Ethics in public relations — enterprise and entrepreneurism as it pertains to public relations.
Public relations is a fluid industry, constantly changing and evolving. No longer is it solely reliant on the disseminating of press releases to gain media coverage. New audiences, new delivery models and the ever-changing definition of media in today’s society contributes to these changes. Whilst content still remains critically important, the content now needs to be “timely, newsworthy, and relevant”, and delivered in useful ways.
As such, enterprises are being forced to change the way they do business, and there is a new market for the PR entrepreneur.
Appreciating ethical questions is key to the understanding of enterprise and entrepreneurism as they relate to PR. “Ethical considerations are a vital part of executive decision making” in the practice of PR. Ethics are especially pervasive in the field, as credibility is essential to the PR practitioner. Credibility requires telling the truth and PR “must be based on ‘doing the right thing’ — in other words, acting ethically”.
What are the pressing ethical issues for practitioners in public relations?
In order to gain an understanding of the importance of ethics in public relations, we must identify pressing ethical issues for enterprise and entrepreneurism in the field. There are a myriad of important ethical issues which must be addressed when considering PR.
The PR industry is often accused of being unethical in withholding information from the public. In withholding information from the public, PR organizations can be seen as distorting reality, misleading those that they are meant to be serving. On the one hand this practice can be seen as a “white lie” and not a matter of ethical concern. On the other hand, many would argue that it is the responsibility of PR practitioners to be entirely forthright with the public and it is “severe malpractice” not to do so. On top of this, the longer the company withholds information from the public, the more likely the public are to find out through other means. This reflects extremely poorly on the company and the PR firm involved.
PR practitioners have the potential to approach cases with bias and certain unethical loyalties. Communication is at the crux of PR. As such, the temptation to misuse or be selective with certain facts is great in communicating messages. It is also pervasive in PR as practitioners are required to be pragmatic and they are often under strict deadlines, “many PR practitioners work with facts they are given or evidence acquired through hasty research.” This allows the message to be easily manipulated by bias. As such, the accuracy of the message the practitioners display can be jeopardized.
Comparisons are often, and arguably unfairly, made between PR and propaganda. It is a serious issue for the PR industry that propaganda, a clearly an unethical practice, is commonly categorized similarly to PR practices. It is claimed that they are the same or similar as “they both lie”. Whilst both can be perceived as basing their communication strategies on ‘spin’ PR is, more often than not, spin based on truths whereas propaganda is spin based on lies. It is an important distinction to make as it is important to note the ethical concerns of relating PR to propaganda.
PR can be seen as a means of bailing out questionable industries and organizations. PR practitioners can, in some cases, soften the blow on companies who are seen to be clearly in the wrong. Take for example the Shell oil spill in 2008 on the Niger delta. With the help of a skilled and experienced PR team Shell embellished the truth about the true magnitude of the oil spill. The PR practitioners helped the company ‘save face’ and somewhat protected their brand image. It was later discovered that the spill was at least 60 times bigger than reported at the time. Further ethical questions include ones regarding whether or not agencies should take on arguably unethical clients such as tobacco and alcohol industries. Would you take on work for a client whose products or services are perceived as detrimental overall to the population? This is a major ethical dilemma PR officer’s face.
Another ethical concern is whether or not agencies should be forced disclose who they work for and what their brief is. In order to maintain full transparency and to be completely forthright with the public, some insist this should be the case. However, if agencies were forced to disclose who they worked for and what their brief is, they may be seen as disregarding their obligation to the client. This leads to another ethical question — should in-house PR officers be primarily obligated to the public or the organization? Whilst the role of a PR officer is to inform and serve the public many believe this obligation is lost in their focus on serving the client. There seems to be no clear distinction in any PR ethical codes on this matter.
Ethical issues as they pertain to enterprise and entrepreneurism, working conditions, innovation and creativity.
In enterprise and entrepreneurism alike, public relations officers must adhere to strict ethical guidelines. In Australia, the PR Institute of Australia (PRIA) outlines an individual code of ethics. The code “is mindful of the responsibility which PR professionals owe to the community as well as to their clients and employers.” Members are required to “adhere to the highest standards of ethical practice and professional competence.” The PRIA outlines 15 different rules to bind all its members, seeking to provide a code to uphold ethical standards in PR practice.
As with most industry, ethical questions can be raised around working conditions in the PR sector. The Australian government sets out strict guidelines to which all workplaces must adhere to, and this is furthered by the PRIA for PR specific workplaces. In a study conducted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation, it was found that some CEOs in the PR sector feared that paying attention to ethics is “too expensive.” They feared that increasing employee benefits and installing new equipment to address environmental concerns would increase operating costs. This goes to show how relevant ethical concerns are when looking at PR workplaces.
Innovation and creativity are intrinsically linked with PR. Creativity, as defined by Andy Green, author of Creativity in PR, “is the ability each of us has to create something new by bringing together two or more different elements in a new context, in order to provide added value to a task.” Thus, its importance in developing communication strategies cannot be understated. Although it is most commonly used to add value, creativity and innovation raises ethical concerns. Enterprises and entrepreneurs in the field can use creativity and innovation with a degree of flexibility in handling facts. Available facts and information can be unethically manipulated in order to produce added value and achieve media coverage.
How do the above considerations change or stay the same internationally?
Finally, addressing how the above considerations differ or stay the same internationally is important to understanding the role of ethics in public relations. For the most part, it seems that the code and principles of ethics in PR remains the same globally. There are numerous international bodies which seek to hold PR enterprises and entrepreneurs to a certain standard. The International PR Association (IPRA) outlines a code of conduct which all 59 of its members from all around the world must adopt. The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) also sets out a “global standard” which members, stretching 5 continents, must adhere to strictly. So whilst PR strategies must differ internationally to suit different cultural audiences, it seems they are held to a common ethical standard.
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Hartley, J (2013) Key Concepts in the Creative Industries
Powe, M (2009) ‘Chapter 2 Industry Critical Success Factors in The Entrepreneurial Process’
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http://www.online-pr.com/Holding/Bias_and_PR.pdf
http://www.pria.com.au/aboutus/members-code-of-ethics
Parsons, P (2008) Ethics in PR a Guide to Best Practice
http://theprsanccblog.com/2015/05/28/public-relations-biggest-image-crisis-the-industry-itself/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/apr/23/shell-nigeria-oil-spill-bigger