OPTION 1: PERSUASION AND ETHICS
One of the founding figures of public relations in the United States, Edward Bernays (1955), argued that persuasion is a core part of media management, and that PR specialists should use information “to engineer public support for an activity, cause, movement, or institution”. Later communication scholars have questioned whether persuasive PR strategies and tactics are ethically justified. Essay question: Is persuasion an ethically justifiable aspect of public relations? Discuss.
OPTION 2: CORPORATE PR AND CSR STRATEGIES
By meeting its corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards, an organisation can help secure its reputation. However, it has been suggested that most corporations’ CSR efforts simply boil down to “carefully tailored public relations documents” designed to bolster a company’s social image and equate to little more than “window dressing”. Essay question: Do most CSR efforts today amount to little more than public relations exercises and “window dressing”?
Discuss.
OPTION 3: CORPORATE REPUTATIONS AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
It has been said that a reputation takes years to build and can be ruined in minutes. To that end, corporations have paid close attention to looking after their brands and fully recognise the need to manage any organisational issues and crisis promptly. However, while crisis communications strategies can save a reputation, they can also prevent an organisation for being held fully accountable for a crisis of internal origin. Essay question: are the strategies used for crisis communications effective at image restoration and are they ethical? Discuss.
OPTION 4: PR PARADIGMS AND STRATEGY SELECTION
System theory, dialogic theory and organisational rhetoric are the three dominant paradigms influencing public relations research and scholarship today. But how relevant are they for practitioners looking for guidance regarding the development of effective and ethical PR strategies? Essay questions: which paradigm provides the most useful framework in regard to developing effective public relations strategies? Discuss.
OPTION 5: LOBBYING STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Grunig and Hunt (1984, pp. 215-216) argued that ‘at its purest, lobbying means providing sufficient data to a legislature so that all the facts can be known before a vote is cast’. Such dialogue is often welcomed by government officials, as it can potentially lead to better policy decisions. However, some lobby groups have shown a willingness to use their resources to win arguments in the marketplace of ideas against government policy. Essay question: what public relations strategies are effective for public affairs and lobbying activities, and are they ethical?
Sample Solution