Advice - EthicalVoices

Somebody Has to Ask the Question: Mentorship, AI, and Ethical Courage

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • January 5, 2026 • 0 Comments

This week on Ethical Voices, Kristin Amico, a writer, editor, content strategist, and the most traveled person I know discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:

1) Why most ethics failures don’t start with scandals
2) What the “Wild West” of AI really looks like inside organizations under pressure to perform
3) How fear, job insecurity, and “do more with less” environments quietly undermine ethical decision-making
4) Why mentorship is the most effective ethics safeguard for junior staff

Why Communicators Deserve the Same Privilege as Lawyers

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • October 20, 2025 • 0 Comments

This week on EthicalVoices, Amie Hoffner, Vice President of Corporate Communications at American Dairy Queen Corporation, shares why communicators need the same protections as lawyers — and how to stay ethical when the lines between PR, marketing, and media blur. She discusses:

1) Why communicators should have the same legal protections as lawyers

2) How to avoid “on background” disasters

3) Why trusting your gut isn’t enough

4) How to counsel executives in media interviews

5) Why crisis simulations should include an ethical dilemma

Lessons from a PR Legend: Dick Martin on Ethics, Accountability, and Finding the Hard Truths

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • August 4, 2025 • 0 Comments

Dick Martin, the retired Chief Communication Officer for AT&T and Chairman of the Board of the PR Museum, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:

1) How a single racist cartoon exposed deeper organizational issues and sparked meaningful change

2) Why telling the truth in PR isn’t always easy

3) Why strong ethics requires more than good intentions

4) Why you should be careful about getting too clever

How to Counsel Effectively When Your Client Has a Culturally Insensitive Idea – Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • March 10, 2025 • 0 Comments

Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz, a strategic storyteller serving as the founder and CEO of Refuerzo Collaborative, discusses a number of important ethics issues including:

1) How to counsel effectively when your client has a culturally insensitive idea
2) How you can help organizations go beyond their biases
3) Unexpected ways PR pros fail ethically with the media
4) The most overlooked part of a PR person’s job

Acting Ethically With Financial Numbers

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • January 6, 2025 • 0 Comments

Bill Swanger, APR, Fellow PRSA, the founder of William Swanger Communications, shares a number of important ethical issues, including:

1) Why it is important to ethically address financial mistakes and clarify misunderstandings

2) Ethically navigating paid and unpaid content

The Importance of Really Small Things – Capt. Barbara Bell, USN (ret)

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • May 28, 2024 • 0 Comments

Captain Barbara Bell, U.S. Navy (ret). Captain Bell was one of Annapolis’s first female graduates and has a distinguished career as an aviator and naval flight test officer. Today, she teaches at the US Naval Academy and may discuss ethics even more than I do.

In this interview she discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:

1) The importance of the really small things

2) The ethics framework being taught to future Navy officers – and how everyone can apply it

3) How to understand and avoid biases

4) Never forget you are a role model

How to Deal with Biased Reporters – Missy Hurley

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • April 22, 2024 • 0 Comments

This week on Ethical Voices, Missy Hurley, the co-founder and CEO of B2 Communications, discusses a number of important ethics issues:

1) What to do when advocacy groups change your words to spread misinformation

2) How to deal with biased reporters

3) When ethically to disclose you used AI

What should you do when you think you received an unlawful order? Dave Honchul

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • October 30, 2023 • 0 Comments

Dave Honchul, APR Fellow, PRSA is a public affairs specialist at the US Department of the Treasury and a docent at the National Museum of the US Air Force. He discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:

1) What to do when you think you received an unlawful order

2) One key thing many PR pros are forgetting to do

3) How far do you need to dig before deciding something is true

How Much Human Agency Do We Require in Public Relations? – Ant Cousins

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • August 21, 2023 • 0 Comments

This week Ant Cousins, the Executive Director of AI Strategy at Cision, discusses a number of important issues, including:

• Cision’s AI ethics policy
• The ethics implications of the use of AI in public relations
• How much human agency do we require in public relations?
• The most concerning AI ethics issues
• Where should PR pros start when they want to learn more about AI?

The ethical importance of knowing when to say “No” – Natasha Koifman

By Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA • June 13, 2022 • 0 Comments

Natasha Koifman, President of NKPR, one of Canada’s most powerful and innovative women in public relations discusses a number of important ethics issues including:

1) The ethical importance of knowing when to say “No”
2) How to empower your employees to make tough ethical decisions
3) The blurring of paid and owned media

Category: Advice