For my ethics review book, I chose to read Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice by Patricia J. Parsons. In this book Parsons focuses on first the ethical codes and concepts of a PR practioner and also ethical concerns such as conflicts of interest and/or ethical relationships with media outlets. Overall, this book was a huge help in realizing just how many ethical issues there are in the world of public relations.
The book was a structured in such a way that it first addressed the common misconceptions that associate the Public Relations field such as: “Spin doctoring”, Robin Hood syndrome, and the inevitable accusation of lying. We as public relations practioners are charged with telling the truth while still remaining professionally loyal to the client. With that in mind, Parsons sets up a tier system to developing respect for the client as well as for the target audience. The steps are: 1) Learning to respect others: your moral development 2) Demonstrating simple respect: morality and your manners 3) Demonstrating professional respect: morality and your level of competence (pg. 48, figure 7.1). Parsons suggests that this tier will make a PR practioner a much more effective employee as well as a more trustworthy practioner.
Ultimately, form the Ethics in Public Relations text, we, as PR practioners, are responsible for the messages that we deliver to the public and therefore should take into consideration all the possible effects of that message. It also suggested that if, as a practioner, we are ethically trained from the beginning of our careers we will be much more likely to do the ‘right thing’ in ethical situations as well as be less likely to persuade in areas of ethical questioning. This book was very helpful to any person that is interested in the field of public relations.
3 comments:
When professional decisions and personal ethics come into play I wonder how dogmatic we can be. I often wonder about what I would do if I were asked to campaign for a client that I believed produced a product and/or service that was contrary to my personal code of ethics. I wonder is it unethical to chose not to represent a business simply because they don't subscribe to the same ethical framework I do? In this industry, is there really room for that type of rigidity? It seems to be a slippery slope.
I think it is important for PR practitioners to understand ethics. This book sounds like it would be informative for those in PR. Studying ethics in a PR careers is vital. I think this book would be a good read that helps people learn how to do the right thing. Ethics can be a very tough subject because there is sometimes a fine line with what is right and what is wrong.
This book seems really interesting! Ethics is such an important part of every media profession, and by the sound of this book, there are a good many people in our field that would benefit from reading it. There is rarely a path titled "the right thing to do" in ethical situations, but this book seems to try to give you tips to steer you in the right direction.
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