PUBLIC RELATIONS ETHICS

INSTRUCTOR: ATHAR ALI KHAN

 PUBLIC RELATIONS ETHICS
 PR professionals are often under fire for distorting the truth or
withholding information.
 Ethical public relations call for upholding transparency when
dealing with any information, sensitive or not.
 Blurring fact and fiction can cause a serious rift in credibility
and tarnish a firm's reputation.
 Public relations can influence and build positive relationships
and reputation while unethical communication can erode
public trust and potentially create a crisis situation.
PUBLIC RELATIONS SOCIETY OF AMERICA & PR ETHICS

Most PR practitioners in the US look to PRSA’s code of ethics

to guide our behaviors and our decision-making. The six core
professional values in PR are:
Honesty: Providing accurate and truthful information — the
foundation of earning public trust.
Advocacy: Providing views from different sides and/or people
and all relevant facts so people can make informed decisions.
Independence: Taking responsibility for your own actions,
providing objective counsel.
Expertise: Acquiring knowledge and using critical thinking
to maintain credibility as an expert and earn a trusting
relationship between those you represent and the public.

Loyalty: Respect and maintain loyalty to those you counsel

and represent, but not at the expense of the public interest.

Fairness: Respecting and considering all views and

opinions.
 UNETHICAL COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS

According to Redding’s (1996) typology of unethical communications,

there are six general categories of unethical communication:
Coercive: Behavior reflecting abuse of power. For example, intolerance
or refusal to listen to others’ opinions, freedom of speech constraints,
quashing dissenting discussions.
Destructive: Aggressive or misuse of information to make others feel
inferior. This includes things like derogatory insinuations, epithets,
distasteful jokes, character assassination.
Deceptive: Dishonest and misleading messages. For example,
euphemisms intended to obscure defects or deeds, deliberate
ambiguity, weaponizing truth, concealing or covering up displeasing
facts.
Intrusive: Communication that invades or denies others’ rights to privacy.
This includes listening to others’ phone messages, reading someone else’s
files, employer surveillance of workers and other forms of corporate
intrusion.

Secretive: Nonverbal communication. For example, intentional

unresponsiveness, manipulating a message to skew how the reader interprets
it, culpable silence (purposefully preventing information from being given).

Manipulative: Communicating without concern for the public interest or

otherwise preventing the receiver from knowing the actual intentions behind
a message. This includes demagoguery (exploiting people’s fears, ignorance
or prejudices for gain) or using a patronizing or condescending tone.