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Abbreviated Literature Review

In human communication, public relations ethics is critical. Organizations build respect

as a result of it. It helps in building of trusting relationships between corporations and the general

public. You can use ethical procedures to assist you succeed in public relations. The public

relations agencies should have to follow an ethics code in order to provide dependable services

to the public (Haque & Ahmad, 2017). Companies must guarantee that ethical codes are applied

practically for the interests of all parties. The responsible advocating model is one of the most

contemporary ethical ideas in the public relations. The model emphasizes on the roles of public

relations professionals. It lies on three essential public relations ethical considerations: cost -

benefit analysis, personal integrity, as well as distributive fairness (Haque & Ahmad, 2017). It

advocates for the prevention of any potentially damaging information, as well as the preservation

of the interest of the public, human dignity, and communications fairness. Ethics is the tenth

component of public relations success, according to Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier (Haque &

Ahmad, 2017). When public relations ethics and accountability are ensured, it provides an

important communication role to corporations, nations, and the entire planet. Persuasion benefits

both organizations and the general population. The welfare of all parties is ensured via ethical

public relations.

Modern public relations blends self-interested persuasion strategies with genuine concern

for others. The techniques of this collaborative effort are more effective than public relations

initiatives that are only for the advantage of the companies. Public relations professionals work

to foster individuals and organizations which must work together to achieve mutual

understanding as well as peaceful coexistence. Ethics is a set of values that determines correct or

incorrect, good or bad, and fair or unfair. It is the process of creating sound decisions based on
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sound reasoning (Haque & Ahmad, 2017). The ability to distinguish right from wrong, goodness

from evil, and appropriateness from impropriety is one of the two dimensions of ethics. The

resolve to do what is right, fair, and appropriate is the second. Ethics govern people's behavior. It

has several functions in various aspects of human life. Personal ethics governs individual

conduct, while professional ethics governs the behavior of professionals in diverse fields (Haque

& Ahmad, 2017). The importance of ethics in public relations cannot be overstated. Honesty,

transparency, loyalty, fairness, respect, integrity, as well as direct communication, are all part of

it.

Public relations has become one of the world's fastest-growing areas of professional

employment. The public relations profession is continually adapting to the community's needs,

which results in a wide range of definitions from various persons and organizations from various

countries (Kent & Li, 2019). As a result, the number of ethical quandaries in public relations

keeps rising. Withholding communications data, direct and indirect paying for "independent" as

well as "objective" thoughts and experiences, biased methods and loyalty, media manipulation,

bailing out and promoting questionable companies, the financial support of front organizations

by various industries are some of the ethical issues which can be found in public relations

(Ikonen et al., 2016). The Membership Statement of Professional Values is the foundation of the

Public Relations Society of America's Code of Ethics. Advocacy, integrity, expertise,

individuality, loyalty, and justice are among these values. Improving the Profession, Conflict of

Interest, Protecting Confidentiality, Disclosure of Personal information, Competitiveness, and

Free Flow Information all are covered by the PRSA Members Code of Ethics (Ikonen et al.,

2016). The Principle of Equality and the Concept of Free Flow Information is, in my opinion, the

most significant of the values and principles described above.

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According to the Free Flow of Information Basic Principle, "Protecting and advancing

the free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to serving the public interest and

contributing to informed decision making in a democratic society." This, in my opinion, implies

that the members should be truthful in all proceedings, swiftly correct any incorrect information,

and ensure that the free information flow is maintained and balanced (Ikonen et al., 2016). Henry

Mintzberg's presentation of the five conceptions of strategy, encompassing strategy as a plan,

pattern, position, perspective, as well as a ploy, piqued my curiosity. Strategy, like a plan, is

focused on establishing parameters to establish an organization's vision. As a pattern, strategy is

made up of various actions carried out by businesses in a consistent manner (Kent & Li, 2019).

As a perspective, strategy examines how businesses engage with their surrounding environment

and how they place themselves in the marketplace. I believe that as time goes on, ethical

concerns in public relations will develop and change (Kent & Li, 2019). What is unethical today

may not be unethical tomorrow. As a result, it is critical for journalists and PR professionals to

concentrate on the numerous current public relations issues to adapt to change.

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References

Haque, M. S., & Ahmad, J. (2017). Ethics in Public Relations and Responsible Advocacy

Theory. Jurnal Komunikasi, Malaysian Journal of Communication, 33(1), 147–157.

https://doi.org/10.17576/jkmjc-2017-3301-10

Ikonen, P., Luoma-aho, V., & Bowen, S. A. (2016). Transparency for Sponsored Content:

Analysing Codes of Ethics in Public Relations, Marketing, Advertising and Journalism.

International Journal of Strategic Communication, 11(2), 165–178.

https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2016.1252917

Kent, M. L., & Li, C. (2019). Toward a normative social media theory for public relations.

Public Relations Review, 46(1), 101857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.101857