Welcome to the CED’s Public Relations Module!
This area of the Center for Ethical Deliberation is designed to help you:
1. identify key concepts and issues that arise in a public relations setting, and
2. deliberate more effectively about tough choices that are faced by Public Relations Professionals
Because this module works in tandem with the CED’s more general resources, you will often be linked to other areas of the CED Web site. Remember that you can return to this page at any time by clicking the PR tab at the top of your screen. In most cases, you can also use your browser’s back button.
Funds to support this module were provided by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communications at the Penn State College of Communications.
NEW USERS: Please work through the links below to see supplemental information connecting the general resources on this site to specific information about PR ethics. You’ll also have a chance to apply the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process to resolve three types of ethical issues that typically arise while doing public relations work. To access any of the interactive features, remember to log in by clicking the link in the top left-hand corner of your screen.
Beginning Points
Frameworks
Perspectives
Tough Choices
RETURNING USERS: Be sure to log in each time you access the site. This gives you access to all of the interactive features. Because all of your interactions are completely anonymous, you can feel free to use the Ask a Question link to post those questions you’ve always wanted to ask but may be uncomfortable talking about face to face. You can also visit the site whenever it’s most convenient for you, and spend as much (or as little) time using it as you want.
Beginning Points in Public Relations Ethics
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If you haven’t done so already, please review the CED’s general points about ethical deliberation. Then use your back button to return to this page.
Public Relations Ethics is not a different kind of ethics. It simply focuses on concepts and issues that are most likely to arise in the context of public relations work. The most widely accepted principles of PR Ethics are described in
- The Public Relations Society of America Code of Ethics 2000
- The International Association of Business Communicators Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators
- The Code of Venice (1961)
- The Code of Athens (1965/1968)
- The Code of Brussels (2006)
Because ethical deliberation or decision-making about public relations is an open-ended process (similar to ethical deliberation in general) these codes cannot tell you exactly what you should do in every situation. However, they can help you understand the general expectations for conduct and character of public relations professionals.
Using Frameworks for Deliberating about Public Relations Ethics
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If you haven’t done so already, please review the CED’s general information about Ethical Frameworks. Then use your browser’s back button to return to this page.
- Consequences and Public Relations: The general aim of public relations professionals is to portray their clients and organizations in the best possible light. The consequences framework does not require you to ignore this goal, but it does serve as a useful reminder that you must consider the effects of your choices and actions for everyone who will be affected. Keeping those wider effects in mind will help you ensure that you promote your client’s interests in ways that are fair.
When using the Consequences framework within the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process, we encourage you to click “other” and specify “serving the public interest” as the standard you will use to evaluate your options. Review the codes of ethics found within the Beginning Points area of this module for more background on why this is always your most general professional goal. Those goals also contain examples of how to balance competing interests as you pursue the public interest.
- Duties and Public Relations: In addition to the general duties that apply to all ethical decision-making, public relations professionals have situation specific duties related to their professional roles. These duties are often specified by two things:
1. The codes of ethics governing the PR profession. Important duties specified within those codes include the following: - Protecting and advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful information
- Promoting healthy and fair competition (fostering a robust business climate)
- Using open communication to foster informed decision-making in a democratic society
- Giving appropriate protection to confidential and private information
- Avoiding real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest
- Abiding by domestic and international law
2. Any specific rules or principles you are required to abide by in your particular organization or workplace
When using the Duties framework within the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process, we encourage you to rely on both of these sources to specify your situation-specific duties.
- Virtues and Public Relations: In addition to the general virtues that are good for all of us to cultivate in ourselves and others, public relations professionals have a particular need to develop character traits that dispose them to respond appropriately to the kinds of situations they encounter on the job. Some of the most important virtues highlighted with PR codes of ethics include the following:
- Honesty
- Openness
- Fair-mindedness
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Respect for differing points of view
- Integrity
- Trustworthiness
Your organization or workplace may also have a code of ethics that specifies additional virtues you are expected to cultivate in yourselves and others. When using the Virtues framework within the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process, we encourage you to reflect on both of these sources in developing the list of traits that you strive to exhibit through your actions. When using the Virtues framework within the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process, we encourage you to reflect on both of these sources in developing the list of traits that you strive to exhibit through your actions.
Perspectives on Public Relations Ethics
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If you haven’t done so already, please review the CED’s general information about Ethical Perspectives. Then use your browser’s back button to return to this page.
Until recently, little work on how to think about public relations ethics has been done beyond the codes of ethics that are provided on this module’s Beginning Points page. Hence, the day-to-day practice of public relations professionals might be informed by the more general perspectives they have about ethics in their personal lives. There is nothing wrong with this, but by reviewing some of the most influential perspectives within each general framework, you can both
- Broaden your own perspective, in order to ensure there aren’t any important values or principles that your personal background has never led you to consider; and
- Deepen your understanding of any core values that are crucial to your own perspective. In addition to helping you identify your most important ethical commitments, this understanding can help you explain your perspective (and hence your ethical choices and actions) to others.
In addition to reviewing the recommended CED information, we commended that PR Professionals read the December 2007 article by University of Maryland professor Shannon A. Bowen on “Ethics and Public Relations.” Bowen’s article presents a good overview of the history of public relations ethics and the state of the practice today. Bowen also discusses the importance of good ethical decision-making in the field of public relations and offers practical advice for PR professionals.
Help the CED build this module. Public relations ethics is a relatively new, but growing field. If you know of specific research or recommendations on how to think about PR ethics, the CED would love to hear from you. You can submit the information using the “Ask a question” link on the left-hand side of your screen. (In the subject line just specify that you are making a recommendation for the PR perspectives page.)
Tough Choices in Public Relations
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Follow these links to see how the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process has been used to resolve issues that typically arise while doing public relations work.
- Confidentiality and/or lying for a client
- Conflicts of Interest
- Disclosure of Information and/or Whistle blowing
Practice Cases: Use the cases below to apply the CED’s Guided Deliberation Process to typical issues in public relations ethics. If you haven’t done so already, please log in (use the link at the top left hand corner of your screen). Then
- Use the “Copy” function to copy the text from the case study onto your clipboard. On most browsers, you can do this by highlighting the text and hitting Ctrl-C
- Scroll to the top of your screen, click “Guided Deliberation” and then click “Begin a New Deliberation.”
- Use the “Paste” function to paste the text of the first case study into the description box
- Type the title of the case (i.e., “Problems with Puppies”) into the title box.
- Click “Proceed” and follow the prompts.
Case 1: Problems with Puppies
My organization, a respected, community-based puppy rescue, has not been in the news lately. We have many puppies that need homes, and every time we get a mention in the media, more of our dogs are adopted. I am the designated communications person. The rescue director just told me to “create” some news for the news media. I know the media doesn’t want stories about how needy non-profits are; they want a news angle. But, truly, there is no news, and I told the director this. She said to make up something—and made some suggestions for stories—all bad in my opinion. Do I need to honor the director’s wishes, knowing that if I don’t, we still have puppies that need homes?
Case 2: Technology Company Tactics
I do publicity for a technology company that will introduce a new product in the near future. My company frequently has a new product to introduce, and the number of news reporters who come to our press conferences, announcing the new products, is dwindling. Instead, the reporters go to our Web site for the information. My boss, the company’s CEO, has noticed this. He believes that we should withhold the information about the new product on the “for the news media” part of our Web site until the day after our press conference. If we do this, he says, we will give the reporters who actually show up for the press conference a leading edge, so to speak. He likes the excitement of announcing the new products to the press in person. He’s my boss, and I want to keep him happy, but I am not sure if manipulating the press will be the most beneficial tactic for us. How should I work through this?
Case 3: Video News Releases
I work for a PR firm that started creating video news releases (VNRs) a few years ago for clients. This has become a big part of our business. We work mostly with hospitals, doing “news” pieces about new medical procedures available at the facilities, for instance. Oftentimes, these VNRs are used by television stations, which is our goal, of course. However, over the years, I have noticed the TV stations do not share with their viewers where these “news clips” come from—sometimes to the point that it looks as if the station reporters actually did the work. Again, we are happy our clients get the airtime because that kind of advertising time would cost our clients a fortune! But the TV stations’ actions are gnawing at me. I’m afraid if I make a stink, the VNRs won’t be used and my firm will lose business—or I might lose my job. How can I resolve this issue?
You have now completed the module. Remember that you can click “Guided Deliberation” on the left-hand side of your screen at any time if you’d like to work through a scenario from your own professional life.