The Rise of Public Relations and it's Ethical Challenges

Kelly Barrett
Kb732613@ohio.edu


The field of public relations has become an undeniable power house and has begun to employ more and more people. People who are PR professionals have a tremendous amount of tasks to undertake all while working with and trying to please a variety of audiences. Specialists work to spread the employer's or clients message on into the public in a good light using all sorts of different methods using media platforms. 

Branded content is a form of advertising that uses the generating of content as a way to promote the particular brand which funds the content's production. 

For companies to use branded content they are able to have control over their own company and how people do it. Public relation agencies need talent and people who are able to relay media and advertising in an innovative way that is still considered honest. 

Credibility is extremely important for PR professionals and this is something that can also cause problems in their profession. There are times when PR specialists are faced with the decision to do something blatantly unethical, or perhaps be fired or demoted. While others have a better, experience, Another said one reason for her good relationship with her company CEO is that "he can count on me to not always agree with him."

According to the Follow the Leader article, company's cultural and ethical values come from the CEO's and executive's standards and work their way down. Employees are almost expect to understand this and mimic their values whether they are deemed ethical or not. The article begs the question, "Does the corporate culture encourage addressing problems head-on, reporting them, taking responsibility and initiating steps to fix them? Or does it reward cutting corners and covering things up? Employee behavior will follow the culture that management creates." This question is imperative to understanding how PR professionals will deal with ethical decisions. It is an innate behavior for humans to follow the actions of their peers and this is not something that changes as we grow older. Accountability and integrity go hand in hand with journalism and public relations. If professionals see their superiors and peers acting in a way that isn't ethical just, it increases your chances of doing the same, and vice versa. 

Like it or not, that’s exactly what branded content is about: telling great stories about a company in a more intelligent way instead of simply extolling a product’s merits.

Ethics have proved to be one of the most talked about things when it comes to journalism and public relations is no exception to that. It is up to the CEO's and leaders of the company to set clear standards of how they will executive stories and their brand. However, it is also up to journalists, to set your own standards of ethics and decide how far you will go before something becomes out of your code of ethics.