Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice

by Ericka Burey

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.

PR 2.0: Modern Public Relations

PR 2.0: Modern Public Relations by Heather Anderson 

Public relations by definition means to build mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and the publics they serve. Therefore, it is necessary for organizations to learn how to adapt to new marketing methods to remain relevant with their target publics.  In PR 2.0, Dierdre Breakenridge informs readers of these new methods and how to become the future of public relations. 

According to Breakenridge's website defines PR 2.0 as the use of "a combination of social media tools that are available to communications professionals to reach and better communicate with influencers and consumer audiences directly." By using these public relations practices, PR professionals are able to get their message to the public without traditional media sources, which grants professionals more control.

With the use of social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, etc.), blogs, widgets and creating more interactive and quality organizational websites is a great way to gain the attention of target publics. However, with these new PR tactics comes more responsibility. This is where ethics in public relations comes into the picture.  

In this industry ethical public relations practices are extremely important and even more so with the rise of online PR. Utilizing PRSA's Code of Ethics throughout one's professional career is needed no matter what medium is in use.

• Advocacy
• Honesty
• Expertise
• Independence
• Loyalty
• Fairness

Unfortunately, online public relations is more vulnerable to ethical dilemmas due to the nature of the Internet. WIth this being said, organizations should only have a select individual performing media tasks. Each organization should have an official page, group, etc. on any social media outlet to ensure credibility with the public and have links to them through the organization's website. This way the organization is better able to keep the organizational message consistent. 

The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media

Blog by: Dara Pickering

Paul Gillin's book, "The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media," offers real-life advice for marketers and public relations professionals alike.

“It’s not that the younger generation shuns the media. They just shun the media their parents use.”

Gillin explains the book is solely about influencers, not necessarily the specific channels used to influence the social media market. This is understandable because our generation has seen these channels rise, adapt and fade over the course of just a few years. For example, Myspace used to be a popular social media site, but its influence has decreased as other sites have risen, such as Twitter and Facebook. These newer sites promise instant news and even networking for business purposes, rather than to tally up the friend list.

Gillin focuses on the world of blogs—the blogosphere as he deems fit. He argues that the lack of structure in the blogosphere is actually driving the usage of blogs. Ordinarily, a lack of structure would irrefutably lead to demise of the channel; however, bloggers create their own individual structure as well as determine what they deem fit as news and entertainment. The decentralized structure protects against spam messages and spam blogs, because individuals monitor their own content space. This phenomenon is changing the face of news and social media as we know it.

So, what does this mean for marketers and public relations professionals? This means that professionals can interact with their audience, creating a mutually beneficial relationship, and exchange information and input through what Gillin labels as “conversation marketing.” The market of today means a decentralized message that creates authenticity through information exchange rather than delivering those messages.

Trust has become an important word to professionals alike. In order to get audiences to deem a message as credible or follow information, professionals must first build trust. However, with the rise of the blogosphere, Gillin suggests that the youth of today is influenced by word of mouth (WOM), taking advice from bloggers or strangers rather than professionals.

Gillin created the five following commandments for the blogosphere:

1) Thou shalt Link—Linking is a form of attribution for blogs. Bloggers
should never steal content, so always link to your sources.

2) Thou shalt not diss— Respect the views of others.

3) Thou shalt be transparent— Bloggers must open themselves up either for ridicule or for praise. You have to show your true self and not be afraid of what others may say.

4) Thou shalt comment—Bloggers must interact in the blogosphere. Gillin
claims commenting is protocol for blogging.

5) Thou shalt not blather—Do not post blogs over 500 words because you do
not want to bore your audience.

Finally, Gillin argues that “no profession stands to influence social media like public relations.” This is due to the understanding of relationships to which many PR professionals have become accustomed. PR professionals also know how to use social media to their advantage, reaching and understanding audiences. The new era of blogs, wikis, and tweets will be one in which communications are shaped for the future.

Looking for a blog? Gillin suggests Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy.com, Disney,and a blog about all things google.