Ethics in Pr2011-2012

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Sophie

Bonnewijn

2011-2

012

MoralsandEthi

csinPublicRelations

Essay: Is flexibility a quality required of any pr practitioner?Sunderland University

Philip Young

MACM 70 CW1

119050134

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Sophie Bonnewijn Public Relations MACM70 CW1 2011-2012

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Table of Content

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................3

2. Defining ethics ............................................................................................................................5

3. The truth and nothing but the truth? ..........................................................................................8

4. Any practitioner? Some examples........................................................................................... 11

5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 15

6. Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 17

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Is it possible for a practitioner to be ethical without altering the very nature of the

Public Relations profession? On the other hand, do practitioners have the luxury of

being flexible with ethical rules, since they are often even more scrutinized then other

professions?

This paper will try to bring forth answers to these and other conundrums by analyzing

in some subchapters the different views, contexts, treats and opportunities that

influence the use of ethics and codes of conduct in the Public Relation profession. It

will try to discover at which point Public Relations evolves from a voice to a vice. It

will examine if and how much flexibility is allowed for Public Relations practitioners

and will search for the invisible ethical line that can not be crossed.

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2.Defining ethicsTo truly understand the duality of ethics in Public Relations, it is important to define

what ethics is, and how it relates to the Public Relations profession. Since Ivy Lees

influence on the notion ofthe public be damned to the public be informed, Public

Relations ethics debates have gained a great deal of attention (Moloney, 2006, p.

48).

In the UK this attention is mostly caused by the spin phenomenon of the 1980s and

by previously occurred business scandals. However, as the following ethics

definitions and codes of conduct will illustrate, Public Relations has come a long way

from being linked to amoral propaganda and spinning.

Wilcox and Cameron state that: Ethics focuses on questions about what is right or

wrong, fair or unfair, caring or uncaring, good or bad, responsible or irresponsible,

and the like. Ethics is concerned with how we should live our lives and is expressed

through moral behaviour in specific situations. 1 (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber., et al.

2011, p.182).

Moloney states that ethics is: The application of knowledge, understanding and

reasoning to questions of right and wrong behaviour in the professional practice of

Public Relations. (Moloney, 2006, p. 104)

1James Jaksa and Michael Pritchard In Communication Ethics: Methods of Analysis.

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In turn, the Josephon Institute of Ethics describes the term as: Standards of conduct

and behavior based on moral duties and virtues derived from principles of right and

wrong. (Martin, 2011: online)

Other then depending on explanatory views of ethics, Public Relations practitioners

also depend on codes of conduct, held by a major of professional associations. If

practitioners decide to become a member of these organizations, they agree to abide

by the mentioned codes of conduct (Bowen, 2007: online).

For example, the CIPR code of conduct mentions honesty, integrity and transparency

(CIPR, PRSA, s.d.: online). The PRSA states that professionals should have the will

to be ethical and that they should excercise responsibility to the public.

The Canadian Public Relations Societys code of professional standards states, A

member shall practice the highest standards of honesty, accuracy, integrity and truth,

and shall not knowingly disseminate false or misleading information. (Parsons, 2004,

p. 17)

As is illustrated by the definitions mentioned above, ethics includes principles such as

honesty, integrity, transparency, loyalty and respect. In conclusion, there seem to be

two main principles of ethics. Firstly, ethical practitioners should strive to be ethical,

honest and trustworthy and not willingly injure others. Secondly, the actions of ethical

practitioners should not willingly injure others or should not have adverse

consequences upon others (Grunig, Hunt, 1984, p. 72).

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Keeping these definitions in mind, it seems quite clear that Public Relations

practitioners should simply perform their jobs with honesty and openness. However,

in reality, a practitioner will always be thorn between serving loyally to: themselves,

clients, employers, the profession and society (Fitzpatrick, Bronstein, 2006, p. 156

and Seitel 2007). In most cases, it is the practitioners duty to his/her employer or

client that will collide with his or her professional or societal duties. After all, Public

Relations practitioners are advocates for the professional bodies, clients or initiatives

that they represent. Therefore, not all practitioners agree that ethics can be linearly

aligned with Public Relations.

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3.The truth and nothing but the truth?Tedlow argues that pr practitioners who have self-consciously set about to reform

their employers as the first order of business... will most likely meet with failure more

often than success. (Moloney, 2006, p. 105) Therefore, some practitioners feels that

Public Relations is still predominately about trying to achieve certain organisational

goals, with social responsibility, morals and ethics being a operational consideration.

A similar idea is put forward by people who argue that pr practitioners are like

lawyers, and that every professional body is therefore entitled to legal (pr)

representation. The advertising industry agrees, as it states that: If it is legal to sell it,

it should be legal to advertise it. (Chapman, 1986, p. 17)

However, it is true that lawyers indeed represent clients, but they also advocate a

legal system, a system that does not (yet) exist in the Public Relation profession

(Parson, 2004, p. 9). It is true that more emphasis on ethic in Public Relations would

improve the professions reputation, but, according to the views mentioned above,

because of the self- advantaging nature of pr (propaganda), total transparency would

not benefit all companies (Moloney, 2006 p.106-107). This paradigm highlights

deceit, manipulation and control in Public Relations. Compromising ethic standards is

not an option for pr practitioners since companies need to be considered trustworthy

if they mean to build long-term relationships with their publics.

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Since PR is about building and maintaining relationships, thrust is an essential part of

retaining the goodwill of publics. Therefore there are some such as Heath and Ryan

who argue that pr practitioners should create awareness and help organizations

implement or develop codes of conduct (Toth, Heath, 1999, p. 23, 26, 274). These

authors consider a dialogue between companies and publics to be important, and

use this idea to win arguments by framing messages in a persuasive manner. On the

other hand, as Bivins states: With power and influence comes responsibility. In

conclusion, the rhetoric view supports the idea that Public Relations practitioners help

define standards by which public and private sector organizations are judged, but

they acknowledge that telling the truth is a complicated issue that is open for

interpretations.

However, author Jacqui LEtang does not see much evidence of the ideal role of the

practitioner as a guardian of the organization s ethics, and the Public Relations

discipline acting for the public interest (Theaker, 2004, p. 143). She supports the view

that corporations often claim to be a good corporate citizen and to do good in society

when in reality the real motive is the marketing of the company (LEtang, 1993, p.

117). An example of this can also be seen in the movie Thank you for Smoking.

There the company has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility plan,

designed to reflect public interest in corporate decisions and give back to the

community. However, their campaign is simply a means of avoiding bad publicity.

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Another view towards ethics in Public Relations is the advocacy theory. This theory

considers ethics to begin where the law ends (Fitzpatrick, Bronstein, 2006 p. 4- 24).

Authors of this theory highlight the importance of freedom of speech, though they

also state that interests groups who do not abide the marketplace principles are

unethical and untrustworthy. They state that pr practitioners should be advocates of

the truth and work on the clients behalf. They consider loyalty one the most

important assets of any pr practitioner but also state that professionals must remain:

Ethically free and responsible persons. However, considering the proven broad

spectrum of ethical intake in Public Relations, not every corporation or pr practitioner

has the luxury of being ethically free, truthful, and at the same time fight for the

clients benefits. To be able to combine all these aspects requires a certain amount of

flexibility with the interaction of morals, but to what extend?

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4.Any practitioner? Some examplesGenerally speaking, Public Relations practitioners should always be ethical and

should always perform to their upmost capabilities. However, there seems to be a

difference in the amount of ethical flexibility and transparency that is allowed in the

commercial sector , in regard to the charity sector (Gregory, 2003, p. 139). Working

in the volunteer sector demands an unorthodox approach and a lot of tact and ethics.

The needs and sensitivities of charity beneficiaries are of the upmost importance for

these organizations, therefore the reputation of these organizations has to be

flawless.

For example, in July 2004 an animal rights organization (PETA) was able to

establish awareness about abuses in commercial poultry plants (Fitzpatrick,

Bronstein, 2006, p. 80 -81). However, to acquire information, PETA infiltrated one of

the plants and secretly recorded the cruelties. They used unethical tactics and fell

short of responsible advocacy. By using this type of Public Relations, the

organization ran the risk of undermining its reputation and accomplishments, as well

as violating the rights and interest of stakeholders and potentially harmed publics.

This collides with Parsons view that: if the truth should harm one or more publics, full

disclosure is not advised, which is in accordance with the codes of ethics that states

that no harm can be done (Parsons, 2004, p. 17).

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A similar story is to be found with the Sony Corporation (Seitel, 2006, 70). This

organization used a graffiti campaign to promote their hand held portable playstation.

Many graffiti were created on different platforms, however, there never was a

mention of sponsorship by Sony. Consequently, people found the tactics that were

use sneaky which in turn damaged Sonys reputation. Sony argued that this was

subjective. Pr practitioners and companies may be flexible sometimes but the public

opinion may judge harshly afterwards.

As is illustrated by this example, even though the goals were straightforward and

ethical, the means and the context not always is. Many individuals have strong

positions on issues such as drinking, smoking and abortion, but, sometimes

compromise has to be made. For example, after not being able to convincing

students that drinking could be dangerous, an organization decided to change tactics

and instead emphasized moderation over abstinence (Newsone, Turk, Kruckeberg,

2004, p. 148).

However, bending the rules or being flexible is not the same as hiding information or

refusing to act. Ford/Firestone received knowledge of a malfunction in its tire

production, and did not act swiftly or spread the information as an ethical company

and linked pr practitioner should (Wilcox, Cameron, 2006, p. 83). Consequently, the

organizations saw their reputations and credibility plummeting after disclosure of the

information.

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A final example can be given with the case of the cigarette brand Premier. This

company tried to stave of FDA regulation (Toth, Heath, 1992, p. 250). They used

dubious terms and insinuations such as implying health benefits and promoting the

brand served health imperatives. In this campaign, the lack of transparency and

furthermore the deliberate attempt at misguiding publics, was in violation with moral

and ethical codes of conduct. These tactics are similar to the ones used by P.T.

Barnum, which consist of hoaxes and deception. In the movie Thank you for

Smoking, Naylors lobbying is similar (Hill, 2011: online). However, the actions

undertaken by Naylor are no example of flexibility, since they are in direct violation of

the PRSA Code of Ethics and the American League of Lobbyists, who state that

lobbyists may never disrespect government institutions or undermine public

confidence. Furthermore, according to most scholars, four criteria; shared values,

wisdom, justice and freedom, compose the foundation of all systems of ethics.

Fombruns Corporate Reputation Strategies insinuates similar key points, such as

distinctiveness, authenticity, transparency and consistency. Keeping both views in

mind, it is clear that Naylor does not respect the concept of ethical advocacy, which

resulted in a lack of authenticity and transparency.

Publics expect honesty and transparency from corporations and public relations

practitioners, since they hold them to account. By studying the above-mentioned

examples, it is clear that ethics and morals are essential in the Public Relations

business, for charities, as well as other types of organizations.

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By abiding the codes of conduct, it helps corporations avoid the threat of consumer

boycott, and, helps them get the approval of ones professional peers and keep their

license to practice the profession (Smythe, Reback, 1992, p. 3-6). Furthermore, by

telling the truth, pr practitioners and corporations protect the companies reputation,

and give them a moral advantage over the competition, since these professional

bodies are consequently considered as trustworthy. It might also be that following

proper ethical standards can have an positive effect on an organizations financial

success (Guth, Marsh, 2007, p. 178)

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5.ConclusionAfter assessing the different views on flexibility and ethics in the public relations

profession, it is clear that groups such as the PSRA and the CIPR play an important

role in setting the standard of ethical behavior (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber, 2011, p.

200). Most professions have also established codes of conduct. It is clear that thanks

to the increasing awareness of publics, increasing governmental regulations and

other environmental factors, organizations and practitioners alike have clearly

realized that ethical decisions should be more than just individuals decision making

(Heath, Vasquez, 2001, p. 420-421). Ethics is not only an individual choice, it is also

determined by society, professional groups and employers (Wilcox, Cameron, 2006,

p. 76-77). However, often these different spheres conflict with each other. A solution

can be found in performing ethical advocacy: pr practitioners are justified in

disseminating persuasive information so long as objectives and reasonable persons

would view these persuasive messages as truthful. Such advocacy needs to be

converted towards genuinely informing publics. However, trough these analysis it is

also apparent that no ethical approach dominates because no functional definition of

public relations exist nor do specific rules and detailed regulation for ethics in the

profession. Therefore to accomplish more results in ethical standards, public relations

practitioners need to move up in the responsibility levels within organizations, since

pr is a crucial element in addressing social responsibility (Stone, 1991, p.146). Ethics

and moral values are increasingly regarded as the building block of sustainable

development or corporate social responsibility (Regester, Larkin, 2008, p. 81).

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Furthermore pr practitioners can contribute by helping individuals learn about

organizations and be flexible in changeable cultures and times (White 1991, p. 138-

139). So for Public Relations to move from the expertise and contractual models of

practice into a covenantal model as a profession worthy of public trust, the field must

devote itself to a defined human good (relationships), and must be grounded in a

public pledge to serve this good (Baker, 1982, s.p.). In conclusion, argument could

be made that flexibility is required from public relations practitioners, as long as it is

within ethical boundaries, however unclear they might sometimes appear.
http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-leadership/231735-1.htmlhttp://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-leadership/231735-1.html

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Hill G., 2011. Thank you for smoking: The ethics of spin. Web. 13 December

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Ethics in Pr2011-2012