the ethics of public relations: black and white or 50 shades of grey? yes, satisfyingly dark – but...
TRANSCRIPT
The Ethics of Public Relations:
Black and white or 50 shades of grey?
Yes, satisfyingly Dark – but is it right?
Can you have PR without ethics?
• Yes. But:• PR has the power to shape opinion on a large
scale. This brings responsibilities. • People are already dubious about the truth.
Upholding values (honesty, openness, integrity, doing no harm etc) counters that.
• If PR is done without considering what is right, eventually the public, the client or the PR themselves suffer.
What ethics in PR is NOT
• Getting away with it when you know it is wrong.
• Doing what has always been done because that’s the way things are done.
• Doing whatever the ‘client’ tells you is right (hierarchy or private client).
• Abiding by the letter of the law and nothing else.
How do you tell something is ethical?
•Common model: the ‘Five pillars’:
1 Tell the truth.2 Non-malfeasance (do no harm).3 Benificence (do good).4 Confidentiality. Respect privacy. 5 Fairness.
In practice
•Conflicts in decisions are inevitable. Question of weighing up values, loyalties, principles.
•How? Common method is the ‘Potter Box’:- Define the situation. Get the facts. - Identify what values apply (honesty, fairness
etc)- Choose which principles are used (the law? Company policy? Code of conduct?)- Choose your loyalties (prioritise
stakeholders). •Make your decision and make it known.
A personal example: an ethical place?
•Senior PR at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
•Daily press contact.•Nearly every decision had an ethical
component.
The Good Stuff
Ethics
• Facts easy to obtain, situation easy to define.
• Values: truth-telling, benificence (‘miracle’ or £), non-malfeasance.
• Principles: Trust policy on consent, the law.• Loyalties are unified: the patient, the Trust,
the media, the public. Everyone wants to see a sick child get better and smiling. But...
The Bad Stuff
Ethics
• Facts easy to obtain, situation easy to define.
• Values: truth-telling, benificence, non-malfeasance.
• Principles: Trust policy on consent, the law.• Loyalties can be divided: the patient, the
Trust, the media. First two outweigh third.
The Really Bad Stuff
Ethics
• Facts may be hard to obtain in available time, situation may be unknown.
• Values usually apparent: truth-telling, benificence, non-malfeasance. But without the full facts, how do you tell the consequences?
• Principles usually easy: Trust policies, the law.• Loyalties often divided: the Trust, the media. First
usually outweighs the second. But always? Mid Staffs? Barrow? Where managers are failing?
A Really Bad Example
What happened?
• Facts were not obtained in available time. Management clammed up.
• Values apparent: truth-telling, benificence, non-malfeasance. But without the facts, impossible to gauge.
• Principles: Trust policies, the law.• Loyalties completely divided: the Trust, the
media. Placed in an impossible position.
FAILURE
• Story went ahead without a good counter-argument (facts unknown).
• Loyalties were questioned internally.• Breakdown in client-PR relationship: external
‘experts’ brought in, in-house team marginalised. Trust senior managers shot themselves in the foot by not allowing an ethical decision.
• Change of CEO, hardening of attitudes, worsening of PR for the Trust as a whole.
Is PR Good for Journalism?
Yes
• Many shades of grey.• Ethical decision making is important: some
common values with journalism, some important differences but both place value in telling the truth and not doing harm.
• Can be done in a practical, reliable way.• Professionalism and a defined ethical code
are important to support that.• As is a peer network: NUJ
