A. The Importance of Ethics in Public Relations

Flacks or “spin doctors” are just a couple of the slurs being thrown at Public Relations professionals. And sometimes, we can’t blame people.  

A few PR pros hawk their skill like guns-for-hire aiming to distort or hide the truth. It’s a disservice to call them PR professionals at all and the term propagandist is more proper.  

I wish this was just a case of a few rotten apples spoiling the whole basket. But it’s not. Agencies, big and small, have been caught trying to deal with sleight of hands.

Weber Shandwick, Bell Potinger, Hill and Knowlton, and Edelman all got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Spin doctors destroy the hard work that honest PR practitioners have built up. Guilty by association. You can’t defend yourself, that would be, too defensive. You can’t defend the perpetrators because, well, they’re guilty. 

Another result, and more seriously, is that when these flacks succeed in whatever nefarious purposes they have, even if it will mean the exploitation of people and resources by their patrons. Such PR experts are engaged by clients who are usually corrupt politicians, suspect companies, and evil regimes. 

In a world flooded with fake news, people are starting to lose faith in traditional sources of facts and information. They opt instead to soak up social media content from creators who are accountable to no one.  Simply put, these people pulling the strings ought to be called the “miscommunication” experts.

We end up with a cacophony of innuendos blurted out by people with undesirable agendas.

“Society is then unable to effectively respond to social, environmental and political challenges” (Shannon Bowen, IPR). 

The only way to fight this is for PR pros not to sell out and adhere to standards of ethics and transparency in Public Relations. But is that possible? Is Public Relations ethics an oxymoron?

B. Ethical Dilemmas that PR Professionals may Encounter in their Work

Now, let’s talk about the common ethical dilemmas that PR professionals may encounter in their line of work. Of all the issues we have encountered throughout my years as a PR professional, we can group the concerns into three groups:

1. Conflicts of interest – This is the most common one. It happens when a PR person handles two clients with opposing interests. These are usually competitors for consumers. Sometimes a government project and an NGO with opposing views are handled by the same greedy PR pros and agencies. It doesn’t even have to be the PR experts, it could be a loved one or friends that have strings attached to a client.

2. Dishonesty – Just outright malicious intent. Distributing false and misleading information. Under the guise of a crisis management or communications campaign. Both PR pros and clients conspire to mislead the public and regulators about the dangers and defects of certain products. Just look at any election period in any country for an example of a dishonest PR campaign.

3. Manipulation of information – Sometimes, information just needs to be massaged and misdirected, especially when it is already out there. People need someone to blame for unfortunate events so that flacks just point them in the wrong direction. 

These misinformation campaigns are done with press releases, media interviews, social media accounts, paid ads, websites. The “miscommunication” experts act as the originator, instigator, and manipulator. 

Sadly, the power of digital technology has put these types of operations into steroids. The reach, frequency and engagement of people have increased exponentially while making it more cost effective. 

C. Key Principles and Values that Guide Ethical Behavior in Public Relations

The Public Relations Society of America lists the following as their statement of professional values.

1. Advocacy Honesty – serving the public
2. Honesty – adhering to accuracy and truth
3. Expertise – acquiring and using specialized knowledge and experience
4. Independence – objective counsel and accountability
5. Loyalty – faithful to clients and public interest
6. Fairness – dealing fairly with everyone

The Global Alliance for PR and Communications have the Global Principles of Ethics and Principles of Professional Practice

1.     Global Principles of Ethics

2.     Working in the public interest

3.     Obeying laws and respect diversity and local customs

4.     Freedom of speech

5.     Freedom of assembly

6.     Freedom of media

7.     Honesty, truth and fact-based communication

8.     Integrity

9.     Transparency and disclosure

10.  Privacy

Principles of Professional Practice

1.     Commitment to continuous learning and training

2.     Avoiding conflict of interest

3.     Advocating for the profession

4.     Respect and fairness in dealing with publics

5.     Expertise without guarantee of results beyond capacity

6.     Behaviors that enhance the profession

7.     Professional conduct

 So far so good, right? You can visit these websites to know more but most of these values and principles are self-explanatory. 

D. Understanding and Applying Ethical Principles in the PR Practice

The list values and principles we provided above comes down to mere suggestions, unfortunately, for most PR agencies and practitioners. The organizations that advocate these have no legal way to enforce, monitor and penalize erring members, much less non-members. 

PR is a neither regulated nor licensed profession. Just like in any functioning society, it is expected that people will act honestly in any legal transaction involving goods and services.

Legal oversight or licensing will not work because people will still find ways to be unethical for the right price. Just like some doctors and lawyers.

The whole system is vulnerable to corruption. It is in the agency’s best interest to earn from clients especially if the client is willing to pay. Clients with money will pay, especially the unscrupulous and the desperate. 

Usually the more shady the project the more flacks can charge. Refuse, and the client will just go to a competitor. Might as well do it and get paid at the same time. 

The more principled companies will look for accreditations, references and experience. Someone from policy and compliance will be involved to make sure everything is above board. 

In short, you can only hope that PR pros are being ethical all the time.

E. Best Practices for Ethical Public Relations

Don’t be greedy. That’s the best and simplest advice we can give. Just say no to money when the job means hiding, manipulating and erasing facts, legal or not. 

There is no price for a clear conscience. Just put yourself in the place of your target audience. Would you like being misled or lied to? 

If you’re an agency, someone has to be the compliance officer or team. These are the people who review projects, campaigns and tasks for conflicts of interest or any other ethical issues. 

For one-person operations, which most of these cases are, run it by a friend or trusted peer in the industry. No one operates in a vacuum. There’s always someone there who can offer advice, especially the kind that you don’t want to hear. 

You can also develop a culture of ethical practice. Your manual should include the ethical practices that your company adheres to. These are checks and balances that everyone must follow or else the show stops. Have the list posted in a prominent area in your office, in your website and included in orientations for new employees. 

F. Stay up-to-date on the Latest Ethical Considerations and Guidelines in the PR industry

The best way to stay up-dated on the latest ethical practices is to join and get accredited with a reputable PR organization such as the Public Relations Society of the Philippines, Public Relations Society of America, Global Alliance, and others.

Also, very few PR pros have formal background studies in ethics. Yes, get enrolled in a course about ethics in the field of communications. Get an undergraduate or graduate studies with a university. Online courses are also offered.

G. Conclusion

While it is an uphill climb for those trying to uphold the standards of ethical PR practices, the benefits are more than worth it. Organizations will reap benefits that will fortify their brands for the long-term.

1. Greater trust – Transparency, credibility and trustworthiness will create greater trust among stakeholders. This means more patronage and stronger insulation from negative headwinds.
2. Positive reputation – Positive reputation is what builds most admired brands. This also attracts customers, investors and employees. The latter contributes even more to the aura of an admired brand which starts a great cycle.
3. Better relationships: Ethical PR can create better relationships with stakeholders which means better engagement, more valuable data, and feedback. 
4. Reduced risk:  Perhaps this is the reason, if you need one at all to be ethical. It is the reduced likelihood of negative consequences, such as legal issues or loss of reputation. Enough said.
5. Improved decision-making:  Because it promotes transparency, accountability, and compliance ethical PR encourages the decision makers to act in the best interest of both the stakeholders and the organization. Neither needs to be in conflict with another. 

Overall, ethical PR practices lead to benefits for both the organization and the stakeholders. Companies gain traits that are common to organizations that endure for generations. While audiences can trust that the organization will not hinder or even advance their interests.