Ethics and Professionalism

1
Ethics and Professionalism

• Chapter 3

2
Ethics Defined

• Ethics is concerned with how we should live our
  lives. It focuses on questions about what is
  right or wrong, fair or unfair, caring or
  uncaring, good or bad, responsible or
  irresponsible, and the like. (Jaksa and
  Pritchard, Methods of Analysis)

3
PR professionals have the burden of making
ethical decisions that satisfy

• The public interest
• Their employer (or client)
• Their professional organization (PRSA for
  example)
• Their personal values
• In an ideal world, these four areas would not
• conflict but in reality they often do. (see
  examples, page 76)

4
Professional Codes of Ethics in PR

• The Public Relations Society of America (PRSSA)
  Code of Ethics (page 78)
• The Codes core values
• Advocacy Independence
• Honesty Loyalty
• Expertise Fairness
• International Association of Business
  Communicators (IABC) Code of Ethics (p.80)

5
Personal Ethics

• Be honest at all times
• Convey a sense of business ethics based on your
  own standards and those of society
• Respect the integrity and position of your
  opponents and audiences
• Develop trust by emphasizing substance over
  triviality
• Present all sides of an issue
• Strive for a balance between loyalty to the
  organization and duty to the public
• Dont sacrifice long-term objectives for
  short-term gains

6
Licensing Accreditation

• Licensingthe debate continues over whether
  public relations should require professional
  licensing (such as the medical, legal and real
  estate fields have). There are strong pros and
  cons on each side (pages 86-87)
• Accreditationprofessional development
  certification programs help improve standards and
  professionalism in the field

7
PR Professionalism Act like a professional in
the field, by having

• A sense of independence
• A sense of responsibility to society and the
  public interest
• Be concerned about the competence and honor of
  the profession as a whole
• A higher loyalty to the standards of the
  profession and fellow professionals than to the
  employer/client of the moment.
• The reference point in all PR activity must be
  the standards of the profession and not those of
  the client or the employer

8
Ethical Concerns include

• front groups
• video news releases (VNRs)
• Internet Public Relations
• Each involve possible deceptive omission of who
  or what is truly behind the PR initiative.

9
Ethical Dealings with News Media

• The idea that, in dealing with the media,
  anything less than total honesty will destroy
  credibility and, with it, the PR practitioners
  usefulness to an employer.
• Gifts, of any kind, according to the PRSA, can
  contaminate the free flow of accurate and
  truthful information to the public.
• Shades of Gray in the News Business the
  relationship between automotive writers and car
  manufacturers, for example (on payroll at car
  company as a consultant) magazines are
  increasingly blurring the line between news
  features and advertisements celebrities
  appearing on talks shows and endorsing products
  product placement is growing and growing