Have You No Ethics, Sir? D8

And the topic du jour is...public relations ethics!

Why is it important to be ethical in public relations? Well, I think I've covered part of this issue in my week 2 post, but the gist of it is this: a PR practitioner communicates with the public on behalf of an organisation or client. If a PR practitioner is not ethical, or does not do things in a ethical way, this reflects back negatively on the company or individual the practitioner represents. And, really, who is going to hire or reccommend someone who preject a negative image on them?

Morals aside, it's just poor business practice.

Furthermore, as public relations becomes an increasingly key part of organisations, it moves more and more into the public's eye. The more the public notice it and note it as important, the more they are likely to keep an eye on it for wrongdoings. Once upon a time, when PR was low-key, the public may not have been as stringent about the doings of a PR department or practitioner. However, this is not the case today, and PR departments and practitioners no longer have that shroud of public ignorance to hide behind.

And as I've mentioned behavioural sciences in the previous post, it is important to note that a public would be less predisposed to support a company that is unethical than one that is ethical in its doings and beliefs. Therefore, Lee's statement (as quoted in the course text) that "a purely selfish policy is not a good policy" makes sense.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For starters, what are ehics?

Ethics are said to be a standard of behaviour that is concerned with "good" behaviour and attitudes, as well as the consideration of how one's behaviours as an individual or a group affect the wellbeing of others' or society. It involves one's sense of what is considered good or bad, just or unjust, right or wrong, and the values and beliefs that are supported by the above system.

Ethical behaviour in an organisation might be where the organisation takes steps to be environmentally-friendly by recycling its corporate waste, using engery- and environmentally-friendly products or machinery in its everyday function. Or perhaps providing employees with health benefits, maternity benefits and packages for its female employees, special leave circumstances or emotional wellbeing services.

Unethical behaviour can constitute poor environmental awareness, lack of caring towards employees, lying to the public, or supporting (be it direct or indirectly) corporations or individuals thought to be unethical in the public scope, just to name a few.

So, how does one be ethical? Well, there are several schools of thought on the subject, which answer the question depending on the direction you want to be headed in, as there are many ways to be ethical.

The course reader lists the following:
- Virtue theorists would consider "what kind of person should I be?"
- Deontologists would consider "what are my duties?"
- Consequentialists would consider "how should the world be?"

The answer, therefore, depends on which question you ask, which in turn depnds on which areas of ethics you subscribe to.

And as I've mentioned already in my week 2 post, what is more important than being ethical is to remain ethical. It's no use to put up an ethical front when you first start business, only to lapse into unethical behaviour shortly after. Consistency is key.