This Week in PR Ethics is back from its long vacation with a number of interesting stories, including many AI ethics failures.
- Profitability over ethics sabotages long-term success – I really enjoyed this article from Entrepreneur that highlights how what we could consider to be scrappy start-up tactics are anything but that…
- Unethical RFP? – KNKX had a great story about how one Bellingham, WA, city employee may have used ChatGPT to “favor” one specific vendor in a government RFP.
- Inappropriate boundaries (to say the least) – The Washington Post reported how people are using Grok to nonconsensually undressing women, and it highlighted the need for safeguards.
- Brand leaders and ethics – Fast Company had a small piece on ethics questions brand marketers should ask. It is a good refresher.
- A global perspective – I found this piece from PR Nigeria a good reminder that ethics is the soul of public relations.
- And one more thing – AI Fighting Bots – We spend a lot of time discussing AI issues with LLMs and generative AI…but this video drives home a whole host of other issues society and communicators should be considering. Plus, it is just wicked cool!
Latest posts by Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA (see all)
- This Week in PR Ethics – 1/7/26: Robots, Start Ups and Oh So Many Failures - January 7, 2026
- Somebody Has to Ask the Question: Mentorship, AI, and Ethical Courage - January 5, 2026
- Why Communicators Deserve the Same Privilege as Lawyers - October 20, 2025


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