The State of Ethics in Public Relations

Despite the growing conversation regarding ethical obligation and decision-making models, the industry of public relations still has a great deal of growth ahead in the area of ethical behavior among professionals. There are several reasons for this.

1. Lack of education and support: First, some have suggested that there is a lack of education and support within public relations professionals’ roles that inherently prohibits them from truly performing as a “voice of conscience” within organizations. When exploring whether senior level professionals felt that they had training that equipped them to provide ethical counsel, many voiced concerns over a lack of education in this area. Additionally, some professionals held to the perspective that public relations is an advocacy role, not a ethical counsel role.
   
   For those that did feel that public relations professionals are inherently obligated to provide ethical counsel, a lack of access to key decision makers in organizations proved to be a problem. When public relations professionals are willing but not invited into conversations regarding an ethical decision for an organization, the role of ethical counsel is minimized.
2. Organizational culture: Second, organizational culture and structure has a profound impact on public relations professionals. While being a voice of conscience does require access to the upper management, the ability for all public relations professionals to have strategic input in the organizational decision-making process is crucial to the overall purpose of public relations in organizations.
   
   While many organizations are just now beginning to recognize the full value and role public relations professionals play, a recent study by Neill and Drumwright found that there are things that practitioners should do in order to expand their ethical impact on companies. As previously mentioned, building and maintaining trust is critical to being given the opportunity to provide ethical input. Whether an entry-level position, mid-level manager or senior practitioner, every public relations professional should be concerned with maintaining trust with the relationships around them. In addition, professionals who are likely to have a strong impact on the ethical perspective of an organization view public relations as much more than a communication role. It is a strategic problem-solving role.
3. Find ways to connect with key people: Finally, those who wish to truly exercise ethical counsel should find ways to informally connect with key people like those in legal, management and marketing. There needs to be a sense of courage and independence when delivering ethical advice, but also a deeply held trust in the relationship. Those who do not develop and purposefully pursue this kind of place in an organization will often lack the ability to engage in the ethical counsel component so necessary to public relations.

Finally, specifically for millennials, there is a unique perspective on ethics in public relations that will change the face of the industry. Curtin, Gallicano and Matthews found that young public relations professionals in agencies often value transparency and clear ethical rules when practicing in the industry. There is a desire for concrete guidelines and expectations so that they are able to maintain strong relationships among colleagues as well as with the public. In addition, this study found that a majority of young public relations people thought that education and training was useful or somewhat useful, while a little less than half felt the same way about codes of conduct. While the overall findings noted that public relations professionals entering the industry today have different values than older generations, there is still a strong belief in ethical decision making practices and, perhaps, the greatest commitment to deontological thinking among professionals. In other words, the professionals entering the market place today believe that they need ethical training, are eager for ethical guidelines and have a strong sense of duty, a commitment to transparency, and a pursuit of trusted relationships.