I personally believe that the spokesperson for AMA provided a satisfactory answer. The poll brought to light the issues of occurring during spring break among college students and these issues were reflected by members of a poll.
I believe that the news was misleading, however, this was not a result of AMA but the media and their prerogative. The news release did create awareness of the issue but they presented the poll giving the impression that it was based on scientific research. Presenting survey results based on non-scientific data and posing it as scientific facts and findings can be viewed as non ethical; if the findings are being used for a cause. In this case, the purpose was to simply create awareness of the situation. Although it is dependent on what the data is being used for, in this particular case, it is not being used for anything that goes against ethics.
When public relations professionals make decisions, they take on the burdens of “ ( 1) the public interest, ( 2) the employer’s self- interests, ( 3) the standards of the public relations profession, and ( 4) their personal values .”
In this case, the decision was to create awareness. This does not seem to go against the codes set out by AMA on their website. “The information is not false and is not rallied by any misleading or deceptive tactic. It is un-harmful to the general public and fosters trust and a sense of community safety amongst parents. It harbours the value of respect within us and it is transparent. The results demonstrate respect for the privacy of respondents. The information presented does not stereotype but only creates awareness.”
In my opinion, the end justifies the means as in this particular case, the end result was to create awareness of a situation that is often overlooked or not thought of. It is not stereotyping and does not pin point. The tactic did in fact create awareness of risky behavior during spring break....