Business and the Media

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Business and the Media
Chapter
20

• Ownership of the Media and Its Responsibilities
• Racial Diversity and Gender Equality in the
  Media
• The Fairness and Balance Issue
• Deceptive Advertising and Free Speech
• Special Issue Government Regulation of Tobacco
  Advertising
• How Businesses Influence their Public Image

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The media industry

• Media
• A means of communication that widely reaches or
  influences people.
• The media industry includes companies
  specializing in
• Broadcast technology the sending and receiving
  of messages/images via transmission equipment,
  cable lines, wireless devices, and receivers.
• Broadcasting content News, entertainment,
  movies, etc.
• Service delivery Cable companies, theaters,
  video stores, and so on that interface with the
  consuming public.

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Medias ethical and social responsibilities

• Ethical issues in the media
• Acts of journalistic fraud and plagiarism
• Source of values (i.e., should the media continue
  to support endorsers facing criminal charges?)
• Marketing violence through media inputs of
  television, music, the Internet, and other means.
• Monitoring the instances of sex and violence and
  the impact that these theme may have in society.

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Racial diversity and gender equality in the media

• In a 1997 study, ethnic minority groups were
  found to make up only 15.7 of prime-time drama
  casts.
• Only 26 of major characters in movies were
  women.
• Minorities are segregated in specific types of
  content, and rarely engage in cross-ethnic
  interactions.
• By 2001 there was evidence of efforts toward
  greater representation of minorities in the media.

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The fairness and balance issue

• The fairness and balance issue is about how the
  media reports business activities.
• From 1949 to 1987, the FCC was entrusted with
  enforcing the
• Fairness Doctrine.
• It required television and radio broadcasters to
  cover both sides of important or controversial
  issues and to give the opportunity for
  contrasting viewpoints to be aired.
• It gave the FCC authority to rule on the fairness
  of broadcasts.
• The law was repealed in 1987.

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Deceptive advertising

• Deceptive advertising
• Occurs when an advertisement misleads the
  consumer by lying, withholding relevant
  information, or creating an unreasonable
  expectation.

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Right to free speech

• The right to free speech underlies the issue of
  deceptive advertising
• The free speech issue is about how to find a
  balance between the constitutional right to free
  expression and the trustworthiness of information
  used by stakeholders to make purchases, seek
  employment, and take other actions.

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Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

• A professional association of public relations
  officers.
• The organization is committed to the fundamental
  values of individual dignity and free exercise of
  human rights and believes that the freedom of
  speech, assembly, and the press are essential to
  the practice of pubic relations.

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PRSA core values

• Advocacy. We serve the public interest by acting
  as responsible advocates for those we represent.
  We provide a voice in the marketplaceto aid
  informed public debate.
• Honesty. We adhere to the highest standards of
  accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of
  those we represent and in communicating with the
  public.
• Expertise. We acquire and responsibly use
  specialized knowledge and experience. We advance
  the profession through continued professional
  development, research, and education. We build
  mutual understanding, credibility, and
  relationships among a wide array of institutions
  and audiences.
• Independence. We provide objective counsel to
  those we represent. We are accountable for our
  actions.
• Loyalty. We are faithful to those we represent,
  while honoring our obligation to serve the public
  interest.
• Fairness. We deal fairly with clients, employers,
  competitors, peers, vendors the media, and the
  general public. We respect all opinions and
  support the right of free expression.

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Media training of employees

• Media communication experts generally give their
  clients the following advice
• Resist the temptation to see reporters and
  journalists as the enemy. Business media
  representatives should build bridges with the
  media.
• Employees should be instructed to keep the
  long-term reputation of the company in mind.
• Being open and honest is a successful media
  strategy.
• Businesses should make communications a priority
  and the training of the company spokesperson a
  critical and ongoing program.