Feb.6th Can PR Ever Be Ethical

Today’s discussion focused on ethics in public relations. Through a series of exercises, we analyzed PR cases which questioned the ethics of PR practitioners. A difficult conflict of interest that was discussed was the morals of the practitioner. Is the practitioner’s sole obligation to the company and its reputation if the publics interests is at stake? In my opinion, it is the responsibility of a good PR practitioner to balance both. Practitioners need to hold the publics interest in high regard while representing a company as best as possible.

The most memorable exercise in class involved reviewing a case in which a director of an international company used the phrase “nigger in a woodpile” in the public sphere while representing the company. The class was posed with the responsibility of coming up with reasons as to why he should or should not be fired. There were a few students in the class who believed that the Director should be fired for being so irresponsible as to use such a phrase in public while representing the company. They saw him as a potential risk to the company’s values and reputation. The arguments against him being fired where that if he made an honest mistake and didn’t mean for the comment to be taken offensively then he should be reprimanded, not fired.

Although his comments have racially insensitive roots, the director probably did not mean the comment to be taken offensively because maybe it is a popular saying where he is from. But I also believe that as a director of a company, you set an example for the employees and represent the overall values of the company. Therefore, he should not have made those statements. However, I am still undecided as to whether or not he should have been fired. Often times when something like that happens within an organization, the offender will issue a public apology and maybe be required to some sort of cultural communication or sensitivity classes. However, I believe that it is under the discretion of the CEO to determine the punishment of the offender. If the director were to stay in his position it would send out a message to the public and employees that this type of behavior will be tolerated. This will not do anything positive for the company’s reputation. Therefore, keeping the director would run a potential risk to the company.

This class reminded me of the essay for the PR codes that we wrote last semester. I believe that PR can be ethical, but it depends on the practitioners. A profession cannot be ethical if ethical people are not working. Therefore, it is important for companies to hire individuals who have a good record or train new graduates on what is appropriate and what is not in the PR world. By joining professional organizations such as the Public Relations Society of America and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, it hold members responsible for their actions and creates a unified code of ethics amongst its members.