Instructions: Answer this assignment fully and carefully. You must cite at least one legal case or fact from the textbook (including page number) in your legal response and one ethical code (indicate which code you are citing and include the section) in your ethical response. Response should be one page or less.
Find one advertisement (print, radio, television, internet any media source) that you believe is false, misleading or deceptive. Discuss whether your advertisement is entitled to First Amendment protection. Please attach your advertisement, or a description of your advertisement (if you heard it on the radio) to your response. If you were in the Advertising Acceptability Department of the media outlet that ran the ad, would you have accepted this ad? Explain why or why not.
Use only textbook and ethical codes to cite
Legal Reading: Chapter 17 in textbook
Ethics Reading: Read the following ethics codes:
Public Relations Society of America: https://www.prsa.org/ethics/code-of-ethics/
American Advertising Federation: https://ams.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/inside/standards.pdf
Reading about Conflicts of Interest: https://rtdna.org/content/guidelines_for_avoiding_conflict_of_interest
use only ethical codes and specific reading from textbook
cite like this: CNN terminated Chris Cuomo after reports surfaced that he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during his sexual harassment allegations. Through his connections at CNN and other news outlets, Chris warned Andrew, in advance, of upcoming media that was about to be released, so Andrew could prepare for how to respond to these statements. In addition to the news that would be published on CNN, he gathered stories about his brother that might be relayed by other journalists. As well as this, Chris used CNN’s contacts and resources to gather information on Andrew’s accusers.
In order to avoid the ethical lapse, CNN could have fired Chris as soon as the news outlet became aware of Chris’ suspicious behavior. CNN knew Chris was offering advice to his brother’s staff. The news outlet responded by saying, “When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brothers staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly. But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second” (New York Times). Chris probably thought he could get away with this situation since he did not receive any severe consequences, so he became more involved in his brother’s scandal. He was ultimately suspended because documents indicated a greater level of engagement than CNN had previously known. The situation could have been avoided if CNN had dismissed Chris when they first discovered he was helping Andrew.
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics under Act Independently states, “Journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts”. According to Chris, there would be a conflict if he reported on the sexual harassment. Despite not covering his brother’s scandal directly, he still took part in it by gathering information to assist Andrew.
