I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers

<span class="abs_content">This paper addresses public sector communication by exploring the role of government whistleblowers. It argues for the need to reconnect voices by creating platforms from which whistleblowers can speak without fear of retribution for the betterment of societ...

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Main Author: Cary A. Greenwood
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Coordinamento SIBA 2020-07-01
Series:Partecipazione e Conflitto
Subjects:
Online Access:http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/22501
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author Cary A. Greenwood
author_facet Cary A. Greenwood
author_sort Cary A. Greenwood
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description <span class="abs_content">This paper addresses public sector communication by exploring the role of government whistleblowers. It argues for the need to reconnect voices by creating platforms from which whistleblowers can speak without fear of retribution for the betterment of society. The paper presents 13 in-depth interviews with whistleblowers who worked for governmental entities in the United States or who worked as contractors to U.S. government entities. The goal was to understand their stories, including why they blew the whistle, how they blew the whistle, how whistleblowing affected their relationships with their employers, what role public relations executives and practitioners played in their whistleblowing experience, and how public relations executives and practitioners could interact more productively with whistleblowers. Four of the five theories explained some of the dynamics of whistleblowing: Resource dependence perspective explained the role of upper management in relying on wrongdoing; normalization of corruption theory explained attempts to conscript new employees into corrupt practices; justice theory explained the sense of betrayal felt by employees who tried to correct wrongdoing; and relationship management further explained the negative impact of retaliation on the relationships between whistleblowers and their employers. However, evolutionary theory explained all aspects of whistleblowing in terms of Darwinian natural selection.</span><br />
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spelling doaj.art-3bd289ba2aaf499e9636911bdaef00b82023-09-20T07:59:57ZengCoordinamento SIBAPartecipazione e Conflitto1972-76232035-66092020-07-011321042106110.1285/i20356609v13i2p104220010I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government WhistleblowersCary A. Greenwood0University of Oklahoma<span class="abs_content">This paper addresses public sector communication by exploring the role of government whistleblowers. It argues for the need to reconnect voices by creating platforms from which whistleblowers can speak without fear of retribution for the betterment of society. The paper presents 13 in-depth interviews with whistleblowers who worked for governmental entities in the United States or who worked as contractors to U.S. government entities. The goal was to understand their stories, including why they blew the whistle, how they blew the whistle, how whistleblowing affected their relationships with their employers, what role public relations executives and practitioners played in their whistleblowing experience, and how public relations executives and practitioners could interact more productively with whistleblowers. Four of the five theories explained some of the dynamics of whistleblowing: Resource dependence perspective explained the role of upper management in relying on wrongdoing; normalization of corruption theory explained attempts to conscript new employees into corrupt practices; justice theory explained the sense of betrayal felt by employees who tried to correct wrongdoing; and relationship management further explained the negative impact of retaliation on the relationships between whistleblowers and their employers. However, evolutionary theory explained all aspects of whistleblowing in terms of Darwinian natural selection.</span><br />http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/22501evolutionary theoryjustice theorynormalization of corruptionorganization-public relationshipspublic relationsrelationship managementresource dependence perspectivewhistleblowerwhistle-blowerwhistleblowing
spellingShingle Cary A. Greenwood
I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers
Partecipazione e Conflitto
evolutionary theory
justice theory
normalization of corruption
organization-public relationships
public relations
relationship management
resource dependence perspective
whistleblower
whistle-blower
whistleblowing
title I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers
title_full I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers
title_fullStr I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers
title_full_unstemmed I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers
title_short I Was Just Doing My Job! Evolution, Corruption, and Public Relations in Interviews with Government Whistleblowers
title_sort i was just doing my job evolution corruption and public relations in interviews with government whistleblowers
topic evolutionary theory
justice theory
normalization of corruption
organization-public relationships
public relations
relationship management
resource dependence perspective
whistleblower
whistle-blower
whistleblowing
url http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/22501
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