Public relations practitioners are uniquely positioned to promote ethical communication and practice. As Kruckeberg (2000) explained, “public relations practitioners-if they prove worthy of the task—will be called upon to be corporate—that is organizational—interpreters and ethicists and social policy-makers, charged with guiding organizational behavior as well as influencing and reconciling public perceptions within a global context (p. 37).” Public relations practitioners, however, may never take an ethics course as a student, receive on-the-job ethical training, or use the many professional codes of (...) ethics available to them. This lack begs the question: How are they tackling the various ethical decisions they face? This study examines how public relations professionals engage in ethical decision making and make meaning of deontological ethical models. Such inquiry regarding ethical decision making may assist public relations practitioners and scholars to better understand themselves, serve society, and advance the communication profession. (shrink)

To move from the realm of good intent to verifiable practice, ethics needs to be approached in the same way as any other desired outcome of the public relations process: that is, operationalized and evaluated at each stage of a public relations campaign. A pyramid model - the "ethics pyramid" - is useful for incorporating ethical reflection and evaluation processes into the standard structure of a typical public relations plan. Practitioners can use it to integrate and manage ethical intent, means, (...) and ends, by setting ethics objectives, considering the ethics of each campaign tactic, and reporting whether ethical outcomes have been attained. (shrink)

ABSTRACTResearch has found that ethics are most likely to be integrated throughout the curriculum rather than taught as a stand-alone course in public relations. However, this study identified substantial differences in the types of content taught in the two formats on the basis of survey research with 96 educators. Some of the topics that are less likely to be taught outside of an ethics course included other codes of ethics beyond those of the Public Relations Society of America, classical theories (...) by philosophers, decision-making models, the effect of organizational culture and values, and global perspectives on ethics. In addition, few educators reported that they discuss raising ethical concerns in their courses. (shrink)

ABSTRACTSenior public relations executives prefer rational approaches such as research, case studies, and legitimacy appeals when raising ethical concerns to more senior leaders. However, women were more likely than men to seek allies and form coalitions as means for influence. Through in-depth interviews with 34 members of the Public Relations Society of America College of Fellows, this study provides new insights regarding successful and unsuccessful attempts at providing ethics counsel. The role of ethical conscience in public relations was explored through (...) the lens of organizational power and social influence theories. Implications for practice are discussed. (shrink)

The goal of this study was to develop and demonstrate a new ethical model for crisis communication. This article examined the crisis communication practices as well as literature and found essential elements—what, how, and when—for ethical and effective crisis communication. Based on these three variables, a new three‐part model, the TTR Test, was proposed, utilizing three principles: Transparency (what), Two‐way symmetrical communication (how), and Right time (when). To investigate how the test can be applied to the real world, this article (...) examined BP's crisis communication during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. (shrink)

Stakeholder theory contends that organizations owe an obligation to other stakeholder groups that extends beyond shareholders. This study uses stakeholder theory to examine which groups public relations practitioners and journalists attend to as well as which attributes—legitimacy, power, and urgency—they highlight. Content analysis of press releases and news stories found that the stakeholder most frequently mentioned in both press releases and newspapers was the shareholder group. Both press releases and news stories focused more on legitimacy than power or urgency for (...) all stakeholders except government. The findings support criticisms that, in general, business news and corporate communications concentrate on the interests of shareholders. The ethical implications from the perspective of stakeholder theory are discussed. (shrink)

This study conducted the first empirical testing of Baker and Martinson's TARES test of ethical consideration factors for public relations practitioners. The TARES test is composed of 5 interconnected parts: truthfulness of the message, authenticity of the persuader, respect for the persuadee, equity of the appeal, and social responsibility for the common good. Results of an online exploratory survey indicate that the TARES test is better suited for a 3-factor configuration based on Day's definition of moral knowledge and that ethical (...) consideration levels differ based on age, education, gender, and political ideology. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article explores how Charles Taylor’s account of moral personhood and Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot’s account of justificatory regimes can add breadth, depth, and specificity to discussions of ethical dilemmas in public relations. These frameworks are analyzed for their potential to make the following contributions to public relations ethics. First, they convey that there is more to ethics than choosing the right duties and actions. Second, they reveal the diversity of goods that people consider to be ethically worthy and (...) admirable, as well as the complex personal issues involved in ranking these goods. Third, they emphasize that these different goods often need to be articulated and evaluated in different ways. Last, they can either point toward new ways of resolving ethical dilemmas or show why such resolutions are not possible. (shrink)

Attempting to determine solutions for unethical practices in the field, this research was designed to assess the effectiveness of public relations firms’ ethics statements in decreasing the incidence of malpractice. This study revealed an encouraging finding that practitioners working in firms with ethical parameters were significantly more likely to engage in ethical practices. Moreover, educating public relations practitioners about the content of ethics statement could positively influence their ethical practices. At the same time, this study’s findings suggest further questions for (...) consideration in future scholarship and in the application of ethics statements to practice within the field. (shrink)

The ethical behavior has long been a subject of the strategic communication discipline, but in South Africa, there are scarce empirical researches of ethical practice to date. In this paper through interviews with ten South African strategic communication practitioners in diverse organisations. We examine what constitutes ethical communication and the roles of practitioners in guiding the organisation toward considering ethics during a crisis. Findings reveal ten moral compass roles which are categorized into ethical counsel and advocacy role types. Although marked (...) with legal, leaders/clients who want practitioners to compromise on ethical counsel roles, practitioners were defining organisation's ethics role. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis paper offers a framework for ethical analysis of reputation management practices. First, it outlines various articulations of the ethos of digital-age reputation defense as advanced by...

ABSTRACTAdvertising and public relations executives claim the rules for ethical practices are changing. On the basis of 29 in-depth interviews with advertising and public relations executives, and an analysis guided by identity theories and moral justifications, new insights address the most pressing issues faced today, greater opportunities to behave unethically, and the lack of ethics training received. Some of the executives perceive a personal responsibility to be ethical, whereas others adopted a self-interested attitude by suggesting it’s the publishers’ or consumers’ (...) responsibility to make ethical decisions. Emerging marketing practices have increased the need for more ethics training and more sophisticated perspectives on professionalism and virtuous behavior that are also flexible enough to apply to envelope-pushing strategies. (shrink)

ABSTRACTTo support members who frequently grapple with ethical issues, a number of PR professional associations developed models for ethical decision making that they make available to members for reference and professional development purposes. However, the models put forward are, clearly, inadequate for tackling more complex ethical issues. The purpose of this study is thus to supply theoreticians and practitioners with conceptual tools for more effectively thinking through this complexity in ethics decisions. In meeting this objective, we initially set out a (...) conceptual framework that comprises the model’s field of application and theoretical underpinnings, as well as advanced techniques for weighting, balancing interests and managing reputation. In tandem with the theorization, we look at some applications for the conceptual framework through case studies. (shrink)

Dialogues between companies and actors of society often start as a result of a public scandal or in a situation of crisis. They can lead to short-term public relations activism or to long-term reputation gains. On the basis of cases and of a typology of forms of dialogues, the author develops ethical criteria and conditions for a successful dialogue – the ethical basis for such criteria being values such as equality, freedom and participation. A special focus is put on challenges (...) that often result from dialogues such as the ethical judgment of compromises. This article proposes ethical criteria to evaluate compromises. This leads to a model of ethical dialogue. (shrink)

Existing public relations ethics literature often proves inadequate when applied to social movement campaigns, considering the special communication challenges activists face as marginalized moral visionaries in a commercial public sphere. The communications of counter-hegemonic movements is distinct enough from corporate, nonprofit, and governmental organizations to warrant its own ethical guidelines. The unique communication guidelines most relevant to social movement organizations include promoting asymmetrical advocacy to a greater extent than is required for more powerful organizations and building flexibility into the TARES (...) principles to privilege social responsibility over respect for audience values in activist campaigns serving as ideological critique. (shrink)

The public relations industry is increasingly focusing on evaluation and transparency of its activities. Despite this focus, an “evaluation” component is missing from many ethical decision-making models. Thus, this qualitative study of 22 public relations professionals asked How do public relations professionals evaluate or reflect upon ethical decisions? Five themes signaled that practitioners evaluate ethical decisions by conducting “gut checks,” asking questions, considering society, reflecting on core values, and considering the public's feedback. Findings suggest that professionals evaluate decisions on personal, (...) organizational, and societal levels. Experience in the field, age, and personal intuitions are also factors. (shrink)

Scholars have long asserted that public relations (PR) professionals should play the role of organizational conscience, but little research has focused on why and how they play this role effectively. We found that PR professionals who played the role of organizational conscience had broadened conceptions of their roles and responsibilities, including a fervent duty to the public interest. This often put them in the position of providing criticism to powerful organizational players. Rather than raising their ethical concerns as persuasive orators, (...) they used subtle, resourceful, and experiential approaches to persuasion. Playing the role of organizational conscience typically necessitated gaining access to informal coalitions since access to dominant power coalitions often was limited or late. Organizations with participative cultures supported the role of organizational conscience. (shrink)