a different conceptual
or theoretical approach? There are also questions to do with pedagogy. How can media
educators capitalise on the self‐evident potential of digital technology, particularly for
students' creative production, and what difficulties do they need to face in doing so?
Finally, there are questions that need to be addressed as digital technologies, and the
styles of learning that are associated with them, continue to evolve. How do media
teachers respond to the more participatory possibilities of ‘social software’, for example
in the form of the social networking sites that are becoming an increasingly significant
aspect of contemporary youth cultures?
Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439880701343006
DIGITAL MEDIA ETHICS
by Stephen J.A. Ward
Digital media ethics deals with the distinct ethical problems, practices and norms
of digital news media. Digital news media includes online journalism, blogging, digital
photojournalism, citizen journalism and social media. It includes questions about how
professional journalism should use this ‘new media’ to research and publish stories, as
well as how to use text or images provided by citizens.
A REVOLUTION IN ETHICS
A media revolution is transforming, fundamentally and irrevocably, the nature of
journalism and its ethics. The means to publish is now in the hands of citizens, while the
internet encourages new forms of journalism that are interactive and immediate.
Our media ecology is a chaotic landscape evolving at a furious pace. Professional
journalists share the journalistic sphere with tweeters, bloggers, citizen journalists, and
social media users.
Amid every revolution, new possibilities emerge while old practices are threatened.
Today is no exception. The economics of professional journalism struggles as audiences
migrate online. Shrinkage of newsrooms creates concern for the future of journalism. Yet
these fears also prompt experiments in journalism, such as non-profit centers of
investigative journalism.
A central question is to what extent existing media ethics is suitable for today’s and
tomorrow’s news media that is immediate, interactive and “always on” – a journalism of
amateurs and professionals. Most of the principles were developed over the past century,
originating in the construction of professional, objective ethics for mass commercial
newspapers in the late 19th century.
We are moving towards a mixed news media – a news media citizen and
professional journalism across many media platforms. This new mixed news media
requires a new mixed media ethics – guidelines that apply to amateur and professional
whether they blog, Tweet, broadcast or write for newspapers. Media ethics needs to be
rethought and reinvented for the media of today, not of yesteryear.
TENSIONS ON TWO LEVELS
The changes challenge the foundations of media ethics. The challenge runs
deeper than debates about one or another principle, such as objectivity. The challenge is
greater than specific problems, such as how newsrooms can verify content from citizens.
The revolution requires us to rethink assumptions. What can ethics mean for a profession
that must provide instant news and analysis; where everyone with a modem is a
publisher?
The media revolution has created ethical tensions on two levels.
On the first level, there is a tension between traditional journalism and online
journalism. The culture of traditional journalism, with its values of accuracy, pre-
publication verification, balance, impartiality, and gate-keeping, rubs up against the
culture of online journalism which emphasizes immediacy, transparency, partiality, non-
professional journalists and post-publication correction.
On the second level, there is a tension between parochial and global journalism. If
journalism has global impact, what are its global responsibilities? Should media ethics
reformulate its aims and norms so as to guide a journalism that is now global in reach
and impact? What would that look like?
 The challenge for today’s media ethics can be summarized by the question:
Whither ethics in a world of multi-media, global journalism? Media ethics must do more
than point out these tensions. Theoretically, it must untangle the conflicts between values.
It must decide which principles should be preserved or invented. Practically, it should
provide new standards to guide online or offline journalism.
LAYERED JOURNALISM
What would an integrated ethics look like?
It will be the ethics of the integrated newsroom, a newsroom that practices layered
journalism. Layered journalism brings together different forms of journalism and different
types of journalists to produce a multi-media offering of professional-styled news and
analysis combined with citizen journalism and interactive chat.
The newsroom will be layered vertically and horizontally.
Vertically, there will be many layers of editorial positions. There will be citizen
journalists and bloggers in the newsroom, or closely associated with the newsroom. Many
contributors will work from countries around the world. Some will write for free, some will
be equivalent to paid freelancers, others will be regular commentators.
In addition, there will be different types of editors. Some editors will work with these
new journalists, while other editors will deal with unsolicited images and text sent by
citizens via email, web sites, and twitter. There will be editors or “community producers”
charged with going out to neighborhoods to help citizens use media to produce their own
stories.
Horizontally, the future newsroom will be layered in terms of the kinds of journalism
it produces, from print and broadcast sections to online production centers.
Newsrooms in the past have had vertical and horizontal layers. Newspaper
newsrooms have ranged vertically from the editor in-chief at the top to the cub reporter
on the bottom. Horizontally, large mainstream newsrooms have produced several types
of journalism, both print and broadcast. However, future newsrooms will have additional
and different layers. Some news sites will continue to be operated by a few people
dedicated only to one format, such as blogging. But a substantial portion of the new
mainstream will consist of these complex, layered organizations.
Layered journalism will confront two types of problems. First, there will be ‘vertical’
ethical questions about how the different layers of the newsroom, from professional
editors to citizen freelancers, should interact to produce responsible journalism. For
example, by what standards will professional editors evaluate the contributions of citizen
journalists? Second, there will be ‘horizontal’ questions about the norms for the various
newsroom sections.
DIFFICULT QUESTIONS FOR DIGITAL MEDIA ETHICS
WHO IS A JOURNALIST?
The ‘democratization’ of media – technology that allows citizens to engage in journalism
and publication of many kinds – blurs the identity of journalists and the idea of what
constitutes journalism.

In the previous century, journalists were a clearly defined group. For the most part, they
were professionals who wrote for major mainstream newspapers and broadcasters. The
public had no great difficulty in identifying members of the “press.”
Today, citizens without journalistic training and who do not work for mainstream media
calls themselves journalists, or write in ways that fall under the general description of a
journalists as someone who regularly writes on public issues for a public or audience.

It is not always clear whether the term “journalist” begins or ends. If someone does what
appears to be journalism, but refuses the label ‘journalist’ is he or she a journalist? If
comedian Jon Stewart refuses to call himself a journalist, but magazines refer to him as
an influential journalist (or refers to him as someone who does engage in journalism) is
Stewart a journalist?
Is a person expressing their opinions on their Facebook site a journalist?
WHAT IS JOURNALISM?
A lack of clarity over who is a journalist leads to definitional disputes over who is
doing journalism. That leads to the question: What is journalism? Many people believe,
“What is journalism?” or “Is he or she doing journalism?” is a more important question
than whether who can call themselves a journalist.
At least three approaches to this question are possible – skeptical, empirical, and
normative. Skeptically, one dismisses the question itself as unimportant. For example,
one might say that anyone can be a journalist, and it is not worth arguing over who gets
to call themselves a journalist. One is skeptical about attempts to define journalism.
Empirically, there is a more systematic and careful approach to the question. We
can look at clear examples of journalism over history and note the types of activities in
which journalists engaged, e.g. gathering information, editing stories, publishing news
and opinion. Then we use these features to provide a definition of journalism that
separates it from novel writing, storytelling, or editing information for a government
database.
The normative approach insists that writers should not be called journalists unless
they have highly developed skills, acquired usually through training or formal education,
and unless they honor certain ethical norms.
The skills include investigative capabilities, research skills, facility with media
technology of media, knowledge of how institutions work, and highly developed
communication skills. The ethical norms include a commitment to accuracy, verification,
truth, and so on.
The normative approach is based on an ideal view of journalism as accurately and
responsibly informing the public. One defines journalism by considering the best
examples of journalism and the practices of the best journalists.
A writer who has these skills and these ethical commitments is capable of
publishing good (well-crafted, well-researched) and ethically responsible journalism.
Persons who do not meet these normative requirements may call themselves journalists
but they are not considered journalists from this normative perspective. They are at
irresponsible, second-rate, or incompetent writers seeking to be journalists, or pretending
to be journalists.
ANONYMITY
Anonymity is accepted more readily online than in mainstream news media.
Newspapers usually require the writers of letters to the editor to identify themselves.
Codes of mainstream media ethics caution journalists to use anonymous sources
sparingly and only if certain rules are followed. The codes warn journalists that people
may use anonymity to take unfair or untrue “potshots” at other people, for self-interested
reasons.
Online, many commentary and “chat” areas do not require anonymity. Online users
resist demands from web site and blogs to register and identify themselves. Anonymity is
praised as allowing freedom of speech and sometimes helping to expose wrong doing.
Critics say it encourages irresponsible and harmful comments. Mainstream media
contradict themselves when they allow anonymity online but refuse anonymity in their
newspapers and broadcast programs.
The ethical question is: When is anonymity ethically permissible and is it
inconsistent for media to enforce different rules on anonymity for different media
platforms? What should be the ethical guidelines for anonymity offline and online?
SPEED, RUMOR AND CORRECTIONS
Reports and images circulate the globe with amazing speed via Twitter, YouTube,
Facebook, blogs, cell phones, and email. Speed puts pressure on newsrooms to publish
stories before they are adequately checked and verified as to the source of the story and
the reliability of the alleged facts. Major news organizations too often pick up rumors
online. Sometimes, the impact of publishing an online rumor is not world shaking – a false
report that a hockey coach has been fired. But a media that thrives on speed and “sharing”
creates the potential for great harm. For instance, news organizations might be tempted
to repeat a false rumor that terrorists had taken control of the London underground, or
that a nuclear power plant had just experienced a ‘meltdown’ and dangerous gases were
blowing towards Chicago. These false reports could induce panic, causes accidents,
prompt military action and so on.
A related problem, created by new media, is how to handle errors and corrections when
reports and commentary are constantly being updated. Increasingly, journalists are
blogging ‘live’ about sports games, news events, and breaking stories. Inevitably, when
one works at this speed, errors are made, from misspelling words to making factual errors.
Should news organizations go back and correct all of these mistakes which populate
mountains of material? Or should they correct errors later and not leave a trace of the
original mistake –what is called “unpublishing?”
The ethical challenge is to articulate guidelines for dealing with rumors and corrections in
an online world that are consistent with the principles of accuracy, verification, and
transparency.
IMPARTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AND PARTISAN JOURNALISM
New media encourages people to express their opinion and share their thoughts candidly.
Many bloggers take pride in speaking their mind, compared to any mainstream reporters
who must cover events impartially. Many online journalists see themselves as partisans
or activists for causes or political movements, and reject the idea of objective or neutral
analysis.
Partial or partisan journalism comes in at least two kinds: One kind is an opinion
journalism that enjoys commenting upon events and issues, with or without verification.
Another form is partisan journalism which uses media as a mouthpiece for political parties
and movements. To some extent, we are seeing a revival (or return) to an opinion/partisan
journalism that was popular before the rise of objective reporting in the early 1900s.
Both opinion and partisan journalism have long roots in journalism history. However, their
revival in an online world raises serious ethical conundrums for current media ethics.
Should objectivity be abandoned by all journalists? Which is best for a vigorous and
healthy democracy – impartial journalism or partisan journalism?
To make matters more contentious, some of the new exponents of opinion and impartial
journalism not only question objectivity, they question the long-standing principle that
journalists should be independent from the groups they write about. For example, some
partisan journalists reject charges of a journalistic “conflict of interest” when they accept
money from groups, or make donations to political parties.
Economically, mainstream newsrooms who uphold traditional principles such as
impartiality increasingly feel compelled to move toward a more opinionated or partisan
approach to news and commentary. To be impartial is said to be boring to viewers.
Audiences are said to be attracted to strong opinion and conflicts of opinion.
Even where newsrooms enforce the rules of impartiality — say by suspending a journalist
for a conflict of interest or partial comment — they fail to get full public support. Some
citizens and groups complain that newsroom restraints on what analysts and reporters
can say about the groups they cover is censorship.
Is it good, that more and more, journalists no longer stand among the opposing groups in
society and try to inform the public fairly about their perspectives but rather become part
of the groups seeking to influence public opinion?
The ethical challenge is to redefine what independent journalism in the public interest
means for a media where many new types of journalism are appearing and where basic
principles are being challenged.
ENTREPRENEURIAL NOT-FOR-PROFIT JOURNALISM
The declining readers and profits of mainstream media, as citizens migrate online, has
caused newsrooms to shrink their staff. Some journalists doubt the continuing viability of
the old economic model of a mass media based on advertising and circulation sales.

In response, many journalists have started not-for-profit newsrooms, news web sites, and
centers of investigative journalism based on money from foundations and donations from
citizens. Some journalists go online and ask for citizens to send them money to do stories.
This trend can be called “entrepreneurial journalism” because the journalist no longer
simply reports while other people (e.g. advertising staff) raise funds for their newsroom.
These journalists are entrepreneurs attempting to raise funds for their new ventures.

The new ventures raise ethical questions.

How independent can such newsrooms be when they are so reliant on funds from a
limited number of donors? What happens if the newsroom intends to report a negative
story about one of its main funders? From whom will these newsrooms take money? How
transparent will they be about who gives them money and under what conditions?

The challenge is to construct an ethics for this new area of journalism.

REPORTERS USING SOCIAL MEDIA
Many news organizations encourage their reporters to use social media to gather
information and to create a “brand” for themselves by starting their own blog, Facebook
page, or Twitter account. However, online commenting can put reporters, especially beat
reporters, in trouble with their editors or the people they comment about, especially if the
news outlet says it provides impartial reporting. For example, a reporter who covers city
hall may report dispassionately in her newspaper about a candidate for mayor. But on her
blog, she may express strong opinion, saying the candidate is an unlikeable and
incompetent politician. Such comments would give the candidate cause to complain about
the lack of impartiality of the reporter.

The ethical challenge is to develop social media guidelines that allow reporters to explore
the new media world but also to draw reasonable limits on personal commentary.

CITIZEN JOURNALISTS AND USING CITIZEN CONTENT

One of the difficult “horizontal” issues, noted above, is whether newsrooms should keep
all types of journalists to the same editorial standards? For example, should citizen
journalists be required to be balanced and impartial? Can journalists who operate a
newsroom’s web site report on a story before their colleagues, the print reporters? In
other words, should print reporters be held to a higher standard of pre-publication
verification?

Furthermore, as newsroom staff shrink, and the popularity of online news grows,
organizations are increasingly able, and willing, to collaborate with citizens in covering
disasters, accidents, and other breaking news. Citizens who capture events on their cell
phones can transmit text and images to newsrooms.

Newsrooms need to put in place a process for citizen-supplied material, which may be
bogus or biased. How shall sources be identified? How much vetting is necessary for
different sorts of stories? Should citizen contributors be made aware of the newsroom’s
editorial standards?

The ethical question is whether it is possible to construct a media ethics whose norms
apply consistently across all media platforms. Or are we faced with the prospect of having
different sets of norms for different media platforms?

ETHICS OF IMAGES
Finally, there are the new ethical issues raised by the rise of new image
technology. These images include both photographs and video. Citizens and professional
journalists have new and easy ways to capture and transmit images, such as cell phones
linked to the internet via wireless technology. They have new technologies for altering
and manipulating these images.
 This convergence of ease of capture, ease of transmission, and ease of
manipulation questions the traditional principles of photojournalism which were
developed for non-digital capture and transmission of pictures and video.
As mentioned above, one issue is whether newsrooms can trust the easily
obtained images of citizens and citizen journalists. Who is the sender and how do we
know that this image is really of the event in question?
Another issue is whether a journalist or a citizen used technology to alter the
photograph, e.g. to add an object to the picture or to take an object out. The manipulation
of images is so tempting that mainstream newsrooms have fired a string of
photojournalists over the past decade to discourage fraudulent practices.
Even with manipulation, not all issues are clear.
Photojournalists often talk about how it is permitted to change the ‘technical’
aspects of a picture such as altering slightly the tone or color of a photo. But they draw
the line at any further changes. Changing the meaning or content of the image so as to
mislead viewers is considered unethical.
However, the line between a technical change and a change is meaning is not
always clear. An image maker can enhance the colors of a photo until it is quite unlike the
original picture of the object or the event.
Also, editors may argue that it permissible to alter images for the covers of fashion
magazines (and other types of magazine) since the cover is a work of ‘art’ to attract buyers
while they browse magazine stands.
Once again, there is much for ethics to do to clarify the principles of responsible
image making and how those principles apply to difficult cases.