Ethics of Public Relations

Why Study Ethics in Public Relations?

Public relations ethics inspires much debate between public relations communicators and those suspicious of the field. Because of the weighty responsibilities of the public relations function within an organization and its ability to wield influence, public relations ethics is a vibrant topic that should be discussed, researched, and refined. First, what is ethics? Immanuel Kant wrote, “By way of introduction, I had defined ethics as a science that teaches, not how we are to achieve happiness, but how we are to become worthy of happiness” (1793/1974, p. 45). Other scholars defined ethics as the study of what is right and wrong, fair and unfair, in how we should live our lives. Simply defined, ethics is the study of morality. Ethics assumes that truth and morality exist and can be discovered through the rules, values, and principles that govern, or should govern, behavior.

Power

Public relations has tremendous power because it involves shaping public opinion by deciding what information is important or pertinent and performing the role of liaison between the organization and its publics. The power of public relations is often debated, but its effects on attitudes and behavior are demonstrable at many levels. Therefore, public relations practitioners have the responsibility to convey honest and accurate information, because what they communicate has far-reaching ramifications. Public relations pursuits such as public affairs and lobbying, issues management, political communication, corporate communication, military communication, investor relations, and activist communication all shape the society in which we live. The power to influence society means that public relations holds enormous responsibility to be ethical. Add to this the ability to shift financial markets and alter supply and [Page 295]demand, and it becomes clear that public relations is a formidable force in society.

Organizational Role

Systems theory explains that the public relations practitioner is a boundary spanner, holding roles both inside the organization and in publics outside the organization, and thus acting as a communication facilitator. To understand the publics outside an organization, the public relations practitioner must maintain effective and open communication with them, sometimes joining their groups and meetings to understand their viewpoints. The practitioner acts as a representative or advocate of the organization's position while meeting with publics, and while meeting with management in the organization the same practitioner acts as an advocate or representative of the publics' opinions. Having this dual membership is often referred to as holding “divided loyalties,” particularly by those suspicious of public relations. In reality, the practitioner is often performing a valuable role by educating the organization to the views of publics and by educating the publics to the organization's policies, priorities, and other factors outsiders could not readily discover. The relationships that the public relations practitioner maintains with publics outside the organization are unique because they provide valuable information on how those publics view certain topics, the values each public holds, and how that public is likely to react to a given decision. This input can become a crucial part of strategic decision making. It can also help to identify issues and solve them proactively before they become major problems. In general, this boundary-spanning role puts pressure on public relations practitioners to be ethical. In fact, in many organizations they counsel the CEO or the dominant coalition in ethical issues.

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