Is Your Job or Your Reputation More Important?

Bailey Kormick
bk399015@ohio.edu

In the world of media the question is: is your job or your reputation more important? When it comes to a point in your career and you are facing an ethical dilemma, which do you choose? It is an answer only you can decide and there is not a right one. However, it is hard to know what you would answer until you are standing face to face with your boss as he demands you publish or you leave.

Trust
A key word to focus on is trust. It is imperative for employees to trust their superiors and the superiors to trust their employees. A lack of trust within a company will inevitably cause a lack of trust outside of a company. The audience's ability to believe in what your company is saying is the only thing that matters. The Institute for Public Relations bluntly states you can't have credibility without trust. As a media company, if you don't have credibility than what do you have?

It Starts at the Top
In a public relations company, or really any company, the behavior of the employees mimic the behavior of those in charge. It is similar to your mother saying, "monkey see, monkey do," when you were growing up and acting out in front of your little sibling. Your younger brother or sister would see you coloring on the walls and the next day he or she would start doing the same thing. This principle is still applied in adulthood. When a boss sticks to the company's ethical values and promotes respectable behavior, the employees will follow. Unfortunately, it can fall the opposite direction as well. If a boss applauds dishonorable ways of finding information or lying to hide the facts, then it should not come as a surprise that other employees behave in a similar way.

Courtesy of www.personalityinsights.com

Building a Team
Journalists and public relation specialists are in the public eye more than ever before. Every decision a reporter, editor or publisher makes is being dissected to find an ethical flaw. This means that employer and employee need to be working side by side for the same goal. If companies keep their eye on a centralized goal, maintain trust and respect between coworkers and stay true to the company's mission there will be no question of flawed ethics. You will be able to stand by your peer and support their claims because you are working together.

Be True to You
Let's come back to the initial question - is your job or your reputation more important? Although this question is hard to answer, there is a way to make it easier. It is as simple as looking at the situation and determining whether or not it aligns with your values. Charlotte Dowd, senior account executive at MKPR, believes your own personal values and beliefs should guide you through your career. It comes down to how you want to be represented in the public. The company and management at the job you select should have matching values. If your beliefs align with your jobs beliefs then there will never be an ethical dilemma. The problems come when what you believe is different than what your company believes and that is the moment when you will have to choose.