Upholding the Ethical Standards of PR

Ally Lanasa
al887715@ohio.edu

According to a 2014 Pew Research report, newsrooms' staff have been on the steady decline while more public relations positions have emerged and corporate journalism has evolved.

Graphic provided by Pew Research Center

Branded content has become a large aspect of contemporary journalism in the digital age. Media organizations are adapting to its presence. On its website, The Guardian has dedicated a page to paid-content.

Although it may appear that public relations professionals are opponents to journalists, there is a parallelism of the standards of each profession. Similarly to SPJ's Code of Ethics, PRSA has the Ethical Standards Advisory. Among the shared values of the two professions are accuracy, honesty, expertise and fairness. Public relations professionals may encounter more difficulty when it comes to fairness than journalists do because they have a loyalty to those they represent as well as to the public. When professionals do not meet the ethical standards or fail to uphold the values of the profession they should be held accountable.

Virgil Scudder from The Public Relations Strategist writes four main reasons why professionals may make unethical decisions. The first is an unrealistic deadline or extreme pressure from the company. Another reason is never-ending competition. Thirdly, the unethical decisions may be overlooked by management, thus the individual repeats such actions. Last, but certainly not least, a professional may act unethically due to fear of unemployment.

Ethical standards come from management. Employers should inform their staff of the expectations of not only the company, but the entire profession. Management should encourage education and  communication to eliminate potential immoral decisions due to one of the aforementioned reasons. It can be intimidating to address sensitive ethical issues, especially when an environment for open discussion has not been established. Professionals should feel comfortable to disagree with management if they believes something is unethical.

At the root of ethical decision-making and the core of ESA is disclosure. Disclosure is the foundation of transparency, honesty and credibility. It improves the profession. When a company intentionally releases information, especially in the field of public relations, it establishes trust with the public. Non-disclosed information can be detrimental to an organization, especially if it later becomes public knowledge from legal enforcement. Public relations professionals have the same responsibility as journalists to seek and report the truth. If a single individual or an organization attempts to conceal information, it can gravely damage his/its credibility. 

Unfortunately, sometimes businesses fail to properly disclose information. For example, endorsements are required to adapt the same principles of honest advertising, but in 2017, MediaKix reported  93% of top celebrity endorsements on Instagram did not meet the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) regulations. The FTC's Endorsement Guides require the relationship between the endorser and the marketer to be made aware to the public. For this reason, celebrities must include #sponsored or #ad in their posts.

Public relations professionals need to acknowledge the protocols of the social media platforms, the FTC's Endorsement Guides and the ESA to ensure that the advertising complies with the ethical standards established. It is the responsibility of each individual to understand and apply the standards of the profession on a daily basis.