Learning From Others

As a beginner blogger, we are subject to make a few mistakes.  Therefore, in order to be a successful blogger, one must resort to others for guidance.  This is exactly what we were expected to do this week.  Our assignment was to read other classmates blogs and comment on them.  Although my blog has recently featured stories on the President and the bad PR he has been receiving, this week I will be looking at a few blogs that look at other aspects of Public Relations.

            In looking through my classmate’s blogs, I first came across this one.  Appealing to myself, a PR and marketing major, Whitney’s blog grabbed my attention.  PR, advertising, and marketing work hand-in-hand; therefore, a lot of the same issues overlap.  During her last week’s blog, she wrote about false advertising of pharmaceutical research; a very important topic to not just those in the PR field but also any average American. According to Whitney, “The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) seems to have a tight hold on drug companies, but obviously do not have a tight hold on the types of advertisements they are running. With all of our food and drugs under strict scrutiny it is surprising to me that such advertising can be allowed to occur.

The pharmaceutical industry is huge in today’s society; therefore, we rely on this industry every time we are diagnosed with an illness or disease.  While we take many of the medications we have today for granted, it is also an industry we can’t live without. 

            Another blog that I came across was mainly about research ethics.  She brings up the Tuskegee Syphillis Study, that we talked about it class.  It is a perfect example of how research ethics is put to test. However, I disagree with her belief that, “the good (saving millions of people) should never have been achieved by evil means (killing 400 people).”  While it may not be at all ethical in the world of PR, I feel as though they signed up for the study and there was still a risk they could die.  Saving the lives of millions by only killing a few hundred in my book is rather acceptable.  While this is only my opinion, I feel as though others should weigh the outcomes when it comes to saving their loved one.