Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice - Softcover

Parsons, Patricia J

Softcover

ISBN 10: 074944276X ISBN 13: 9780749442767

Publisher: Kogan Page, 2004

Synopsis

Praise and Reviews

"This book on ethics is long overdue. Thoughtful yet thoroughly practical, it will help public relations professionals tussling with ethical dilemmas. The ethical decision-making models will be especially useful."

Mike Granatt, FIPR, Partner, Luther Pendragon; former Director General of the Government Information and Communications Service (GICS), Canada

Ethical questions and dilemmas are inherent to public relations, and ensuring that practitioners operate ethically is fundamental to the professionalism and credibility of the field. Ethics in Public Relations gives readers the tools and knowledge to enable them to make defensible decisions, and outlines the important ethical concerns in public relations and corporate communications.

Written in a practical and approachable style, this is not another 'tome' on ethical theory but rather a clear insight into the personal and professional issues that affect public relations practitioners. It examines how an individual's sense of morality has an impact on decision-making and ethical business behaviour. Overall, the purpose of Ethics in Public Relations is threefold:

to provide a framework for understanding important ethical issues in public relations and corporate communications now and in the future

to help develop an attitude that supports the concept that ethics are key to professionalism and credibility in the field

to assist in everyday ethical decision-making

Written by a leading academic in the field, this practical and engaging title is a must-have for any public relations practitioner or student who wants a framework that relates underlying ethical theories to everyday issues.

About this title

About the Author

Patricia J Parsons APR, FCPRS spent 26 years as a faculty member and former chairman in the Department of Communication Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada retiring recently as a (full) Professor. Her research, writing and teaching focused on public relations ethics and strategy, and healthcare communication.

Patricia Parsons is the author of a dozen books and numerous papers for the professional and lay press. She is accredited in public relations and is a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society's College of Fellows.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Part 1 What lies beneath...

Chapter 1 Before we begin: new profession... or one of the oldest?

Public relations ethics: oxymoron?

A tarnished history

Defining our terms

A profession or professionalism?

Aspiring to professionalism

Measuring your professionalism quotient

Chapter 2 A tangled web: the truth about PR ethics

An epidemic of lying

The 'truth' in public relations

Predicting honesty on the job

Truth telling as a principle of behaviour

Chapter 3 To do no harm: the issue of trust

Truth and trust

The limits of organizational responsibility

To whom are you loyal?

Chapter 4 Whose rights are right?

Rights and responsibilities

When my right conflicts with yours

Conflicting rights in public relations

Chapter 5 The trouble with rules

Rules rule our lives

Those darn deontologists

The real trouble with rules

'Situations alter cases'

Moral relativism and situations

The problem with situations

Chapter 6 Robin Hood ethics

What the heck is 'utilitarianism?

Motives be damned

Problems with Robin Hood

Part 2 Ethics and the practitioner...

Chapter 7 Your staircase to respect

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Still the moral child

The moral child grows up

An ethical litmus test?

More than good manners: ethics and etiquette

Morality and your level of competence

Chapter 8 The good, the bad and the almost ugly: ethics codes

Codes as contracts

Minimum standards or ideals?

Who needs codes, anyway?

A global code?

Relying on a personal code

Using personal values

Developing your own code

Chapter 9 Sex and the single (or not) PR practitioner: conflict of interest

Defining a conflict

Sleeping with... the enemy?

Practicalities before ethics

Outside conflicts

Personal relationships and ethical principles

Other conflict situations

Chapter 10 You... against the world

A dilemma you don't need

A continuum of tattling

How to be a whistleblower

Tattling

The temptations of moonlighting

Part 3 Strategies and dilemmas...

Chapter 11 Media relations: breeding ground for ethical problems

Ethics of the relationship

Honesty in media relations

Media access and ethics

Journalists have codes, too

Aspects of ethical media relations

Chapter 12 Persuasion -- or propaganda?

Engineering consent

Ethical persuasion... an oxymoron?

PR for biker gangs?

Any client, any time?

The advocate arises

The 'right' to PR counsel

Sneaky propaganda

A war of words

The pitfalls of euphemism

Doublespeak

The 'controlled lexicon'

The vocabulary of public relations

Persuasion by lobby

Transparency versus obfuscation

Chapter 13 Good causes and bad taste

'Aware' of the issues

A staple of community relations

From good causes to good taste

Chapter 14 PR and plagiarism

A PR practice

Defining plagiarism

Crossing the line

Part 4 Organizations, ethics and public relations

Chapter 15 The true reality of everyday ethics: making decisions

Why make a decision at all?

The best you can hope for

Ethical dilemmas: not all the same

Decision steps

Making those ethical decisions in PR

A case in point

Other approaches

Criteria for second guessing

PR practitioners as ethical decision-makers

The researcher told us so

Chapter 16 PR and the corporate ethics programme

Organizational ethics/PR ethics: not the same thing

Ethics as window-dressing

Social responsibility defined

Public relations' role

Chapter 17 Making business accountable: the 'new breed' of PR

Back to the classroom

Teaching and learning

Learning about ethics

Drawing to a conclusion

Edition details

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 074944276X
• ISBN 13: 9780749442767
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192