Ethics at a Time of Abundant Information

Mackenzie Kane
mk931915@ohio.edu


At a time where media is being labelled as "an enemy of the people," it is increasingly important for publications and organizations to be as ethical and fair as possible.

Photo provided by Stanford University

The main objective of public relations professionals and journalists is to inform the public of important news and information. If these professionals do not follow the ethical guidelines, trust goes down and their reputation is tarnished.

We live in an era of technology, which makes the flow of information much quicker and much more abundant. The question of ethics has gone from what we should do as journalists to what we have to do.  As watchdogs, it is our responsibility to take the information we are given and truthfully put it out to the public, where we run into issues with that, though, is the amount of information we have available and the limited amount of time we have to put content out.

Which is the least biased? Which has the most important facts? Do we have everything we need to produce a well-rounded and accurate article/news release? These are all questions we must ask ourselves when putting information out.

It is important for Public Relations professionals to have a good grip on the ethics of the profession because they are often seen as the management of an organization's conscience. If one person at the top of the company's decision-making messes up, it is usually the whole company and all of its employees who suffer.

It is everyone's responsibility to know the ethical protocol of an organization and to follow that protocol, but often there are factors that cause people to break these rules as a means to get their work done in a way that satisfies their superiors.

If there is not a strict set of rules made by an organization, employees could think they are able to get away with small but crucial ethical breaks.

In the "get-everything-done-fast" age we live in today, there can be intense pressure to reach unrealistic goals, stress to continuously beat the competition and fear of internal (and external) competitive disadvantage. When faced with any of these pressures, it is important for a PR professional to have a set of his or her own ethical principles as well as a knowledge of what the core of the organization stands for. Many people break ethical rules out of fear of being fired or demoted, but forget to realize that if they are caught being unethical they could lose their credibility, which is much, much worse.

The ethical standards of a company come from the top down, so when faced with an ethical dilemma it would be wise to go to management and ask questions without seeming judgmental. It is better to ask questions than it is to later find out what you put out is unethical and possibly has draconian repercussions on your organization/name.

Disclosure is one of the most important factors in gaining trust. When you disclose critical information, you are being transparent with your audience and taking accountability which builds trust. If you are found to be in a situation where you inexcusably did not disclose important information, you have failed to do your ethical duty as a PR professional and journalist.