Chapter6

Chapter 6

PR Ethics and Responsibilities

This is PR 11th Edition
Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg

Objectives
• To appreciate the complexity of public relations ethical
decision making in the 21st Century global, multicultural
and technological society
• To recognize the wide range of stakeholders to whom
public relations practitioners and their organizations have
ethical responsibilities
• To understand that public relations practitioners have
personal, as well as professional, responsibilities in ethical
decision making
• To develop a sensitivity about how unethical conduct can
create public relations crises
• To create a heightened awareness of potential ethical
problems that can occur within an organization


Judging an Organization
• On the basis of ethics
• On the basis of social responsibility
• On the basis of financial responsibility
• Publics judge both the individuals and
organization as one unit and the
organization itself as a unit


Role of Top Management
• Sets ethical tone for the organization
• Those who top management chooses to
hire in key PR, financial positions
demonstrates where management stands
on the value of PR
• Some managers assign to PR the role of
“social conscience” for the organization


Categories of Ethics
• Comparative ethics
– Also called “descriptive ethics”
– How different cultures set and observe
ethical standards
• Normative ethics
– Sometimes called “prescriptive ethics”
– The philosophical or moral ideal of ethical
standards
• Situational ethics

Ethics and Values
• Truth is universally valued
• Telling the truth is ethical
• If people and cultures can’t agree on what
is truth, how can they agree on what is
ethical?
• Individual and organizational biases affect
what we see as ethical


Page Principles of Ethical
Behavior
• Tell the truth
• Prove it with action
• Listen to the customer
• Manage for tomorrow
• Conduct public relations as if the whole
company depended on it
• Remain calm, patient and good-humored


Reputation and Ethics
• An organization’s reputation depends on its
actions
• An organization’s reputation also depends
on how ethical its actions are perceived to
be
• Organizations that are seen to be acting in
the public interest have the best reputations


Social Responsibility
• Another term for good citizenship
• Means producing sound products, reliable
services that contribute positively to the
social, political and economic health of
society


Financial Responsibility
• Refers to an organization's fiscal
soundness
• How an organization interacts with
investors and the investment public
• PR has a particular financial responsibility
to demonstrate its contribution to the
organization's financial “bottom line”


PR’s Ethical Responsibilities
• Clients
• News media
• Government agencies
• Educational institutions
• Consumers of products and services
• Stockholders and analysts
• Community
• Competitors
• Critics
• Other public relations practitioners and the PR
profession

Grey Areas of Public Relations
• Some PR activities that practitioners
consider legitimate arouse public concern
and criticism
• How research is conducted and how the
resulting information is used of concern
• How to work internationally when home and
international ethical standards can differ


PR Research Ethics
• Protecting the subjects
– Participate voluntarily
– Prevent psychological or other harm
– Protect participants’ anonymity,
confidentiality
– Avoid deception, be truthful with
participants
– Report, analyze results fairly, accurately

PR Research Ethics (cont.)
• Accumulation, storage of data
– Debate over what kind of information to save
– Debate over whether saved data should be used
again, perhaps for a different purpose than the
original research
– Purchased research often carries limits on its
storage, use
• How research information is used
– Sharing of data with others generally viewed as
unethical
– Just because the information is available doesn’t
mean it is ethical to use it, especially for commercial
purposes

Internal Organizational Ethics
• Management may not always do the ethical
thing, even when it is recommended by PR
practitioners
• PR practitioners constrained in their efforts to
influence management decisions
– Lack of access to management
– Inability to collect needed information
– Roadblocks to timely dissemination of info
– Narrow definition of role of PR


Internal Organizational Ethics
(cont.)
• PR practitioners may disagree with
management decisions
– Can be a team player and carry out
management's decisions
– Can try to change the decision or at least
modify it
– Can quit


International Practice Ethics
• Different cultures have different ethical values,
standards
• Growing number of multinational companies
are developing multinational codes of conduct
that ensure what they do is acceptable not just
at home but in all countries in which they do
business
• Working for foreign governments may involve
their asking you to behave unethically

Advertising and Sponsorship
Ethics
• Ads with PR purposes may be viewed as
unethical
– If they attempt to influence subliminally
– If they stimulate people to do something
that is unethical


PR: Protecting the Client
• From unethical use of name, trademark or
logo
• From unethical copying or duplication of
designs, symbols
• From damage that might be caused by
someone producing an inferior product,
service that might be confused with the
client’s good product or service

PR: Protecting the Consumer
• From a product that is faulty or of poor quality
• From advertising that is misleading, deceptive or
untruthful
• From harassment, hate speech and other abuse of
rights
• From unprofessional “spin” practices that masquerade
as PR
• From promotions that are deceptive or not in the public
interest
• From attempts to make self-serving information like an
advertisement look like objective media coverage


PR Ethics in Media Relations
• Publicity, public information intended to facilitate the news
gathering process
– Unethical when information is slanted to make it appear
as news or fact when it is self-serving and promotional
– Unethical when source of information is not revealed
(blogs, VNRs)
– Unethical to alter photos, art without disclosure
– Unethical to accept payment or to bill clients based on
how much media coverage was obtained
• Media have codes of what reporters and editors can accept
to enable or in exchange for coverage (junkets, sample
products, etc.)
• Gifts and perks can create problems for both the giver and
the receiver

PACs: Political Action
Committees
• Enable organizations to raise and
contribute funds to politicians or political
causes
• Government rules on disclosure protect
against unethical abuses


Public’s Right to Know
• Freedom of Information Act provides
access to some information, but protects
the privacy of certain kinds of information
• Open meeting laws provide both access
and protection
• Two freedoms are in conflict: The right to
be informed and the right to be left alone


Individual PR Practitioner
Responsibilities
• PR practitioners attempt to function
ethically and responsibly even in a setting
where different ethical standards are set
and met
• Professional codes of ethics can provide
the PR practitioner with guidance
• Adhering to public(s) interest also provides
guidance

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