Examples Of Ethical Issues In Public Relations

1. Ethics – A Contemporary PR Issue

Public relations (PR) practitioners are facing several ethical challenges in their work, which mostly arise from PR-practicing (non-profit) organisations trying to take influence on public opinion and attitudes of competition-relevant parties. In return, these groups distinguish themselves by consciously or unconsciously influencing these organisations. This way they can either be potential beneficiaries or risk carriers for them (Post et al., 2002). For PR practitioners, this has several consequences at various stages in the network of relationships. When, for example, clients request a PR agency to provide them with services which are not compatible with their code of ethics, ethical challenges arise

As to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), these ethical values mean maintaining the highest standards of professional work, confidentially, dealing honestly and respectfully, as well as not doing anything that will bring PR in disrepute (CIPR, 2016). When talking about ethics within public relations though, current research shows a trend of associating PR with all kind of unethical behavior, such as lying, spinning words, or even worse, espionage. Critics say, that public relations can never be ethical, because it is its sense and purpose to manipulate public perception (Bowen,

However, researchers such as Heath and Ryan stated 1989 that part of a PR practitioners job is to reflect on their approach to work and identify which public attitudes there are. Following this, they should install their own codes of ethics and make sure that also employees on manager level adhere to them. Referring to Cutlip, Center and Broom (2000), a conduct is approved when practitioners stress the need for public approval by themselves. Every PR practitioner, at one point, must rectify his or her decisions to public opinion. Therefore, as argued by Tench and Yeomans (2006), they should have “an acute awareness of what their publics’ likely reaction will be and whether there will be a sense of moral outrage or approval.” This statement directly links back to the H&M case mentioned earlier. Several papers such as Sriramesh and Vercic (2003) and Mickey (2003) criticise the lack of reflection of PR practitioners. The researchers agree on the need for more follow-up work to individually reflect on their approaches. The global fashion brand, for their share, could have avoided this mistake by being more aware of what Tench and Yeoman call “awareness of the publics’ likely reaction”. Furthermore, a study conducted in 2006 by The Commission on Public Relations Education presents findings that show that ethical education of