Exploring Ethical Obligation

Understanding the role and responsibility of public relations professionals to both clients and key stakeholders is something that has gained quite a bit of attention in recent years. Several models have been proposed to help professionals comprehend the obligations they hold when functioning in this society. A few of the prominent ones have been:

• The Attorney-Adversary Model: In this model, the public relations professional is perceived as having the same social duty as a lawyer. The majority of loyalty would lie with the client and it is the public relations professional’s ethical duty to represent them in the best light, no matter what. There have been some concerns with this model, as it seems to neglect the obligation of public relations professionals to key stakeholders. Rather than serving only the client, primarily looking out for their interest and benefit, many suggest public relations has a mixed-motive in serving both the client and the public.
• The Asymmetrical Model: While the Asymmetrical Model of public relations is declining, there are still many who perceive the industry of public relations to be defined by this construct. In this paradigm, public relations professionals are viewed as the protector of the organization’s reputation, taking almost a combative stance against key stakeholders in order to guard the organization itself. Similar to the first model discussed, this perspective of public relations ignores the obligation to the public. In addition, well-meaning but misguided public relations professionals who follow this perspective would run into ethical concerns as they make decisions solely to “protect” the clients reputation instead of focusing on mutually beneficial relationships grounded in truth and transparency.
• The Symmetrical Model: Often advocated as the strongest model, this proposes that there should be on-going communication between organizations and publics in order to mutually adjust and build relationships that benefit all parties involved. While scholars generally seem to support this model, recently there have been some questions about how public relations professionals can, in fact, truly serve both parties at the same time. In addition, when one group in the model (the client) tends to hold most of the power and money, is it truly possible that both sides have equal voice and impact on the decision? In light of this, another model has been proposed.
• The Professional Responsibility Model: This theory suggests that ethical decision-making should require professionals to balance the interest of the organization they serve with the interest of the publics impacted by the organization. Whereas the Symmetrical Model seems to suggest that communication and relationships should be built on mutual adjustment, this theory places the public relations professional in the center of the process. In this model, part of the ethical obligation of professionals relates to the profession itself. In light of this, the activities of a public relations professional are not contingent on the bottom-line, or swayed by the client who holds more power, but rather rests in the fact that the profession itself is to balance the interest equally of both the public and the client.

While many more models have been proposed, these represent some of the most commonly practiced or perceived. It is important to recognize that the level of trust a client and the public have of public relations professionals changes drastically depending on the model being practiced. If, for example, a public relations professional is only concerned with the bottom line or defending a client’s reputation at all costs, the public is not likely to trust any communication as authentic. Instead, it may be perceived as coercive or manipulative. On the other hand, if the client and the public both believe that the public relations professional is committed to building authentic relationships that are mutually beneficial for all involved, they will be able to maintain the trust. Public relations professionals have been considered to have a fiduciary responsibility to advocate for their client, providing a voice in the marketplace of ideas. This kind of relationship depends on leadership recognizing that the public relations professional is loyal and trustworthy with confidences. In addition, the public will be able to anticipate that public relations professionals function as a voice of conscience for organizational leadership, providing recommendations on ethical behavior that will directly impact key stakeholders. This expectation is why publics can trust that the public relations professional is committed to mutually beneficial relationships and not just serving at the will of the client without regard to key stakeholders.

Depending on how a public relations professional understands their obligations in this mixed-motive profession, different ethical choices will be made. Understanding the commitment to both the client and the public is critical to make the correct ethical decision and, ultimately, to maintain trust of all groups involved. Beyond understanding the obligations, however, several models for making decisions have been proposed to help professionals think through various situations they may encounter.