Legal and Ethical restraints on PR

Being a PR professional has many restraints to think about when talking about a person. Damaging another's reputation is a very serious problem if it happens. Libel, or defamation recognizes the importance of reputation to an individual's integrity and protects individuals from false statements made about them. As a PR professional, we should be concerned and understand defamation so that we do not harm our publics. Slander and Libel are very important to us because it can ruin a PR professionals career. It all gets a little confusing to me when u add the first amendment in the mix. When a person or employee of your business you are working for is caught in this situation, it is very important to know the "red flags" and what is not excepted. Avoiding opinion, quotations, and identification can help avoid defamation.