COMM 150: How could this mess have been avoided? Discuss ... first day of class

This is a good example of the way things work ... we didn't get to this in class, because we didn't have the student login code. Which is why I struck out "discuss, first day of class." But we can do it later. Or not ... let's see if we can get to it in class Wednesday. If we don't, you can still answer the questions for extra credit.

On the OMG! website, this example of a celebrity guest editor getting into an ethical problem that could have been avoided if somebody - who? - had shown a little professionalism. The lede, in a Reuters story, sets it up nicely:

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Before landing his "Two and a Half Men" gig, Ashton Kutcher the actor had taken a backseat to Ashton Kutcher the social media entrepreneur. That is one reason why Details snagged him to guest edit an online-only version of the magazine that it dubbed "The Social Issue."

Kutcher was a logical choice, given his massive Twitter following and overall popularity, but it seems his lack of a real media background may cause Details some headaches.

In the issue, Kutcher champions a bevy of media companies but fails to point out that he is an investor in many of them. That is a clear conflict of interest ...

There's more. Let's read the whole thing on the OMG! website. Then keep this window open, because I've got a couple of questions for you to answer below.

Moral of the story. The ethical violation here might not be immediately obvious to people who aren't in the communications business. Certainly the potential legal problems with the Securities and Exchange Commission wouldn't be. (The basic SEC rule is this: If you're in a position to make money selling stocks or bonds, you'd better be very careful about what you say about them.) We'll study some of these things in more detail before the end of the semester.

But it's not too soon to begin thinking about them.

(HINT #1: I'm very big on ethics. HINT #2: I make out the tests and assignment sheets for the papers you'll write in COMM 150. Hint #3: You get the drift of what I'm saying? Capice?)

So here goes. Use your common sense.

Why would Kutcher want to be up front about this? Why would the New York Times be interested in the story? What is a conflict of interest? (If you're not sure, what would you learn if you Googled "conflict of interest" and "definition?") Can you think of everyday examples of a conflict of interest? Please post your thoughts as comments to this blog post.

How to post your response
You probably already know how to do this, because you've been all over the social networking sites since you learned your ABCs. [And if you haven't, don't worry. I sympathize. When I was a kid, when we wanted to communicate we'd bang on the wall of the cave with a dinosaur bone to get everybody's attention. I learned this stuff, and you will too.] But here it is again ...

Scroll down to the bottom of this post. On the right side of the last line, there will be a link that says "___ comments" (with a number filled in where I've left a blank, depending on how many comments have been posted). Click on that link and fill in the comment field on the right. Sign in (and make a note of the username and password you choose because we'll keep on posting to the blog, and if you don't write it down, you'll forget it and you'll be out of luck). Review your comment if you wish, and publish your comment by clicking on "Publish Your Comment." See the logic? Blogger is relentlessly user-friendly.

If you have trouble getting in, make sure that your user name is an email address ... i.e. with the "...@blahblahblah-dot-blah" tag. When Blogger asks for a user name, 99 percent of the time it's really looking for is an address.