PR’s Societal Mandate: Ethics, Law, and Moral Reasoning Across Regions скачать в хорошем качестве

PR’s Societal Mandate: Ethics, Law, and Moral Reasoning Across Regions

Global Alliance Responsible Communication: Ethics First Month 2026 Webinar: PR’s Societal Mandate: Ethics, Law, and Moral Reasoning Across Regions Background: • PR and communication professionals now operate in a volatile, polarized, and high risk environment. Strategic messaging and stakeholder engagement face growing threats—from backlash and reputational harm to political pressure and public scrutiny. In a fragmented media landscape, even well intended messages can be distorted or weaponized. • With declining trust and rising societal tensions, balancing organizational goals with ethical responsibility is essential. Communication professionals must manage risk, foster constructive dialogue, and uphold public trust—making questions of ethics, legality, and morality more urgent than ever. • This panel will introduce the concept of the “ethical onion”—a metaphor illustrating the layered nature of ethical decision making, beginning with legal obligations and moving toward moral reasoning – and how these layers influence PR and strategic communication decisions in today’s issue filled environment. Guiding Questions The panel will address the following questions, explicitly examining cross regional similarities and differences: • Legality and Ethics: What does “legality” mean in the context of public relations practice? How does it intersect with ethical judgment, and to what extent can or should legal standards guide ethical decision making in diverse societies? • Regional Variation: Can legality function as a reliable foundation for ethical decisions across different political and cultural settings? Where do practitioners encounter limitations or tensions? • Morality and Professional Responsibility: What is the role of morality in public relations activities, and why is moral reasoning increasingly relevant in an age of polarization and conflict? How do moral expectations differ across regions, and how do practitioners navigate these differences? By engaging with these questions, the panel will offer a rich, comparative examination of how PR/communication professionals can more effectively and ethically operate amid growing societal divides—and how the profession can strengthen its societal role and legitimacy moving forward. Speakers: Chiara Valentini, Ph.D., is a Professor and Head of Corporate Communication Discipline, at Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics (JSBE), Finland, and Adjunct Professorship in Strategic Communication at IULM University, Milan, Italy. Marlene Neill, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, is a professor and graduate program director at Baylor University, USA. She teaches courses in public relations, ethics and advertising. She has been inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows, and is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society. Flora Hung-Baesecke, PhD., is Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) at University of Technology Sydney. Hung-Baesecke is on the advisory board of International Public Relations Research Conference and on editorial boards of public relations and strategic communication journals. She is also a member of the Arthur W. Page Society. Moderator: Kia Haring, Director of Ethics and Standards, Member of the Global Alliance board