PRSA APR REVIEW TIPS QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔While looking for material for the next round of commercials, a campaign staffer
hands you a transcript containing unflattering information about the opponent and illicit
affairs he's had with several women other than his wife. The staffer said that this
information was overheard by a former staffer of the opponent while at a local bar.
Which would be the most ethical choice in this situation for handing the information you
were given?
1. You can use the information because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy
at a bar.
2. You can not use the information since the former staffer did not give express
permission to use what he said.
3. The information is fair game since it was gathered during the bar's normal business
hours.
4. You can not use the information since you aren't sure if the source had a
confidentiality agreement while as an employee of the opponent. - ✔✔Answer: 4
Reasoning: Similar to "tortuous interference" liability claim by tobacco industry v. CBS
for using information based on a source who was party to a standard confidentiality
agreement as an employee of the tobacco industry.
Source: AP Stylebook 2012, Briefing on Media Law, p. 333.
✔✔As the public relations director for your company one of the functions of your office
is to take photos at official company events. For this particular event your company
hires a photographer outside of the company to take photos. One of the employees
emails you and asks for copies of a few of the photos. What is the best response to
provide to the employee?
A. I will provide you the photos after I provide them for legal review.
B. The organization owns an employee's work done on behalf of the organization.
, C. The photographs can be found on the company's website and you can select the
photos you would like to use.
D. The photos that the company owns the copyrights that will be placed on the
company's website once they are approved by the legal office. - ✔✔Correct Answer D
Reference: APR Study Guide Edition 5, page. 106
✔✔You are the manager of a public relations department for a nonprofit organization.
Your department director has asked you to help with selecting a summer intern. She
says she would prefer that the intern will not be paid and receive college credit for the
internship instead. You are unsure about the terms of this agreement. Specifically, you
are concerned about whether it is ethical to offer the internship as an unpaid position.
What is your next step in deciding how you will advise the department director?
A) Identify the key values that you need to consider in making your decision.
B) Identify ethical principles to guide you in making your decision.
C) Identify who will be affected by your decision.
D) Identify the economic, legal, and social factors that may influence your decision. -
✔✔Answer: D (APR Study Guide, page 21. After you have defined the specific ethical
issue or conflict, the next step is to identify internal and external factors that may
influence the decision.)
✔✔You are the communications director at a youth serving nonprofit. The president of
the organization asks you to start taking photographs of the youth members during the
programs and posting them through social media to highlight the good work the
organization is doing. It seems like a great idea, so you:
A) Start clicking away with your camera and begin creating a social media campaign
utilizing the pictures.
B) Go ask the program staff for permission to take photographs of the children to post.
C) Review perimeters of taking and using photos of youth under 18 with your legal
team.
D) Begin creating a media release form to give to the youth members to sign off on. -
✔✔C
Coordinate with legal team for counsel on taking photographs of youth members and
retaining the proper permissions for use. Remember First Amendment protections and
that minors cannot give legal consent. (EPR 10th, pgs 162-163)
✔✔You are the Public information Officer at a Federal Agency. While attending a
Business Networking meeting, you receive a request for the medical records of your
employees from an insurance agent so that he might provide some quotes on group
coverages. You:
A. provide copies of the medical records
,B. Provide the medical records but redact personal indicators such as name, date of
birth and address
C. Deny his request citing the Federal Freedom of Information Act - ✔✔Answer C.
According to EPR 10th Edition pg. 150 The Federal FOIA indicates nine categories of
exemptions from disclosure one being "medical". Note, state laws are similar to that of
federal statutes, but the extent varies considerably. Public relation practitioners should
familiarize themselves with state access laws.
✔✔Over the past three days, you've five phone calls and 10 emails from this customer,
who is sharing graphic photos and stories about his discomfort and unrest. You have
alerted the leader of your customer support team, who has conveyed that they are very
familiar with this customer and have done "everything they can" to resolve his concerns,
However, the customer stands firm that he does not want a new fitting but instead a full
refund. Your policies prohibit a complete refund outside of 30 days of purchase.What is
the appropriate response to this customer's most recent communication to you?
A) Respond to the customer directly to let them know that you have been in touch with
your customer support team and understand that they can issue a new fitting but cannot
provide a refund.
B) Escalate the customer's issue to the senior leader of operations and legal counsel for
review and ask them to consider issuing the refund - ✔✔Answer: B
Rationale:
1. Define the specific ethical issue/conflict. Company policies are prohibiting a customer
from receiving a full refund on a product they purchased. The customer has threatened
to escalate the issue to the media if they do not receive the refund, which could become
a reputation issue for your company despite the company's policies.
2. Identify internal/external factors (e.g., legal, political, social, economic) that may
influence the decision. Social and political factors influence the decision here as the
community is sensitive to / protective of the treatment of war veterans.
3. Identify key values. ADVOCACY (understanding the sensitive nature of your
customer's background and their service field), FAIRNESS (to company policies and to
customers), LOYALTY (to company, customers)
4. Identify the parties who will be affected by the decision and define the public relations
professional's obligation to each.
, COMPANY - Your loyalty must remain to the company that you work for. You are
looking out for the reputation of your company and do not want this incident to
negatively affect its reputation.
CUSTOMER - The customer deserves fair and honest communication and support from
your company and you are seeking that support on their behalf. You must, however,
separate yourself from developing an intimate relationship with the customer; it's not
your role to act on the company's behalf in providing solutions directly for them but to
instead act as their advocate.
STAKEHOLDERS - Your obligation to the stakeholders is looking out for the best
interest in their investment to the company, which may be threatened if the company's
reputation is at stake.
EMPLOYEES - Your employees will be your company's greatest advocates if policies
and procedures are communicated in a transparent and consistent way.
✔✔You are the public relations manager at an active adult community reporting to the
community's developer. The community is about to announce an expansion, which
shows growth, and is intended to drive awareness of available lots. Your VP would like
to share this news via the company's blog and Facebook page. What are the benefits of
using these information channels?
1. Actively engage stakeholders to create a conversation
2. Reach a broad audience
3. Third part credibility
4. The results are easily measured - ✔✔Correct Answer: 1 and 4
Social media is the only marketing platform that allows you to engage and interact with
your consumers - it's a two-way relationship
The results are measurable, and practitioners can take immediate action to spot trends
and re-align campaigns
(Cutlip & Center's EPR, 11th Edition, pgs. 209-221)
✔✔As the communications director for a federal agency, you have been reacting to a
law enforcement incident that has received negative public and media attention. To
make matters worse, today, a congressman called you and requested information about
the investigation. Which one of the following is the best course of action?
a. Do not provide the congressman the information due to the Freedom of Information
Act.
b. Quickly provide the congressman the investigation information he requested.
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔While looking for material for the next round of commercials, a campaign staffer
hands you a transcript containing unflattering information about the opponent and illicit
affairs he's had with several women other than his wife. The staffer said that this
information was overheard by a former staffer of the opponent while at a local bar.
Which would be the most ethical choice in this situation for handing the information you
were given?
1. You can use the information because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy
at a bar.
2. You can not use the information since the former staffer did not give express
permission to use what he said.
3. The information is fair game since it was gathered during the bar's normal business
hours.
4. You can not use the information since you aren't sure if the source had a
confidentiality agreement while as an employee of the opponent. - ✔✔Answer: 4
Reasoning: Similar to "tortuous interference" liability claim by tobacco industry v. CBS
for using information based on a source who was party to a standard confidentiality
agreement as an employee of the tobacco industry.
Source: AP Stylebook 2012, Briefing on Media Law, p. 333.
✔✔As the public relations director for your company one of the functions of your office
is to take photos at official company events. For this particular event your company
hires a photographer outside of the company to take photos. One of the employees
emails you and asks for copies of a few of the photos. What is the best response to
provide to the employee?
A. I will provide you the photos after I provide them for legal review.
B. The organization owns an employee's work done on behalf of the organization.
, C. The photographs can be found on the company's website and you can select the
photos you would like to use.
D. The photos that the company owns the copyrights that will be placed on the
company's website once they are approved by the legal office. - ✔✔Correct Answer D
Reference: APR Study Guide Edition 5, page. 106
✔✔You are the manager of a public relations department for a nonprofit organization.
Your department director has asked you to help with selecting a summer intern. She
says she would prefer that the intern will not be paid and receive college credit for the
internship instead. You are unsure about the terms of this agreement. Specifically, you
are concerned about whether it is ethical to offer the internship as an unpaid position.
What is your next step in deciding how you will advise the department director?
A) Identify the key values that you need to consider in making your decision.
B) Identify ethical principles to guide you in making your decision.
C) Identify who will be affected by your decision.
D) Identify the economic, legal, and social factors that may influence your decision. -
✔✔Answer: D (APR Study Guide, page 21. After you have defined the specific ethical
issue or conflict, the next step is to identify internal and external factors that may
influence the decision.)
✔✔You are the communications director at a youth serving nonprofit. The president of
the organization asks you to start taking photographs of the youth members during the
programs and posting them through social media to highlight the good work the
organization is doing. It seems like a great idea, so you:
A) Start clicking away with your camera and begin creating a social media campaign
utilizing the pictures.
B) Go ask the program staff for permission to take photographs of the children to post.
C) Review perimeters of taking and using photos of youth under 18 with your legal
team.
D) Begin creating a media release form to give to the youth members to sign off on. -
✔✔C
Coordinate with legal team for counsel on taking photographs of youth members and
retaining the proper permissions for use. Remember First Amendment protections and
that minors cannot give legal consent. (EPR 10th, pgs 162-163)
✔✔You are the Public information Officer at a Federal Agency. While attending a
Business Networking meeting, you receive a request for the medical records of your
employees from an insurance agent so that he might provide some quotes on group
coverages. You:
A. provide copies of the medical records
,B. Provide the medical records but redact personal indicators such as name, date of
birth and address
C. Deny his request citing the Federal Freedom of Information Act - ✔✔Answer C.
According to EPR 10th Edition pg. 150 The Federal FOIA indicates nine categories of
exemptions from disclosure one being "medical". Note, state laws are similar to that of
federal statutes, but the extent varies considerably. Public relation practitioners should
familiarize themselves with state access laws.
✔✔Over the past three days, you've five phone calls and 10 emails from this customer,
who is sharing graphic photos and stories about his discomfort and unrest. You have
alerted the leader of your customer support team, who has conveyed that they are very
familiar with this customer and have done "everything they can" to resolve his concerns,
However, the customer stands firm that he does not want a new fitting but instead a full
refund. Your policies prohibit a complete refund outside of 30 days of purchase.What is
the appropriate response to this customer's most recent communication to you?
A) Respond to the customer directly to let them know that you have been in touch with
your customer support team and understand that they can issue a new fitting but cannot
provide a refund.
B) Escalate the customer's issue to the senior leader of operations and legal counsel for
review and ask them to consider issuing the refund - ✔✔Answer: B
Rationale:
1. Define the specific ethical issue/conflict. Company policies are prohibiting a customer
from receiving a full refund on a product they purchased. The customer has threatened
to escalate the issue to the media if they do not receive the refund, which could become
a reputation issue for your company despite the company's policies.
2. Identify internal/external factors (e.g., legal, political, social, economic) that may
influence the decision. Social and political factors influence the decision here as the
community is sensitive to / protective of the treatment of war veterans.
3. Identify key values. ADVOCACY (understanding the sensitive nature of your
customer's background and their service field), FAIRNESS (to company policies and to
customers), LOYALTY (to company, customers)
4. Identify the parties who will be affected by the decision and define the public relations
professional's obligation to each.
, COMPANY - Your loyalty must remain to the company that you work for. You are
looking out for the reputation of your company and do not want this incident to
negatively affect its reputation.
CUSTOMER - The customer deserves fair and honest communication and support from
your company and you are seeking that support on their behalf. You must, however,
separate yourself from developing an intimate relationship with the customer; it's not
your role to act on the company's behalf in providing solutions directly for them but to
instead act as their advocate.
STAKEHOLDERS - Your obligation to the stakeholders is looking out for the best
interest in their investment to the company, which may be threatened if the company's
reputation is at stake.
EMPLOYEES - Your employees will be your company's greatest advocates if policies
and procedures are communicated in a transparent and consistent way.
✔✔You are the public relations manager at an active adult community reporting to the
community's developer. The community is about to announce an expansion, which
shows growth, and is intended to drive awareness of available lots. Your VP would like
to share this news via the company's blog and Facebook page. What are the benefits of
using these information channels?
1. Actively engage stakeholders to create a conversation
2. Reach a broad audience
3. Third part credibility
4. The results are easily measured - ✔✔Correct Answer: 1 and 4
Social media is the only marketing platform that allows you to engage and interact with
your consumers - it's a two-way relationship
The results are measurable, and practitioners can take immediate action to spot trends
and re-align campaigns
(Cutlip & Center's EPR, 11th Edition, pgs. 209-221)
✔✔As the communications director for a federal agency, you have been reacting to a
law enforcement incident that has received negative public and media attention. To
make matters worse, today, a congressman called you and requested information about
the investigation. Which one of the following is the best course of action?
a. Do not provide the congressman the information due to the Freedom of Information
Act.
b. Quickly provide the congressman the investigation information he requested.
