Where
Baruch College/NY151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor, Room 750
Baruch College/CUNY
William and Anita Newman Library Conference Center
NY, NY 10010
Driving Directions
From P. T. Barnum to Donald Trump: An Ethical Appraisal of Public Relations
Popular conceptions of public relations range from the relatively benign, as in ginning up publicity, to the more nefarious, as in sowing doubt and spreading misinformation. In that view, on a good day, public relations is frivolous; on a bad day, evil. A long line of social critics, philosophers, and ordinary citizens see more bad days than good. In fact, a recent survey shows most Americans consider PR practitioners “smart, friendly liars.”
That’s the issue we will address as we examine public relations from the happy hokum of a P. T. Barnum to the hollow bombast of a Donald Trump and points in between. Along the way, we’ll examine the practice through the intellects of great thinkers from Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and John Mill to John Rawls, Alasdair Macintyre, and Carol Gilligan. PR doesn’t have to be the shortest four-letter word in the dictionary.
More Information
Share event details and include a compelling event related image.The speaker: Dick Martin writes about public relations and marketing. Most recently, with Donald K. Wright, Harold Burson Professor of Public Relations at Boston University, he co-authored Public Relations Ethics: How To Practice PR Without Losing Your Soul. He has also authored four books for the American Management Association and articles for such publications as the Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive, and the Journal of Business Strategy. He also conducts popular workshops on public relations ethics. From 1997 to 2003, he was Chairman of the AT&T Foundation and Executive Vice President responsible for the company’s public relations, employee communications and brand management.
For a preview of Martin’s latest book, see www.Updates.PRethics.com.
