Philip Ryan Johnson

Online PR and My Quest Through Grad School in Mass Communication

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Entries Tagged as 'ethics'

[Online Privacy] More than half of consumers uncomfortable with sites tracking online activities

April 6th, 2008 · No Comments · advertising, ethics

Photo by serafin_s
The Center for Democracy and Technology reports that consumers don’t like it when advertisers track online behavior to tailor ads and content, according to a recent study by Harris Interactive and Alan F. Westin:

The 2,513 adults surveyed were told that Web sites like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN can provide free search engines and [...]

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Spitzer’s resignation…

March 12th, 2008 · No Comments · accountability, authenticity, ethics, public relations

I just have to say how disappointed I am with Spitzer.
I voted for him, and I watched—and loved—his every move. He brought change to our state and stood tall as a respected beacon for New York State.
Hearing him speak was always moving. He pushed for equality. He pushed for a better world.
But he also pushed [...]

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[BAD PR: How to piss customers off] ING Direct Acquires ShareBuilder

November 20th, 2007 · 1 Comment · change management, customers, ethics, public relations, reputation management, transparency

ING Direct Acquires ShareBuilder
So, I’ve been with Sharebuilder for months now as they’re the cheapest no frills trading site. And was kind of excited when I received an email that they’ve been acquired by ING Direct.
Great! I thought…
They did a good job announcing it to the world in the above press release, but did they [...]

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Highlights from the HRC and Logo forum on LGBT issues

August 10th, 2007 · 1 Comment · 2008, LGBT, barack, civilunions, democracy, discrimination, diversity, ethics, gaymarriage, hillary, hrc, humanrightscampaign, john edwards, logo, obama, presidentialdebate, transparency, truth

Missed the forum last night? Here are the highlights from the three who matter most on their opinion about the top issue, gay marriage:
Hillary Clinton (see more highlights here):

Barack Obama (see more highlights here):

John Edwards (see more highlights here):

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UK’s Ministry of Defense and the missing league of its 1,000 PR practitioners

July 23rd, 2007 · No Comments · afghanistan, blair, bush, change management, ethics, gordonbrown, iraq, ministry of defense, mod, pr, public relations, reputation management, transparency, truth, uk

According to The Telegraph, Gordon Brown, the UK’s new Prime Minister, has had enough of paying the Ministry of Defense’s 1,000 PR practitioners an average annual salary of £39 thousand ($80 thousand—yes, I’m in the wrong country) to foster public support—or lack thereof—for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But they can’t seem to figure [...]

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Embracing the honor system with your customers online

July 11th, 2007 · No Comments · accountability, customer service, customers, ethics, honor system, pr, public relations, relationships, transparency

Seth Godin talks about how important good service is online because, well, that’s one of the most important factors of ensuring success. Taking this into consideration, you can’t ever turn your back on customers, even when there are a few bad apples who abuse your services:

The temptation is to embrace only the advantages of the [...]

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The most accountable and transparent newspapers

June 13th, 2007 · No Comments · ICMPA, NYT, accountability, ethics, journalism, reputation management, transparency

Over at the University of Maryland, the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda have compiled a list of the most transparent newspapers in the world:

This study investigated 25 of the world’s top news sites to evaluate which of them open up their newsrooms to public scrutiny and comment:

Which outlets post corrections to their [...]

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Imus - yeah, I’ve got more to say…thanks to The [Green] Week

April 22nd, 2007 · No Comments · diversity, environment, ethics, gender, imus, multicultural, public relations, racism, theweek, truth

Yet another reason why Imus simply deserved it:
It’s a good question, deserving a “blunt” answer, said Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post. Blacks and whites have an ugly, 388-year history in this country, beginning when “the first shackled African slaves arrived at Jamestown.” Given that history, a 67-year-old white disc jockey in a cowboy hat [...]

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Sorry Imus, but you deserved it

April 14th, 2007 · No Comments · NYT, advertising, discrimination, diversity, ethics, free speech, imus, news, public relations, racism, relationships, reputation management

I am sick and tired of people saying “this is about free speech and Don Imus has the same rights as any other American” etc. WRONG. It’s about money. Once the advertisers leave, you are toast.
David Carr wrote a great piece in The New York Times yesterday with his list of reasons why it was [...]

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Why Vitalist rocks my world

April 14th, 2007 · No Comments · add, adhd, customers, ethics, gtd, neat, procrastination, productivity, public relations, relationships, reputation management, stuff for nerds, transparency, vitalist, web2.0

The best part about Vitalist is the fact that they are listening to their customers. With the combination of their blog, contact page, and knowledge base full of previously answered questions presented in rank-order, they have the appearance of addressing users’ problems and needs as quickly as possible.
I complained in a few emails that their [...]

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