Ethics in Public Relations Introduction to Public Relations Fall 2011 (GDS Group D) Mushirah Reed, Chris Tucci, Matthew Woods, Ruijiah Zhao
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Ethics in Public Relations
Introduction to Public RelationsFall 2011
(GDS Group D)Mushirah Reed, Chris Tucci, Matthew Woods,
Ruijiah Zhao
Ethics
The field of ethics, also called moral philosophy,
involves systematizing, defending, and
recommending concepts of right and wrong
behavior” Definitions of ethics normally have in
common the elements of requiring some form of
systematic analysis, distinguishing right from
wrong, and determining the nature of what should
be valued.
Ethics Codes for Values-Driven PR
Ethics Codes identify core values and specify ways to achieve those values
International Codes
Societal CodesProfessional CodesOrganizational CodesPersonal Codes
Public Relations Society of America Code of Ethics
Core Principle: Protecting and advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to serving public interests and contributing to informed decision making in a democratic society.
Public Relations Society of America Code of Ethics
Professional Values:
Advocacy
Honesty
Expertise
Independence
Loyalty
Fairness
Are there Ethics in PR?Center for Public Integrity: criticize the public relations industry for
a lack of ethics, counting the influence of public relations and
lobbying as one of the primary threats to truthful journalism.
Corporate Watch: considers public relations as deliberately
unethical; there is a considerable body of evidence emerging to
suggest that modern public relations practices are having a
significant negative impact on the democratic process.
Stanton Communications: believes it is the responsibility of the PR
individual to join a company with high ethical standards
Are there Ethics in PR?
2005: a study concluded that while people valued the PR
work, they also did not trust their motives.
2009: a study of graduate students concluded that the
more people learned about PR, the higher their opinion of
it was.
2010: in a Gallup Survey, more responded with a negative
view of the Advertising and Public Relations field than
those who responded positively.
“I Work in PR”
“Are you serious?”
“Why would you ever want to do that?”
“So you want to be in a profession where you deceive everyone to further yourself?”
“What is PR?”
“Oh, I could do that”
A Positive Result from PRTalk to the 5th Guy
The result of this humorous PR campaign was:
Public awareness about the spread of germs in the workplace
Understanding of the importance of hygiene
Are There Ethics in PR? (opinions)
As one PR professional explained, "In addition to
the standard duties, a PR person might have to
shepherd an alcoholic and half-mad (but
brilliant) author through a twenty-city interview
tour or try to put a warm 'n fuzzy spin on the
company's latest oil-spill."
Thoughts
The ability to engage in ethical reasoning in public relations is growing in demand, in responsibility, and in importance.
The future of public relations stands at a critical and defining juncture: whether to become an ethics counselor or to remain outside the realm of the strategic, decision-making core.
No single person or function can be the entire “ethical conscience” of an organization, but the public relations function is ideally informed to counsel top management about ethical issues.
Careful and consistent ethical analyses facilitate trust, which enhances the building and maintenance of relationships.
Thoughts
According to a study of 100 news media stories
that had used public relations, fewer then 5% of
them used it correctly. Researcher Julie K.
Henderson wrote that 37% of stories used PR in
a negative way and 17% used it properly.
Professional Advice
Ethics in Public Relations with Peter Stanton
Work Cited 1. Internet Encyclopedia of philosophy-Ethics. http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/ (2009) Retrieved Oct 19
2. Ethics and Public Relations. http://www.instituteforpr.org/topics/ethics-and-public-relations/ (2007) Retrieved Oct 19
3. http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=1 (n.d) Retrieved Oct 19
4. Ethical Public Relations: Not an Oxymoron. The PR desk can be a company's conscience. http://aboutpublicrelations.net/aa052701a.htm (n.d) Retrieved Oct 23
5. Ethics in Public Relations. http://www.prcrossing.com/article/250181/Ethics-in-Public-Relations/
6. Public Relations A values-Driven Approach (fifth addition) written by Guth Marsh and Charles Marsh
7. Stanton, Peter. “Ethics in Public Relations” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih5p8qscU7w retrieved Oct 20
8. http://aboutpublicrelations.net/uckelly11a.htm retrieved Oct 22
9. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos086.htm retrieved Oct 22
10. http://www.5thguy.com/campaign.htm retrieved Oct 23
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