Ethics And Ethics In The PRSA Code Of Ethics

During the twentieth century public relations operated with a ‘thin’ understanding of ethics, which caused complex problems for society. To understand why and how this happened we must first understand what ethics and public relations are and how they work together. Public relations is ‘the management of communication between an organization and its publics’ (Tench & Yeomans 2009, p. 5)); its role is to establish a positive relationship between an organisation (or individual) and society. Public relations has power – with that power comes a responsibility to be ethical, accurate and aware. Ethics is ‘the study of individual and collective moral awareness’ (Grassian 1992, p. 3); ethics allow people to identify what is ‘right and wrong, good and bad’ (Breit 2007, p. 309). Making ethical choices in public relations means to have honesty, loyalty, respect and integrity. Throughout this essay I will discuss why public relations has been perceived as unethical and examples of unethical communication; I will then

I do not know much about public relations (PR), but if I can attempt to put it in a single definition it would be the communication or process in connecting to the mass media. The mass media is any consumer, voter or supporter of that particular company or person. When I envision what a person might do in a career in public relations I immediately think of Olivia Pope from ABC’s popular show Scandal. Public relations is involved with creating press releases, curating charities and essentially anything that will helps improve that business’ brand or that party’s’ image significantly. Unlike a management position, public relations comes in and consults during a crisis or scandal that affects the public and leaves when the situation is resolved.

The most recent definition of public relations, according to the Public Relations Society of America (2012), states that “Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Through the rapid advancement of modern media and technology, there have never been more outlets and opportunities available for accomplishing the goals of public relations. Believing the development of social media has not created serious changes in the way public relations practitioners go about their duties would be foolish and a fast track to falling behind in this rapid world of communication. The main goals of public relations are “to

One of the concerns in public relations industry is many critics argues public relations practitioner (PRP) with all things unethically, acts as a “spin doctor” or “propagandist” to maintain a favorable image of a client and manipulate public (Callison 2011). Yet, PR industry has practiced and established ethics code to regulate all practitioners counsel their clients in ethical direction (Broom 2005, pp. 152). PR pratictioners as a attorney model to clients, must perform professionally with faithful and loyalty behaviour to those represent without reveal the organizations information to the public (Seitel 2004, pp.151-152). PR practioner works with different people, follow ethical to respect free-speech among public and be honest and accurate

Even though public relations practitioners have developed a poor reputation in journalistic circles due to the perceived bias for their clients, I believe that there are many good public relations personnel who are able to maintain a symbiotic relationship with media professionals. This is evident through an interview I conducted with the Senior Producer of the TODAY Show, Victoria Owens whose job relies heavily on contact with public relations practitioners her job is deciding which information from these sources to use in the show. Ms Owens shared her own opinions about the nature of her and her colleagues’ relationships with public relations practitioners, which in most cases contributes to the success of the show. Further more … has a

Despite pressure from the public, very little empirical evidence on the ethics of public relations practitioners exists. As recently as the spring of 1988, a Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) task force could only uncover 16 journal articles and two books as initial readings that dealt with ethics issues in length (Pratt, "Empirical" 230).

Public relations (PR) is the way organizations, companies and individuals communicate with the public and media. A PR specialist communicates with the target audience directly or indirectly through media with an aim to create and maintain a positive image and create a strong relationship with the audience. Examples include press releases, newsletters, public appearances, etc. as well as utilization of the world wide web.

The success of a company depends on relationships with the public such as consumers, suppliers, investors, employees, government and media. Since public relation practitioners are the once who do the actual communication between their organization and its public it is obvious that public relation is a management function.

The Ethical Dilemmas article discusses the competitiveness in the public relations arena and how a client-company relationship is reached. When reading the article one understands how difficult it is for companies to maintain strict adherence to ethical guidelines. There are 7 dilemmas covered in the article that calls for an in-depth review of the difficulties clients, employees and employers face in the highly competitive public relations environment; which entails understanding when and where to disseminate information in regard to the advertising of a company or an individual. Public relation firms also manage the careers of high profile individuals and are also known as damage control consultants.

Journalists and Public Relations (PR) practitioners interact with each other every day as part of the process of news production. Journalists communicate towards public relations practitioners with requests for information or material to help produce the stories they are writing. While public relations practitioners advise stories and deliver journalists with information they have created themselves in hope to be published in the newspaper.

Public Relations (PR) is an exciting and rewarding career. PR deals with, “The way organizations, companies and individuals communicate with the public and media” (International Public Relations Organization, n.d.)

The use of corporate communication to describe the Public Relations practitioner has recently gained an acceptance among scholars and practitioners (Groenewald, 1998:58). Moreover, the term could be used interchangeably to showcase that the function of Public Relation or corporate communication involves both internal and external communications of an organisation (Steyn, 1999). Cornelissen (2011) observed that corporate communication apart from coordinating all the interactions that goes on both within and outside the organisation, it also involve establishing and maintaining constructive reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organisation is

The importance of Public Relations practice is underscored by the indispensability of communication in any human setup. However, in spite of this importance in our side of the world Public Relation practice has suffered certain abuses by those who profess to practice it as well as those who are supposed to benefit from its practice. While management seems not to appreciate the importance and its relevance, the numerous publics do not appear to understand it and the practitioners themselves have for most part been woefully incapable of explaining to both management and the various publics what the practice entails. In short the Public Relations profession, its aims and objectives, guiding principles have largely not been understood and appreciated by the public.

A Public Relations practitioner in performing service for a client or employer must not collect monetary gratifications from anyone except his client or employer without the consent of the client/employer given after disclosure of facts. This is sacrosanct so as avoid sabotage because when a practitioner is on a job and begins to get gifts/rewards from others, it may lead to betrayal. In signing an agreement with a client, a Public Relations practitioner shall refrain from requesting a fee or other forms of compensation based on the achievement of certain results, he shall conduct towards the public and the media. The relationship between a Public Relations practitioners and the public and media is key in achieving the desired goal/objective of any campaign. The IPRA has it that a practitioner shall conduct his professional activities in accordance with the public interest and with full respect for the dignity of the individual. The Public Relation practitioner must have respect for human beings and must have the interest of the public at heart in carrying out his activities.

As the name of the discipline implies, public relations is how an organization builds beneficial relationships with its key stakeholders. With effective communication as the practices’ primary tool, modern day organizations have taken advantage of proficient practitioners to boost exposure of their company and its message across to international audiences.