Elevate PR with Ethics

The realm of Public Relations has often been received in ambiguous light. It’s that aspect of a company’s activities that is desperately required but seldom acknowledged in direct relation to the cause or situation at hand. Such behaviour is not surprising. Nobody wants to accept that a certain kind publicity was done by them, for them. The critics of this profession often swing harsh criticisms ranging from name calling or oft-repeated phrasing such as:

PR Stunt
PR ploy
Organized lying, so on and so forth.

It is quite a realization that a profession which strives to build positive relations suffers with this reputation, or maligned image. The root cause of this can be attributed to requisites sought for a PR person, i.e. ‘People Skills’. It doesn’t require special degrees, formal education to become one. To be able to gauge people’s moods, sense their desires, adjust or influence their wants, create or destroy their needs, or even solve a problem before it becomes one, is a natural flair not everyone is blessed with. Public Relations covers a plethora of activities, and blankets large portions of the ethical spectrum. More often than not the profession falls prey to messengers, the unscrupulous or the implementers who have no qualification or credibility whatsoever. However, the PR department is still very much responsible for the information disseminated. Often in course of doing so, other elements can negatively intervene and spoil the process, over which one has little or no control.

The relative darkness aside, the job of networkers becomes difficult over time. Acquiring a client is one matter, retaining him/her is a different ball game altogether. The client only seeks brand management to achieve higher levels of publicity to get ahead of the competitors. For that, they may have certain ideas, but the job of doing so rests with PR team. Trouble arises when there is disconnect between the two or when the latter falls short of good practice. To a layman PR work may seem managerial but every step of the way there need to be made ethical decisions which must be deeply ingrained in regular practice. Ethical decision making ensures transparency, open communication and confidence building when opened to scrutiny.

Some of the most challenging instances arise out of being able to ‘manage expectations’.

1. Being a PR person it is essential not to build high unreasonable hopes, making the client comfortably aware of the limits to which one can generate news or manipulate public sentiment.

2. Every PR practitioner has his/her own connections. One must make sure that such rings of association do not overlap or that information is preserved even if there is a falling out. Sensitive information must not be used against bitterly, whether it’s a former employer or former client. This mars the reputation of the PR person over time, and gives the entire community a bad name.

3. There are always clients, marketers who exaggerate and make dubious claims. As handlers of social relations, one has to evaluate how far one goes to validate such lies, and handle them accordingly.

4. There is always exchange of sensitive information, so when in possession of the same one must exercise professional as well as personal conscience to know if such must be circulated or not. Many times at the risk of losing a fat-pocket client, one has to make decisions for the larger good.

5. PR is also a study in how the staff members are treated. Any kind of dissent or grudge which leads to troubled relations within the company can eat it from the inside. Every leg in the organization is important, so each must be given due regard and not tossed aside due to differences at work.

Every PR agency thus, must have its set of ethical guidelines, monitoring the direction of growth of the employees. There are usually three ways to counter ethical dilemmas.

1. The utilitarian concept, which exemplifies the phrase, ‘the end justifies the means’. It requires one to take into account all courses of action to successfully realize the feasibility factor.

2. The Advocacy Concept: As the term suggests, this concept deals with what is best for the client, and engages in questions of right and wrong, and rules, duties etc.

3. Ethical Relativism: By far the most pragmatic and obvious of all human practices, it seeks to tackle an issue in its particular context or situation, and not mired in rigid rules, because every circumstance has its uniqueness that must be dealt with accordingly. It goes on to reinforce the idea that everything can’t weighed on the same scale, and popular acceptance doesn’t make something Right.

In this way while you are bundled with the responsibility to your client, you are also answerable to the recipients who follow you by the book. Don’t mislead. Don’t misdirect. Do the right thing.