Chapter 20 - Business and the Media

CHAPTER 20
BUSINESS AND THE MEDIA

INTRODUCTION

Business firms today use a wide variety of new and old media–from the World
Wide Web, blogs, and podcasts, to television, DVDs, CDs, radio, newspapers, billboards,
movies, and books-to communicate with stakeholders, sell products or services, and
enhance their image. As business acquires greater power through its use of the media, it
also must accept greater ethical and social responsibility when wielding this power.
Business must be acutely aware of the impact it may have on its stakeholders when
administering a public relations or crisis management plan. It must avoid deceptive
advertising and show special concern when targeting vulnerable populations such as
youths. The media, as an industry, also must honor its ethical and social responsibilities
to the public. It must be sensitive to maintaining decency, reflecting diversity and
equality, and portraying organizations and issues in a fair and balanced way.

PREVIEW CASE
Daimler Chrysler
Abercrombie and Fitch
Chi-Chi’s
Did Daimler-Chrysler demonstrate ethical responsibility by refusing to sponsor
the Lingerie Bowl? Did it matter that this would have been a pay-per-view event, thus
less likely to be viewed by children watching the Super Bowl’s halftime show? Was
Abercrombie & Fitch insensitive to the message being portrayed on its line of t-shirts?
Did Abercrombie & Fitch act responsibly by pulling the shirts in question once
challenged by a small group of potential consumers? How could Chi-Chi’s have better
handled its health crisis? How can companies be completely open and honest with the
public and the media when it is unsure of its information?

Teaching Tip: Ethical Issues in the Media

The three examples presented at the beginning of this
chapter were meant to raise complex and difficult to
resolve ethical issues involving business and the media.
Was Daimler Chrysler’s action responsible, even
though another firm adopted the Lingerie Bowl event?
Why was it necessary for Abercrombie & Fitch to be
informed by a group of young women that their t-shirt
line was offensive to the very market they were
attempting to attract? Shouldn’t the company be more
sensitive to their creations before putting them on the
market? The Chi-Chi’s episode is an example of poor
crisis management. Students may wish to debate or

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discuss each example as a demonstration of ethical or

unethical action in the media or in a time of crisis.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. PUBLIC RELATIONS

Teaching Tip: Public Relations

The chapter features an example of businesses using the
media in a socially responsible way when describing
the actions by Venezuelan companies responding to a
flood disaster. Are there other examples of how
business can use the media to benefit society or people
in need? Earlier in Chapter 3, the discussion case
presents corporate responsive actions by businesses
after Hurricane Katrina in the United States. Could the
media have been used in this case to enhance the
business’s actions?
Teaching Tip: Public Relations Case on Video*
Wal-Mart illustrates the challenges of managing
successfully a complex public relations program.
Instructors that wish to explore this theme more fully may
wish to use material from the several films about the
company. “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices”
(www.walmartmovie.com) takes a highly critical stance.
“Why Wal-Mart Works and Why That Makes Some People
Crazy” (www.hannoverhouse.com) was made by the
company to respond to its critics. “The Age of Wal-Mart:
Inside America’s Most Powerful Company”
(http://cnbc.burrelles.com), made for CNBC, tried to take a
balanced view.

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* The video segments are from the Public Broadcasting Services’s

“News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and are available on the Instructor’s
Resource Manual DVD that accompanies the textbook, available upon
request from the publisher.
A. International Public Relations
B. Crisis Management
Teaching Tip: Crisis Management
Are there recent examples of a business crisis in your
region or nationally in the news? Students could
analyze these examples and compare them to examples
presented in the chapter. Or, have the students carefully
analyze the Wendy’s crisis management response, as
described in Exhibit 20.B. How could Wendy’s have
improved their crisis response?

C. Media Training of Employees

Teaching Tip: Media Training

Have your students investigate what media training
faculty or staff at your school receives from the public
affairs office or equivalent department. If your students
are employed, it might be beneficial for them to explore
media training of employees at their place of work. Or,
you might provide a situation and ask the students, as
employees of the company affected by the situation,
how they might handle the media. A mock press
conference immediately following a crisis situation or
disaster could be an exciting role playing exercise in
class.
II. ETHICAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
MANAGERS

A. Deceptive Advertising
Teaching Tip: Deceptive Advertising
Review commercials seen on TV or in print ads for
facts that may be deceptive. Do ads “lie” or do we
expect them to “stretch the truth?” Do ads differ across
the globe, are some countries more tolerant of
deception in ads than other countries?
B. Free Speech

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C. Marketing to Children

Teaching Tip: Marketing to Children

Advertisements directed toward children are always a
sensitive issue with the media and business. What
guidelines exist or should exist to control or influence
the marketing of goods and services to children?
III. SPECIAL ISSUE: GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF TOBACCO
ADVERTISING

Teaching Tip: Tobacco Advertising

Another controversial topic ripe for student debate or
discussion is the production and sale of tobacco
products. Should tobacco be outlawed? Should all
tobacco advertising be banned since the product has
been linked to cancer for smokers and possibly to non-
smokers through secondary smoke, or should tobacco
advertising be unrestricted since it is a legal product?
Did the NAAG settlement with the tobacco industry go
too far, or not far enough? Do other countries deal with
tobacco advertising better than the United States?
What will be the impact of the World Health
Organization’s effort in this area?

IV. ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITES IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY

A. Portrayal of Diversity in the Media

Teaching Tip: Diversity in the Media

You might suggest that students watch television – not
an uncomfortable assignment – and monitor how racial
or gender minorities are portrayed in television shows
or in advertisements on television. There is a wealth of
research that explores this topic that you might assign
your students to explore.

B. The Fairness and Balance Issue

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GETTING STARTED

KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understanding the responsibilities of business’s public relations managers as they

interact with various stakeholders.

Business and its stakeholders are often best served when business recognizes its
professional responsibilities when administering a proactive public relations and crisis
management plan.

2. Analyzing how businesses can most effectively manage a crisis situation.

Businesses can effectively manage a crisis situation by preparing for the crisis before it
occurs, coordinating its interactions with the media, and always doing the right thing
under pressure.

3. Evaluating when advertising is deceptive or unnecessarily exposes young people

to indecency and violence.

Young people seem particularly vulnerable to violations of decency through exposure to

violence and sex found in television programs, films, and video games. Various
governmental and self-regulatory efforts have tried to address this issue.

4. Knowing how governments around the world have regulated advertising,

especially the tobacco industry.

The World Health Organization has joined with several national government campaigns
to regulate the tobacco industry’s use of print, radio, and television ads.

5. Ensuring that gender and racial diversity are appropriately reflected in the
media.

The media is doing a better job representing diverse ethnic groups and gender balance in
broadcasting, but some stereotyping remains.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS USED IN THE CHAPTER
advergames, 439

corporate crisis, 432

crisis management, 434

fairness and balance issue, 445

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Fairness Doctrine, 445

free speech issue, 437

media, 429

media training, 434

public relations, 430

Public Relations Society of America, 435

INTERNET RESOURCES

www.cfc-efc.ca
Children and Family Canada
www.prsa.com
Public Relations Society of America
www.prwatch.org
PR Watch
www.ftc.gov

U.S. Federal Trade Commission

www.asianmediawatchdog.com Asian Media Watchdog
www.mediaissues.com
Media Issues

DISCUSSION CASE

Grand Theft Auto – Honest Mistake or Intentional Indecency?

Discussion Questions
1. Did Take-Two Interactive crossover the line of decency by having sexually
explicit scenes accessible for players of a game via download? If this type of content
is commonplace in video games today, does that excuse the company’s actions?

While a debatable issue, as most issues of decency are, it appears that Take-Two
Interactive did overstep the line of decency in this case. Moreover, it appears that they
knowingly attempted to hide the sexually explicit scenes. Even if the company was
unaware of the scenes, they have an ethical responsibility to verify the content of their
product before it hits the market. A more honest approach would be to acknowledge that
there are sexually explicit scenes and accepted the more restricted rating, or take out the
scenes if wanting to sell to a younger market of consumers. It appears that this type of
content is becoming more common in video games, demonstrating the importance of the
rating system to inform parents what is in the games. Although becoming more common,
it does not excuse the actions of Take-Two Interactive from an ethical or legal standpoint.

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2. Do companies have an ethical obligation to ensure that sexual content does not
get into the hands of youth, or it is simply an issue of marketing to teen-agers what
they want to see?

From an ethical standpoint, just because teen-agers seek sexually explicit scenes
in their video games, or elsewhere, it does not condone companies distributing this type
of material to underage consumers. The government or regulatory agencies establish the
rules and companies are obligated to abide by them, despite consumers’ desires.

3. How effective were the video game industry’s self-regulatory standards,

especially when content was hidden from those evaluating the content and providing
a rating? What can be done to make these self-regulatory ratings more accurate?

It appears that the video game industry’s self-regulatory standards are only as
good as the information the regulators are aware of. Hiding material from the regulators
cannot place blame on the regulators or the self-regulatory system. However, the
regulators must be aware of the practices by companies in the industry and develop
technology or practices that uncovers efforts to hide material from the regulators.

4. Is government regulation needed to better protect teen-agers from sexually

explicit content as found in the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game? If so, what
steps should regulators take?

This is a difficult question to answer. In this case, having additional sets of eyes
to review the video game material might have been a good idea, but it may not be
practical or cost efficient. As mentioned above, as the creators and producers of video
games become more technologically astute at hiding illegal or unethical material in their
games, the regulators need to develop better detection practices as well. Just as
companies and governments have increased the sophistication of their monitoring of
computer systems to detect hackers, regulators of video game material and other media
products must likewise enhance their detection practices.

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