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Ethics in Public Relations

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Ethics in Public Relations

A Guide to Best Practice

Kogan Page,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Truth and fairness are crucial in today's business environment where "public relations ethics" must not be an oxymoron.

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Editorial Rating

6

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Recommendation

Author Patricia J. Parsons strives to bridge the gap between teaching the ethics of public relations and offering ethical advice to professionals, but unfortunately her bridge only goes halfway. It’s strong up to the point where she outlines the philosophical issues involved in the ethical treatment of people in business. She could have maintained her momentum by supplying real-world insights about the PR practitioners’ ethical breaches or the intentional distrust that dishonest PR creates. Some of her examples seem to come from Web sites or magazines, while others don’t seem on point or particularly ethically challenging. For instance, she cites one ethical dilemma about reporters who were invited to a university’s holiday party and she asks whether the event constituted a gift or "subtle bribery." Maybe it was both, or maybe it was just a place to get a free beer. Parsons falls into a trap that often ensnares books on ethics: her treatise just doesn’t provide enough substance. That said, her topic is important in today’s scandal-scarred business environment, and she raises several worthwhile issues. getAbstract.com recommends this book to PR practitioners and marketing teachers who seek background on this inside-the-industry topic.

Summary

Corporate Persuasion

Public relations may be in the business of creating positive images for its clients’ companies, but the public perceives the profession itself negatively. Numerous books address the sleaze factor in public relations and ask whether the term "public relations ethics" is an oxymoron. The dispute about ethics in promotional activities is part of public relations history. Edward Bernays, who is considered the founder of modern public relations, wrote in his 1928 book, Propaganda, that manipulating the habits and opinions of large segments of society is an essential part of a democracy. He even went so far as to say that whoever controlled this manipulative effort would constitute an "invisible government."

In an effort to shape public opinion, PR firms sometimes have crossed the line. In the 1930s, Carl Byoir, a major PR figure, reportedly formed a shadow grassroots organization to petition against special taxes on chain stores to help his client, A&P grocery stores. During the first Iraq war, the Kuwaiti government paid the Hill & Knowlton PR firm $10 million to tape and distribute a news release they knew to be fake showing Iraqi troops abusing...

About the Author

Author and consultant Patricia J. Parsons is associate professor and past chair of the Department of Public Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She teaches management of organizational public relations, public relations ethics and strategy. Her consulting firm handles healthcare communications and public relations.

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