New Client Proposal

To Accept or Reject a Client                                           

For this assignment I was asked to write a proposal to my business partners with my recommendation as to whether or not we should accept the contract with a well-known professional baseball player as per the below scenario:

A well-known professional baseball player is suspected of having used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. He has not been charged. His agent asks you to advise and assist him in handling the intense media interest in the case. He wants you to try to place favorable stories about the baseball star in the media and create a positive environment for him. If formally accused, it could mean irreparable damage to his baseball career.

You are not asked to do anything unethical. The money is quite good, and you know the publicity from working on the case will probably help your public relations consulting career, especially if the athlete is exonerated. Would you take the account? The agent tells you confidentially that the athlete has admitted that he took some substance that was unknown to him, but may have been steroids. Does this information affect your decision? What are the ethics of the situation as you see them?

A New Client

The well-known professional baseball player Andre Baller is in need of our firm’s help to save his career. Mr. Baller has been suspected of having used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs; however, he is not being charged at this time. By accepting Mr. Baller as our client, we will create a win-win situation for both Mr. Baller and our firm. We will help recreate a positive image for him while also bringing publicity to our firm for our representation of this well-known player.

Since being suspected, Mr. Baller has not been able to live a normal life. He has been ridiculed on social media, and paparazzi follows him everywhere making accusations and trying to press him into admitting why he took the substances. His family is being taunted and ridiculed as well. Our trade has six Public Relations Society of America (PSRA) values; honesty, fairness, advocacy, loyalty, expertise, independence and transparency (Seitel, 2015). It is our duty to show fairness to Mr. Baller and represent him because he has not been charged and is innocent until proven guilty. By sharing positive stories of Mr. Baller’s life with the public, we will show the public that Mr. Baller is truly a
man of integrity and honor and would never do anything intentional that was not ethical.

This is an opportunity for our firm to use our expertise to be part of a national leading story and advocate for Mr. Baller. By becoming a voice for Mr. Baller, we will open the door to being a well-known voice of the future for all well-known players falsely accused. By use of transparency we will show the public that Mr. Baller is not seeking to hide from the public and that he will openly come forward to address any issues and concerns they have.

As you are well aware, if formally accused, it could mean irreparable damage to Mr. Baller’s baseball career. In fairness, I feel that our firm should trust Mr. Baller and give him the fairness he deserves. Although he admits to taking a substance unknown to him, he would never intentionally take steroids. I trust that he did nothing unethical and that we can help the public see that too. We must show the public that if in fact steroids are found to have been in his system, it was not his intentional act and it will never happen again. Human beings make mistakes, and if formally accused in the future, Mr. Baller’s only mistakes were not doing enough research on the substance he was provided with and in being too trusting.

Our firm is not being asked to do anything unethical, only to give Mr. Baller a voice and show the public the light in what is being portrayed as darkness. In a similar case with baseball player Mark McGuire, his silence and unwillingness to talk was interpreted by many as an admission of guilt (Fuhrmann, 2005). We must use transparency in Mr. Baller’s story. Fuhrmann stated, “what seems like the smart or prudent approach - can become a disaster that damages the image and the public’s confidence in a person product or company (2005).

If McGuire had established risk communication in his testimony he may have received a different reaction by the courts and the public. Risk communication basics McGuire should have used are: establish empathy, avoid negatives and talk about the positives highlighting examples displayed integrity by following rules and examples of their contributions to charities, and by practicing interviews in order to prepare answers and responses to anticipated questions which will arise in advance (Fuhrmann, 2005). These missed basics can be learned from and applied to Mr. Baller’s case in order to avoid tarnishing his public image.

In the practice of public relations, the fundamental ethical standard is to do the right thing (Seitel, 2015). I believe that accepting this well-known professional baseball player as our client is the right decision for our organization. Mr. Baller is a well-known public baseball figure and he therefore, must be able to take the good with the bad and be able to share his story addressing the public. If Mr. Baller communicates clearly and honestly to the public, they will not automatically assume that he is guilty. When someone remains silent it only gives the public reason to believe they are trying to cover up their guilt. A man of integrity and honor will always be transparent, having nothing to hide. Let’s help Mr. Baller show his integrity and honor to the public by accept his agent’s contract.

References 

Fuhrmann, S. (2005). Off the Mark: What Mark McGuire should have said during steroid hearings. Public Relations Tactics, 12(5), 16.

Seitel, F. P. (2015). Public relations & promotional writing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from http://outboundsso.next.ecollege.com/default/launch.ed?ssoType=CDMS&redirectUrl=https://content.ashford.edu/ssologin?bookcode=AUCGD318.15.1