Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice

by Parsons, Patricia J.

• ISBN13: 9780749442767
• ISBN10: 074944276X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Kogan Page Ltd

Summary

Unique practical knowledge and tools to help the reader understand the ethical dilemmas inherent in PR

Table of Contents

List of figures	ix
About the Institute of Public Relations	x
About the author	xi
About the consultant editor	xii
Foreword	xiii
Preface	xiv
Part one: What lies beneath
1 Before we begin: new profession... or one of the oldest?	3	(12)
Public relations ethics: oxymoron?	4	(1)
A tarnished history	5	(3)
Defining our terms	8	(2)
A profession or professionalism?	10	(1)
Aspiring to professionalism	11	(1)
Measuring your professionalism quotient	12	(3)
2 A tangled web: the 'truth' about PR ethics	15	(10)
An epidemic of lying	16	(1)
The 'truth' in public relations	16	(3)
Predicting honesty on the job	19	(2)
Truth telling as a principle of behaviour	21	(4)
3 To do no harm: the issue of trust	25	(6)
Truth and trust	25	(1)
The limits of organizational responsibility	26	(2)
To whom are you loyal?	28	(3)
4 Whose rights are right?	31	(6)
Rights and responsibilities	32	(1)
When my right conflicts with yours	33	(1)
Conflicting rights in public relations	34	(3)
5 The trouble with rules	37	(6)
Rules rule our lives	37	(1)
Those darn deontologists	38	(1)
The real trouble with rules	39	(1)
'Situations alter cases'	40	(1)
Moral relativism and situations	41	(1)
The problem with situations	42	(1)
6 Robin Hood ethics	43	(8)
What the heck is 'utilitarianism'?	44	(1)
Motives be damned	45	(1)
Problems with Robin Hood	46	(5)
Part two: Ethics and the practitioner
7 Your staircase to respect	51	(16)
R-E-S-P-E-C-T	51	(2)
Still the moral child	53	(1)
The moral child grows up	54	(2)
An ethical litmus test?	56	(2)
More than good manners: ethics and etiquette	58	(3)
Morality and your level of competence	61	(6)
8 The good, the bad and the (almost) ugly: ethics codes	67	(10)
Codes as contracts	68	(1)
Minimum standards or ideals?	68	(1)
Who needs codes, anyway?	69	(1)
A global code?	70	(1)
Relying on a personal code	71	(2)
Using personal values	73	(1)
Developing your own code	74	(3)
9 Sex and the single (or not) PR practitioner: conflict of interest	77	(10)
Defining a conflict	78	(1)
Sleeping with... the enemy?	78	(1)
Practicalities before ethics	79	(2)
Outside conflicts	81	(1)
Personal relationships and ethical principles	82	(1)
Other conflict situations	82	(5)
10 You... against the world	87	(10)
A dilemma you don't need	87	(1)
A continuum of tattling	88	(1)
How to be a whistleblower	89	(2)
Tattling	91	(1)
The temptations of moonlighting	91	(6)
Part three: Strategies and dilemmas...
11 Media relations: breeding ground for ethical problems	97	(8)
Ethics of the relationship	98	(1)
Honesty in media relations	99	(1)
Media access and ethics	100	(1)
Journalists have codes, too	101	(1)
Aspects of ethical media relations	102	(3)
12 Persuasion... or propaganda?	105	(14)
Engineering consent	106	(1)
Ethical persuasion... an oxymoron?	107	(1)
PR for biker gangs?	108	(1)
Any client, any time?	108	(1)
The advocate arises	109	(1)
The 'right' to PR counsel	110	(1)
Sneaky propaganda	111	(1)
A war of words	111	(1)
The pitfalls of euphemism	112	(1)
Doublespeak	113	(1)
The 'controlled lexicon'	114	(1)
The vocabulary of public relations	114	(1)
Persuasion by lobby	115	(1)
Transparency versus obfuscation	116	(3)
13 Good causes and bad taste	119	(10)
'Aware' of the issues	119	(1)
A staple of community relations	120	(1)
Seeking a good fit	121	(3)
From good causes to good taste	124	(5)
14 PR and plagiarism	129	(8)
A PR practice	129	(1)
Defining plagiarism	130	(1)
Crossing the line	131	(6)
Part four: Organizations, ethics and public relations
15 The true reality of everyday ethics: making decisions	137	(20)
Why make a decision at all?	138	(1)
The best you can hope for	139	(1)
Ethical dilemmas: not all the same	140	(1)
Decision steps	141	(3)
Making those ethical decisions in PR	144	(3)
A case in point	147	(2)
Other approaches	149	(1)
Criteria for second guessing	149	(4)
PR practitioners as ethical decision-makers	153	(1)
The researcher told us so	153	(4)
16 PR and the corporate ethics programme	157	(6)
Organizational ethics/PR ethics: not the same thing	157	(1)
Ethics as window-dressing	158	(1)
Social responsibility defined	159	(1)
Public relations' role	160	(3)
17 Making business accountable: the 'new breed' of PR	163	(6)
Back to the classroom	164	(1)
Teaching and learning	165	(1)
Learning about ethics	166	(2)
Drawing to a conclusion	168	(1)
Appendix 1: For your bookshelf	169	(4)
Appendix 2: Institute for public relations code of conduct	173	(4)
Appendix 3: Guidelines for the ethics audit	177	(4)
Index	181