July 25, 2024 • Jonathan McVerry

A collaborative research effort will explore the ethical implications and practical applications of artificial intelligence in crisis communication. The research team – Yang (Alice) Cheng, North Carolina State University; Yan Jin, University of Georgia; Jaekuk Lee, North Carolina State University; Wenqing Zhao and Nicole Cortes, University of Georgia, and practitioner partner Philippe Borremans from the International Association of Risk & Crisis Communication represent expertise in AI ethics and crisis communication from several academic and professional perspectives. The scholars say… More

July 18, 2024 • Jonathan McVerry

With champions and detractors in every sector of the country, employing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has been an unpredictable pursuit for companies in the United States. Rosalynn Vasquez, Baylor University, is leading a study to understand how U.S. companies are addressing hot topic issues like DEI, the impact on chief diversity officers, and implications for their ethics training programs. Through in-depth interviews, Vasquez hopes to build an understanding of social issues in the workplace and how they… More

July 15, 2024

By Hyejoon Rim, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Moonhee Cho, University of Tennessee; and Katie Haejung Kim, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

While increasing scholarly attention has begun to explore corporate social advocacy (CSA) and its consequences from the external publics’ (e.g., consumers) perspectives, there is a very limited approach in the way CSA is being discussed from the perspective of the organization itself and among its internal stakeholders.

To fill the research gap, this study adopted a multi-method approach,… More

July 11, 2024 • Jonathan McVerry

With the sudden rise of AI technology and its tremendous effect on nearly everything, many areas of public communication have been slow to provide adequate ethical direction. Oklahoma State University researchers Rachel Esther Lim, Sujin Kim and Skye Cooley are working with marketing firms to learn how the industry is navigating the ethical challenges and leveraging the potential of AI. In their project, the first time Page Center scholars will also identify available ethics training tools for advertising practitioners.… More

June 19, 2024 • Jonathan McVerry

Ethics is not a game, but it can be. Page Center scholars Lewen Wei, University of New South Wales, and Nahyun Kim, Drexel University, are leading a study that will apply elements of gamification to ethics training. Their idea is to create a learning experience that teaches ethics in an engaging, informational and, yes, fun way. They are first-time Page Center scholars, but both researchers worked on Center projects as graduate students. Kim was the Page Center… More

June 12, 2024 • Jonathan McVerry

Two Page Center scholars from Michigan State University are leading a study that addresses a gap in disability-focused ethics training in the public relations industry. They will study ethical dimensions of accessibility and accommodation within the industry, making it both compliant in its rules, but also genuinely empathetic in its culture. First-time Page Center scholar Edward Timke and three-time Center scholar Chuqing Dong hope in-depth interviews and focus groups will help them set the stage for other fields… More