Navigating Ethics in PR

The number one thing that people look for in journalism is ethics. thenewsleaders.com talks about how important they are, especially today. We are getting to the point that people don't trust journalists, and the only way to dig ourselves out of that hole is through ethics. This practice is essential in the world of public relations. In this day and age, it's not just that people do not trust the media, but they don't trust companies either. That makes it very hard for PR professionals to get trusted by people. This situation means that they have to be extra careful about using ethics. PRSA.org states six different values that PR professionals have to live by. However, it is harder to live by these ethics than it seems. People in PR have a specific agenda that they have to push through their work, and it seems that that agenda sometimes conflicts with their ethical values. In news and information journalism, it seems easier to abide by the codes because you are telling a story, and you have control over how the story goes.

Working in a position like public relations professionals are, they will have to figure out ways to make sure they can regain the trust of the general public. That will have to include things like being able to pass a piece off. If you cannot do the assigned task because it may interfere with your ethics, you will need to get help and see if you can get it to another person. That could be due to religion or something else, but if you conflict with the piece, it is not fair for you to try to work around it. Also, the main goal is to always stick to the truth. In any situation, you have to be able to tell the whole truth, even if it conflicts with your work. This practice is one of the main problems in media right now, but if journalists always tell the truth, it is tough not to trust them. It will not be accessible in any way; it is what it will take for journalists to be trusted by the media again. The world needs journalists, and because of that, it needs people to trust them. There are a lot of ethical codes and values that help the journalist to have a better understanding of what exactly they are taken with doing, and they need to stick to those to get journalism back to where it needs to be.