The Importance of Ethics within Public Relations

Within mainstream society, public relations is sometimes perceived as being a negative career where public relations professionals “lie” and “spin” the truth, thus deeming the title “spin doctors”. It is perceived that public relations practitioners do not maintain ethical standards, but rather will do whatever they have to do, right or wrong, to maintain a positive image for their clients. As an aspiring public relations practitioner, I find this representation to be frustrating as there are many professionals who act ethically and maintain a strong moral code while working in the industry. The concept of ethics within public relations was introduced in Principles of PR. Within this course, Tim explained the importance of ethics within public relations and why professionals must abide by various codes of ethics. It is essential that as young, professional communicators, we understand the importance of acting ethically and with integrity while working in the industry. As we begin our careers, it is critical that we understand that ethical behavior must be maintained within the work that we do.

In Principles of PR, we examined two professional associations: The Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). The main role of professional organizations is to set the standards for public relations practitioners. Both of the organizations provide a framework for how public relations professionals should act within the industry. The CPRS Code of Ethics contains nine elements that a public relations professional shall embody while working in the industry. For instance, number two on the list reads, “a member shall deal fairly and honestly with the communications media and the public”. This is ultimately explaining that members shall not act in a manner that would improperly influence the communications media, which may include gift gifting in exchange for media coverage. The IABC outlines principles that are similar to the Code of Ethics developed by the CPRS. An example of an ethical principle within the IABC is “professional communicators do not guarantee results that are beyond the power of the practitioner to deliver”. For example, when working with clients we cannot promise them that we will get them coverage on CNN, since there is no guarantee that this will be the outcome. However, as professionals we can promise our clients that we will work hard and create an effective plan that will hopefully get them media coverage. There is no guarantee that they will be featured on CNN, and thus it would unethical to make such a promise to our clients.   

Within Principles of PR, we had various assignments that related to the ethics portion of this course. For instance, during the last six weeks of the course, we were instructed to complete a weekly discussion post answering a question that Tim posed to the class. We were instructed to answer various questions that ultimately posed ethical dilemmas. This encouraged us students to start thinking ethically about certain scenarios that we will most likely be exposed to once we enter the field. Similarly, we had an “ethical dilemmas” assignment in which we were given scenarios and we had to use the CPRS or IABC Code of Ethics to explain what we would do in the given scenario. Both of these assignments proved to be effective as they both challenged us to start thinking ethically about various situations that public relations professionals are faced with on a daily basis.

The discussion of ethics within Principles of PR ultimately reinforced the assumption that during our careers as public relations practitioners, we will evidently be faced with ethical dilemmas. Like many other careers, we will be faced with challenges that will question our sense of right or wrong. Therefore, it is important that Tim exposed us to the two professional organizations and their guidelines for maintaining ethical behavior. Upon starting my education in Public Relations at Mohawk College, I was unaware that either of these professional organizations existed. I was unaware that there were organizations dedicated to enhancing the ethical standards within public relations. I feel fortunate to have been exposed to these organizations early on in my career as a public relations professional as I now understand the importance of ethics with a communications career. I believe that both organization's codes/principles of ethics will always be present in my mind when working in the industry and when faced with ethical dilemmas.