Communications Ethics, Law & Regulation

Communicators must deal with age-old dilemmas like ethical uses of persuasion in a complex environment marked by rapidly changing attitudes, rules, and technologies, This course provides a foundation for professional practice by introducing essential US ethical, legal, and regulatory principles and requirements. It explores concepts including free, commercial, and compelled speech, as well as defamation, privacy, intellectual property, and duty of care. It also investigates how regulatory agencies impact areas like employee and investor relations, advertising, and lobbying and reflects on the role of professional codes, ethical business standards, and PR ethics theory.