PR and the Truth

Blair Powell
bp174005@ohio.edu

Telling the truth has been ingrained in us since birth. It has never been acceptable to lie. But when I told my parents and friends I wanted to major in Public Relations at Ohio University, we all joked that I would major in lies. But is withholding the truth, a practice talked about in various scholarly journals and readings throughout my lessons in ethics, really "bad"? We must look closer at this problem to determine the answer.

Is the public obligated to know everything? Should they have access to any and every fact we have on a certain topic? An online article directed at public relations educators attempted to tackle the problem of telling the public anything and everything. The author believes that it is in fact, a lie to not full disclose all necessary information to the public.

In polls the author, David Marintson, conducted, many felt that the most serious actions that PR practitioners can take would involve lying to the public, while situations such as giving evasive answers are not "as severe" as flat out lying. Refusing to comment on a press release or refusing to divulge more information than what is found in a release was not considered to be a lie by these professionals and heads of PR departments at universities throughout the nation.

As a student, the most serious finding in the survey was that these professionals felt that it was unethical to release information that management ordered a practitioner to release. I understand that we are to do as we are told by superiors, but we are also to do what we believe is right, according to our own moral compass instead of the moral compass of the company.

We are told by the PRSA code of ethics that we are to have no conflicts of interest ("Act in the best interests of the client or employer, even subordinating the member's personal interests"). How are we supposed to act when we are ordered to do something that is obviously unethical, such as covering up a toxic spill in a local community when our code of ethics again says to do all we can to find the truth and disclose it ("Investigate the truthfulness and accuracy of information released on behalf of those represented" and "Avoid deceptive practices")? How are we to stand up for what we believe in, act in the best interest of the company, avoid conflicts of interest, and be truthful when in a situation like this? We are pulled in every direction.

It is hard to determine, as a graduating PR senior where the line should be drawn. I can find a number of links online about deceptive PR practices and bad examples of PR, but finding examples of PR challenging the norm and acting ethically are hard to find. As a graduating senior and beginning professional, I hope that my moral compass is pointing the right direction. I just hope that the ethics and morals I learned while studying public relations will lead me in the right direction.