Ethics in PR

Ethics refers to the value system by which a person determines whet is right or wrong, fair or unfair, just or unjust. It is expressed through moral behavior in specific situations. An individual's conduct is measured not only against his or her conscience but also against some norm of acceptability that has been socially, professionally or organizationally determined. The difficulty in ascertaining whether an act is ethical lies in the fact that individuals have different standards and perceptions of what is “right” and “wrong”. Often the situation is not black or white, but falls into the gray area. (Wilcox and co.1995:123).

Ethics and responsibilities represent concerns in PR at two levels: the level of the practitioner and the level of the organization that he is representing. PR has been called “the conscience” of management- expression that underlines the role PR has in reminding the organization about its responsibilities towards its publics. In fact, most of the surveys support the idea that top management establishes the ethics of a corporation.

In this respect, public relations practitioners have a key role to play as maintainers of the corporate conscience and managers of reputation . Professor Melvin Sharpe has written: “Ethical harmony is essential for social stability. And social stability is the mission and product of public relations”. (Wilcox and co. 1995:123)

As knowledge widens and information is capable of moving at great speed, many individuals are constantly re-evaluating positions and seeking more information on which to base their thinking. To that end specialists think that public relations as a conduit for information to, from and throughout organizations must be practiced with a wide knowledge of ethical propositions.

Most professional organizations and many businesses have codes of ethics also called codes of professional conduct, that are supposed to set acceptable norms of behavior for working professionals and employees. The Public Relations Society of America, the International Association of Business Communicators and the Institute of Public Relations , all have such codes for their members.

Professional standards for the practice of PR from the PRSA code support the following ideas: all its members “shall conduct their lives in accord with the public interest; they shall exemplify high standards of honesty and integrity while carrying out dual obligations to a client or employer and with fellow practitioners; they shall deal fairly with the public and shall not knowingly disseminate false or misleading information, they shall adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth and they shall not corrupt the integrity of media.” (Wilcox and co. 1995:127)

According to these stipulations, it is clear that unless PR practitioners are mindful of their own ethical values, they will be disadvantaged when trying to create harmony between the values of clients and publics. Ethics are essentially personal and constantly under re-evaluation, so these codes may be difficult to adapt personally.

The moral is that any practitioner wishing to be regarded as a true professional has a personal duty to research, understand and apply ethical values. (Black1995: 120). In consequence , ethics practice is a personal option , but we should be aware that the practitioner's ethical behavior reflects his reputation which is an important element in his being chosen by the organization.

The PR practitioner's tasks are diversified and different according to the activities that he has to undertake. Thus, practitioners have specific roles within in-house departments or within PR agencies. In what concerns the independent counselors, they work on their own and they are specialized in various fields. In all these cases, ethics is essential as it reflects on the company's and the practitioner's own reputation.

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