A CONTINUUM OF TATTLING


If we look back at the history of modern public relations in the United States of the early 20th century, we often identify the era of muckraking journalism as the beginning of the need for organizations to consider hiring public relations counsellors. The so-called muckrakers took upon themselves the job of exposing the truth of offensive and dangerous behaviour of organizations at the time. They took pride in accomplishing what the employees had been unable to do. This was lauded as a very highly moral act. However, telling tales when you are actually working for the organization in question is not necessarily praised by business today.

So, public relations has a long history of association with the notion of telling tales in business ”albeit often from the other side!

What we are really dealing with is a continuum of disclosure that runs from simple tattling, for lack of a better word, to whistle -blowing. You observe a colleague slipping pens, pencils and computer paper into her briefcase while the rest of the department is trying to figure out how supplies keep disappearing . You over-hear a colleague telling someone that she falsified some budget figures. These situations are ones that put you in a position of deciding whether or not to ˜tell on your colleague. Technically, you're not really whistle-blowing as the term is currently defined in business.

Although the definitions vary, whistle-blowing is generally defined as disclosing publicly unethical conduct observed in the workplace ”conduct that could result in harm to the public. This unethical behaviour runs the gamut from environmental hazards, to health risks, to theft, to corruption. In these days of what appears to amount to institutionalized corruption, it seems an even more salient topic for discussion than ever. These are serious ethical breaches ”something more than reporting colleagues for their creative approaches to stocking their home offices. What's more, the person doing the whistling is often still working for the organization in question.




Ethics in Public Relations. A Guide to Best Practice
Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice)
ISBN: 074945332X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 165

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