Kati Tusinski Berg

Big Data, Equality, Privacy, and Digital Ethics

Whether its data-driven policing, trending-topic algorithms, security breaches, or American politics, the concept of big data continues to dominate policy discussions, news headlines, and industry trend reports. Metcalf, Keller, and Boyd (2017) explained, “The explosion of data collection, sharing, and analytics known as “big data” is a rapidly sprawling phenomenon that promises to have tremendous impacts on economics, policing, security, science, education, policy, governance, health care, public health, and much more” (p. 3). This phenomenon presents ethical challenges related to privacy, confidentiality, transparency, and identity. Richards and King (2014a), admittedly, are obsessed with questions such as, “Who owns all that data that you’re analyzing? Are there limits to what kinds of inferences you can make, or what decisions can be made about people based on those inferences?” (para. 1). They wrote, “Law will be an important part of Big Data Ethics, but so too must the establishment of ethical principles and best practices that guide government, corporations, and users. We must all be part of the conversation, and part of the solution” (p. 396). In their Wake Forest Law Review article, Richards and King (2014b) concluded, “Big data ethics are for everyone” (p. 432). Thus, this issue’s trend report focuses on big data, privacy, and digital ethics. Three recently published books have the potential to inform media ethics research across multiple professions, particularly given the emphasis on data analytics in both journalism and strategic communication. All of these books could be required reading in both undergraduate and graduate seminar courses.

The ethics of artificial intelligence: superintelligence, life 3.0 and robot rights

In March, I presented on a panel titled “Pressing Issues in Digital Ethics” at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics 27th Annual International Conference in Chicago. Although the research presented and the discussion generated during this panel had me contemplating many digital ethics concerns, my thoughts kept returning to the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly given the frightening yet realistic presentation by David Gunkel. Gunkel, who has written extensively on the philosophy of technology, specifically discussed big data, algorithms, and a crisis of responsibility that prompts key questions of values and agency. Since then, I am much more attuned to these issues and notice the topic being discussed more than ever around me. Last week while driving home from campus, I listened to a National Public Radio story titled “Kids, Meet Alexa, Your AI Mary Poppins,” about how Amazon worked with child development experts to make Alexa more kid-friendly, which was a reaction based on consumer interest (Kamenetz, 2018). Earlier this week, in an Issues and Trends email from the Public Relations Society of America, there was a link to a Fortune story titled, “4 Big Takeaways from Satya Nadella’s Talk at Microsoft Build.” One of the takeways was that Microsoft believes in AI and Ethics. Jonathan Vanian (2018) reported, “Nadella briefly mentioned the company’s internal AI ethics team whose job is to ensure that the company’s foray into cutting-edge techniques like deep learning don’t unintentionally perpetuate societal biases in their products, among other tasks” (para. 11). Advancements in AI will impact all areas of media, including but not limited to journalism, advertising, and public relations. Thus, this trend report focuses on three highly regarded books on AI that are recommended by, and favorites of, both Elon Musk and Bill Gates. Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford, UK: Oxford University. Bostrom’s book has created quite a bit of buzz since it was published in 2014. Elon Musk tweeted about the potential dangers of AI and then penned an open letter expressing his concern to AI researchers, which was signed by Bostrom, Stephen Hawking, and dozens of others. Although Bill Gates did not sign the letter, he has mentioned Superintelligence as one of two books we should all read to better understand AI. Superintelligence is a serious examination of the risks associated with the likely arrival of machine brains that surpass human brains in general intelligence. In the preface, Brostrom explains, “And, as the fate of the gorillas now depends more on us humans than on the gorillas themselves, so the fate of our species would depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence” (Brostrom, 2014, p. vii). He wanted to explore the challenges of how we might respond to superintelligence because “This is quite possibly the most important and most daunting challenge humanity has ever faced. And—whether we succeed or fail—it is probably the last challenge we will ever face” (Brostrom, 2014, p. vii). Ironically, Brostrom admits that this has not been an easy book to write and, although he hopes it will be an easy book to read, he is not quite sure he succeed. Brostrom sets the context of his argument by discussing past developments and present capabilities in Chapter 1, yet the bulk of the book studies the kinetics of the an intelligence explosion, the forms and powers of superintelligence, and the strategic choices available to a superintelligent agent that attains a decisive advantage. He then shifts focus to the control problem, reframes the argument to contemplate the larger picture that emerges, and offers some suggestions to increase the chances of avoiding an existential

Thinking pink? Consumer reactions to pink ribbons and vague messages in advertising

Abstract Many brands partner with causes in their advertising campaigns. Consumers appreciate that the brands they purchase participate in activities that contribute to a society’s well-being. This study uses copy-testing techniques to evaluate the number and types of thoughts and brand attitudes in the presence and absence of cause-related messages. Individuals saw an ad for one of two products. None of the ads stated the brand’s financial support to the cause, which is representative of many messages today. People viewing the Dansko ads with the pink ribbon generated significantly fewer thoughts than those viewing the ad without the pink ribbon. For the Fitbit ads, more thoughts were generated for the ad with the pink ribbon than the ad without the pink ribbon. The Fitbit ad with the pink ribbon and support message generated fewer positive and negative thoughts but more neutral thoughts that questioned the brand/cause relationship. Attitudes toward the brand did not vary based on the presence or absence of the pink ribbon. People who saw ads with the pink ribbon displayed more positive attitudes toward the brands’ commitment to society and misestimated the brands’ contributions to the cause.

Trends in Public Relations: Exploring the Role of Ethics as it Relates to Social Media and Crisis Communication

Does public relations finally have its seat at the executive table? According to Steve Barrett of PRWeek, “The premise that inhouse [public relations] pros, and the agencies that support those inhouse teams, are an intrinsic part of the business and organizational planning process is no longer in doubt” (2016, para. 7). The chief executive officers who Barrett interviewed and who spoke at PRWeek’s annual conference, including Cleveland Clinic’s Toby Cosgrove, Girl Scouts of America’s Sylvia Acevedo and Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchett, understand the value of the PR function and lean on it heavily. Barrett claims, “the value PR brings to the table is undisputed” (2016, para. 8). Now that public relations theoretically has its seat at the table, practitioners must use it effectively, which means having a handle on two of the most necessary, and challenging, elements of the practice, social media and crisis communication, and doing so in an ethical manner. St. John and Pearson (2017) suggest, “The need for ethical crisis management and crisis communications continues to be as pressing as ever” (p. xi). Yet, although the need for “how to effectively engage with publics via both traditional and social media in different types of crises with different forms of communication channels has been a critical question for both media professionals and communication scholars,” the theory-grounded research is scarce (Austin & Jin, 2017, p. 1). Four recently published books address this gap in the research by tackling significant issues—crisis communication, reputation management, social media, and ethics—in today’s practice of public relations. Two of the books (The Moral Compass, edited by Brigitta Brunner, and Social Media and Crisis Communication, edited by Lucinda Austin and Yan Jin) are volumes with contributions from familiar names across the discipline of public relations. In their debut book Crisis Communication & Crisis Management: An Ethical Approach, St. John and Pearson position ethical inquiry at the center of all aspects of crisis management by challenging readers to consider themselves moral agents. In the fifth edition of Kathleen Fearn-Banks’ Crisis Communication: A Casebook Approach, the effect of social media on crisis communication is enhanced while emphasizing the ideals and principles of doing what is fair and honest. All four of these books include a mix of theory and practice using case studies to illustrate the challenges facing the practice of public relations today. Let’s take a deeper dive into each book to better understand how they might impact teaching and research in public relations particularly, but also the broader field of strategic communication.

Analyzing the Intersection of Transparency, Issue Management and Ethics: The Case of Big Soda

ABSTRACT This article critically analyzes the ethics of Coca-Cola’s public relations strategies through the lens of corporate social responsibility, issue management, and moral legitimacy. Corporate legitimacy is essential for corporate survival and, in today’s complex environment, expectations for legitimacy have shifted. Corporations are called on to consider their roles in the context of the greater good. These changes call for an examination of what constitutes ethical communication for public relations practitioners. While theoretical advancements in the area of ethics sketch the landscape for providing for greater transparency in what the aims of organizations should be in providing for ethical communication, more needs to be done to examine the specific content of this communication. Toward this end, the authors seek to extend conversations and draw from Habermas’s theories of communicative action and Principle U to propose a new direction for evaluating public relations ethics.

Dissecting and Critically Analyzing the Product RED Campaign

ends up making the book seem too short in some areas. Some issues could be explored more in-depth. For example, it is true, as the author states, that the Nazis used emotional appeals in their propaganda; however, emotive appeals are not inherently bad (Armoudian rightly feels that genocide is wrong). This does not mean all moral truths are mere emotions, as a positivist such as A. J. Ayer might contend; however, more space would allow the author to explain how the evils of Nazi ideology were the result of a perversion of both rationality and emotionalism (since both the head and the heart can lead one astray, instead of one being superior to the other). This is just one example that was quickly mentioned in the book but could use more exploring. However, a few criticisms aside, Kill the Messenger can be a useful text in media ethics classes (perhaps as a supplement to a text that covers ethical theories and practical cases in the media), investigative journalism courses, or special topics courses on social problems, politics, and the media. The most useful quality of this book is its writing style; Armoudian writes in a narrative format throughout much of the book, and this journalistic style grabs the reader’s attention and puts a human face on many of these conflicts and tragedies. The book could also be used in a communication theory class (as a supplement to a textbook that describes various communication theories) because, although not always overtly stated, the book applies many theories, including agenda setting, spiral of silence, media framing, and Kenneth Burke’s terministic screens, where journalists not only reflect reality but also select it. The study of instances when media helped promote evil or, alternatively, worked toward the good could help make communication theories, as well as philosophies of journalistic practice, more applicable to real-world situations.