PR is a mix of journalism, psychology, and lawyering - it's an ever-changing and always interesting landscape. There are many points of view about PR and what it can, can't, and should do.
- Ron Torossian
The saying goes: I am a jack of all trades, but a master of none, but I'd rather be a jack than a master of one. Such a focused amount of versatility in a profession is advantageous. Repetition is what makes a master - meaning: public relations practitioners become masters of all. PR practitioners are writers, researchers, psychologists, persuasive communicators, philosophers, planners, marketers, and leaders. Essentially, they are the superheroes of the professional world and they do not sleep.
Even though this all really sounds amazing and, truly, this is a great profession to get into there are costs. Just as when Jafar wished for phenomenal cosmic power he also received an itty, bitty living space. Public relations practitioners are provided with a plethora of opportunities to grow and be all that they can be, but they are also bound by just enough wiggle room to get by. Keep this post in mind all of the time.
Privacy:
If people are to become who they wish to be they require a certain degree of privacy to develop that person apart from observation (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p. 110). The right to privacy is a complicated moral issue that must be dealt with delicately. As it is, "privacy is linked to our ability to 'become' human and retain some element of dignity while doing so" (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p. 113) and any intrusion thereof is inherently unethical. There are however some circumstances that change privacy in individuals. There are public figures who choose to discard the safety of their privacy in their pursuits and accidental public figures who are thrust out of their safety by chance. Ethical consideration and moral reasoning of every case is a priority and the judgement is up to you. You can learn more about invasion of privacy here.
Defamation :
"There is always a delicate balance between one person's right to freedom of speech and another's right to protect their good name" (Reuters, 2016). Defamation is the act of damaging the reputation of an individual through libel or slander. Slander is spoken defamation and libel is published defamation. Then there is also the lesser known false light tort which is when information about an individual is published that is false, misleading, or information obtained from an invasion of privacy.
Copyright:
Essentially, copyright is a law that protects the intellectual property of the creator and are protected from unauthorized use. A copyright doesn't last forever and usually protects the author's original expression of ideas (not the underlying idea) for their lifetime plus fifty years. So if I created a microwave that made things colder instead of hotter (my dream) then that work is protected by copyright until fifty years after my death. The idea of the Flashfreezer is not protected by copyright, only the output. You should also familiarize yourself with the fair-use act - which states that it is fair to use copyrighted material for nonprofit or noncommercial purposes such as education, research, or thumbnail photos and other fair ways to use copyrighted material that doesn't hurt the creator.
Corporate and Commercial Speech:
Overall, public relations is based on strategic communication (if you haven't by now familiarized yourself with the Constitution it couldn't hurt). There are laws for organizations due to the very fact that their speech has the ability to impact public opinion. These laws include concepts of corporate speech, which limit what companies may or may not say or advocate, and commercial speech, which is a regulation on how much and what an organization can do to advertise a product or service. Commercial speech is limited in its protection by the 1st Amendment and states that advertised products have the freedom to promote themselves in anyway as long as the information is not false or misleading. Commercial speech also includes political speech which is not limited in anyway (can be false, misleading, or defamatory leaving injured individuals with only an option to sue).
These are only a few of the aspects of the many legalities we, as public relations practitioners, must keep in mind in our endeavors. The legal system governs so much of our lives as it is and you can imagine the red tape in corporate society. Additionally, not only do we serve our clients but we also serve the public which means we need to remain sensitive to both sides ethically and legally. Think of this job as saving the day and these few examples are regulations on how and when you can use your abilities. Essentially, everything a public relations practitioner does revolves around the act of communication and these are a few examples of the legal and ethical foundations required to survive in strategic organizational communication.
References
First Amendment lecture: Commercial
Speech. (2013, December 20). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgZyjpl3WkM
Flynn, M. K. (2014, Fall). Are We Really Effective PR People or Just Busy? Retrieved from https://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/TheStrategist/Articles/view/10806/1100/Are_We_Really_Effective_PR_People_or_Just_Busy#.WBL0I_krLIU
Haber, F. (2016, April). What is
Fair Use? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfxIg-atmgM
Johnson, B. (2010, December 10). First Amendment Center. Retrieved October 28, 2016, from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/advertising-first-amendment-overview
Moore, J. (1990, Summer). The Ethics
of Privacy Protection. Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/7714/librarytrendsv39i1-2h_opt.pdf?sequence=1
Patterson, P., & Wilkins, L.
(2014). Media ethics: Issues and cases. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown.
Reuters, T. (n.d.). Invasion of
Privacy - FindLaw. Retrieved October 28, 2016, from
http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/invasion-of-privacy.html
Reuters, T. (2016). Defamation Law:
The Basics - FindLaw. Retrieved October 28, 2016, from
http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/defamation-law-the-basics.html
Torossian, R. (2011). Public
Relations Advantage Over Marketing & Advertising: Image Is Everything !
Retrieved October 28, 2016, from
http://www.businessinsider.com/public-relations-advantage-over-marketing-and-advertising-image-is-everything--2011-10
Tysver, D. (n.d.). BitLaw. Retrieved
October 28, 2016, from http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/fair_use.html
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