As BL Ochman's new Ethics Crisis blog and the 55-comment thread sparked by Neville Hobson's Symbiosis post suggest, ethics is a popular topic in the PR blogosphere, not least when ethics is taken to mean 'telling the truth.' From former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie's much quoted suggestion that ethics is 'somewhere east of London where men wear white socks' upwards, everyone has an opinion on what is right and wrong, but research shows that many PR practitioners lack any training in how to make ethical decisions.
Here is a very brief guide to some of the basic principles... It is not academic, it is not comprehensive but hopefully it is a starting point.
Basic principles for ethical decision-making
Morals seek to distinguish between right and wrong, ethics can be seen as the expression of moral decisions through character and action.
Principles for ethical action can be seen as operating on three levels
1. The law or other forms of legislation/ regulation (for PR this can include defamation, trade descriptions, copyright etc)
2. Social norms and conventions, the spirit of the law, professional codes
3. Actions that make the world a better place
Types of ethical dilemma
1 Those involving professional practice – how you conduct business (client confidentiality, paying bills on time, not promising what you can’t deliver)
2 Those involving honesty and truthfulness of messages - accuracy, competence, fairness (but not necessarily balance)
3 Those that affect wider society: responses to promoting messages surrounding issues such as abortion, smoking, climate change, obesity etc
Ethical judgements can be based on:
The quality of the action: Adherence to duty, principle and obligation (deontological), centres on action not consequence. If it is wrong to lie, to break promises etc, it is always wrong to do so (do unto others as you would have done unto you; Kant).
• Drawback: if lying is wrong it is always wrong, so you can’t lie to save a life
The consequence of an action or decision (teleological)
Although lying is usually wrong it is seen as the correct thing to do if the consequence is good, if it achieves “the greatest good for the greatest number” (Utilitarianism).
• Drawback – who judges what is good and how do you measure ‘goodness’ (utility)?
It is very difficult indeed to resolve fundamental conflict between consequential and non-consequential ethics
Ethical judgments can fall into three categories
Professionalism
Some commentators place strong emphasis on establishing agreed standards of professional behaviour, for example as set out in the CIPR Code of Conduct etc. Professionalism is closely linked to trust.
- Weaknesses: codes are hard to enforce, not everyone is a member of a professional body
Truthfulness and validity of messages
At the heart of much of the debate on PR ethics are issues of truthfulness and accuracy, and linked to transparency. Unfortunately telling the whole truth is difficult in any situation and as PRs are paid to present positive messages they naturally achieve this through telling partial truths, stressing the good, not mentionng the bad, and in doing so illustrating how difficult it is to draw a line between persuasion and propaganda.
- Weaknesses: those who (can afford to) employ the best PRs have the loudest voices
Society
It is possible to practice legally and within the code of conduct but for an organisation/ cause that is not in the best interest of society:
“Practitioners who knowingly support harmful activities violate their wider duty to society and this higher duty must take precedence”
Anne Gregory in Exploring Public Relations by Tench and Yeomans (2006:296)
This area might also include the wider role of business/ organisations in wider context (Corporate Social Responsibility etc).
Overall, one can argue that ethical practitioners gain a good reputation which in turn enhances the effectiveness of that business/ organisation; others would say that motivation is key to ethical action and self-interest is not an ethical motivation
When grappling with an ethical decision it is useful to establish where Duty lies; is it primarily ...
• Duty to self?
• Duty to client/ organisation?
• Duty to profession?
• Duty to society?
Models for ethical decision-making
RR Sims (1992: Journal of Business Ethics, cited in Gregory) suggests Seven Steps to ethical decision-making.
1. Recognise and clarify the problem
2. Get all the possible facts
3. Test each option by asking: Is it legal?’ Is it right?’ Is it beneficial?
4. Make your decision
5. Double check by asking: how would I feel if my family found out about this?
6. How would I feel if my decision was printed in the local paper?
7 Take action
Simple, but not a bad starting point...
A very good commentary, Philip. I'm sure you'll be interested in a new study just out from the IABC Research Foundation on "The Business of Truth: A Guide to Ethical Communication."
One key finding - communicators are divided over their advisory role to senior management on addressing ethical issues.
See the IABC press release for more info:
http://news.iabc.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=95
Posted by: Neville Hobson | May 11, 2006 at 07:44 PM
Brilliant site for someone like me trying to learn more. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Anerporse | October 17, 2008 at 07:21 PM
hey thanku for the very useful information i am studying masters in dispute resolution currently and found this very helpful
Posted by: megan george | January 05, 2009 at 07:24 AM