Public Relations: A Practitioner's Guide (part 9)

Ethics (part C)

by

Charles Lamson

Ethics in Journalism

The Society of Professional Journalists is quite explicit in the subject Of ethics.

Journalists at all times will show respect for the dignity, privacy, rights, and well-being of people encountered in the course of gathering and presenting the news.

The news media should not communicate unofficial charges affecting reputation or moral character without giving the accused a chance to reply.

 The news media must guard against invading a person's right to privacy.

 The media should not pander to morbid curiosity about details of vice and crime. 

And so on. 

Unfortunately, what is in the SPJ Code of Ethics often does not reflect what appears in print or on the air. More often than not, journalistic judgments run smack into ethical principles. 

Ethics in Public Relations

As noted in an earlier post, ethics is, or at least should be, the great differentiator between public relations and other professions. In light of numerous misconceptions about the practice of public relations, it is imperative that practitioners emulate the highest standards of personal and professional ethics. Within an organization, public relations practitioners must be the standard bearers of corporate ethical initiatives. By the same token, public relations consultants must always counsel their clients in an ethical direction toward accuracy and candor and away from lying and hiding the truth.

The public relations department should be the seat of corporate ethics. At least four ethical theories are relevant to the practice of public relations.

• The attorneys/adversary model, developed by Jay Barney and Ralph Black, compares the legal profession to that of public relations and that (1) Both are advocates in an adversarial climate and (2) both assume counterbalancing messages will be provided by adversaries. In this model, Barney and Black suggest practitioners have no obligation to consider the public interest or any other outside view beyond that of their client.

• The two way communication model, developed by Jim Grunig, is based on collaboration, working jointly with different people, and allowing for both listening and give-and-take. In this model, Grunig suggests that the practitioner balance his or her role as a client advocate with one as social conscience for the larger public.

• The enlightened self-interest model, developed by Sherry Baker, is based on the principle that businesses do well by doing good. In this model, Baker suggests that companies gain a competitive edge and are more respected in the marketplace if they behave ethically.

• The responsible advocacy model, developed by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Candace Gauthier, is based on the ideal of professional responsibility. It postulates that practitioners first loyalty is to their clients, but they also have a responsibility to voice the opinions of organizational stakeholders. In this model, Fitzpatrick and Gauthier suggest that the practitioner's greatest need for ethical guidance is in the reconciliation of being both a professional advocate and a social conscience. 

Last Word on Ethics

The scandals in government and business have placed a premium in every sector of society on acting ethically. As one CEO put it, "There is no truer window into a corporation's soul than its approach to ethics."

The same can be said for the practice of public relations.

The success of public relations in the 21st century will depend largely on how the field responds to the issue of ethical conduct. Public relations professionals must have credibility in order to practice. They must be respected by the various publics with which they interact. To be credible and to achieve respect, public relations professionals must be ethical. It is that simple.

Stated another way, for public relations practice in general and individual public relations professionals in particular, credibility depends on how scrupulously they observe and apply the principles and practice of ethics in everything they do.

*SOURCE: THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, 10TH ED., 2007, FRASER P. SEITEL, PGS. 117-123*

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