Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You publish the club's itinerary.
You don't like doing it, but you feel you have no choice. The club is registered. Refusing to publish its itinerary would be discrimination on your part -- all registered clubs have a right to be promoted.
The day the press release is due to be published, you send a bulletin to students and staff explaining your situation. The majority of them seem to understand your predicament and support your decision.
Public relations professionals, especially those who speak to the media on a regular basis, must have excellent decision-making skills, says Jeff Gaulin. He managed media relations for a government department.
"An error in judgment can be fatal -- for an organization, or for a career," he says.
"You must be able to determine if the information you have can be legally released to the public." Sometimes your comments can have serious legal implications, he says.
"So you must decide what you can and cannot say. At the same time, you must be able to decide what is important for your organization. The consequences of any error depend on the significance. Is it a factual error you can correct with a simple phone call -- or have you spoken out of turn and put your organization in a legal bind?"