I sure picked a good week to restart the This Week in PR Ethics this year. Everywhere you turn there is an ethics discussion. From ChatGPT to Deepfakes to ChatGPT to M&Ms to ChatGPT and Chatting with Hitler there are topics galore rife for discussion. Did I mention ChatGPT?

What are the top 5 public relations ethics interviews and podcasts for 2022 on EthicalVoices?

Happy December! Less than five weeks left in the year, with the holidays, CES and NRF fast approaching.  One thing that hasn’t changed is the plethora of ethics issues.  There are a few doozies to highlight this week.

Following are 93 ethics issues the students and I identified and discussed. These stories were ripped from the headlines. If you missed them, they are worth another review. They make great reading and great discussion for the dinner table. Most even have nothing to do with politics. And only a few deal with sports….

While I could probably just write KFC and Twitter, drop the mic and walk away this week – there are some nuances that are worthy of further exploration.

Well, the elections sure were interesting. Marlene Neill had a great assignment for her students this week where they had to analyze a political ad of their choice to see if it was ethical.  Beyond the elections, the common theme in PR ethics issues this week was (the lack of) virtue.

When I started gathering ethics stories for the week, I was sad because I thought it would be a quiet week. Ooh boy was I wrong. From deepfakes, to destruction and self-destruction (and I am not talking the Patriots), to politics and COP27 there is something for everyone.

This week there were a wide range of ethical issues from slum tourism to sensationalistic news to the importance of stakeholders. But my favorite is celebrating the positive, virtuous action by a radio station show host.

Just a few ethics articles jumped out at me this week. The Kardashians once again grabbed headlines and there is interesting ethics research from WE and the Page Center.