In ethics, autonomy refers to the freedom an individual have to make rational judgments and educated ethical decisions without being dominated by controlling interferences or influenced by external desires that promotes personal gains (Plaisance, 2009). With this idea of autonomy in ethics, autonomy in the context of public relations ethics would mean the capacity of a public relations practitioners to make an informed and un-coerced decision through rationality and not being subjected to undue restrictions when faced with moral choices (Bowen, 2006). Decisions are only ethical when they are thoroughly considered in a rational and responsible way by an autonomous individual who is not biased by subjective desires. The question of autonomy in
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As autonomy frees public relations practitioners from prudential concerns such as the worrying about the possibility of being dismissed or maintaining of loyalty before an employer, public relations practitioners should be given the power and authority to counsel the dominant coalition about the ethical issues openly and truthfully. When public relations practitioners are provided with the autonomy to carry our strategic communication management, they are able to act as ethical advisers and offer differing perspectives from external publics. These perspective would bring insights that can lead to the making of unbiased decisions and development of more effective communication methods that will help the organization build and establish relationships with the …show more content…
The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986 was a public relations nightmare for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Challenger crisis got out of hand and NASA was accused of attempting to impose “news blackout”, which is the censoring of any news related to the event in mass media. The publics and media described the handling of the crisis as “ill-advised” and a “failure” (Martin & Boynton, 2005). However, NASA handled the crisis differently when a similar event occurred 17 years later. In February 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA learnt from its mishandling of the Challenger disaster and responded quickly and effectively with a proactive crisis communication plan that received extensive commendations from stakeholders. NASA mentioned that the main revision made to their updated crisis plan was that they have now provided their public relations officials with the necessary autonomy when it comes to crisis management. They have fully integrated their public relations officials to aid in preparing for and responding to crisis situations in more proactive ways in order to minimize its effect on stakeholders as well as any damage to the organization’s
As autonomy frees public relations practitioners from prudential concerns such as the worrying about the possibility of being dismissed or maintaining of loyalty before an employer, public relations practitioners should be given the power and authority to counsel the dominant coalition about the ethical issues openly and truthfully. When public relations practitioners are provided with the autonomy to carry our strategic communication management, they are able to act as ethical advisers and offer differing perspectives from external publics. These perspective would bring insights that can lead to the making of unbiased decisions and development of more effective communication methods that will help the organization build and establish relationships with the …show more content…
The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986 was a public relations nightmare for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Challenger crisis got out of hand and NASA was accused of attempting to impose “news blackout”, which is the censoring of any news related to the event in mass media. The publics and media described the handling of the crisis as “ill-advised” and a “failure” (Martin & Boynton, 2005). However, NASA handled the crisis differently when a similar event occurred 17 years later. In February 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA learnt from its mishandling of the Challenger disaster and responded quickly and effectively with a proactive crisis communication plan that received extensive commendations from stakeholders. NASA mentioned that the main revision made to their updated crisis plan was that they have now provided their public relations officials with the necessary autonomy when it comes to crisis management. They have fully integrated their public relations officials to aid in preparing for and responding to crisis situations in more proactive ways in order to minimize its effect on stakeholders as well as any damage to the organization’s