Public Relations, for a long time has been considered amongst critics as an industry which lacks ethics, built upon manipulation, persuasion and spin. “Current research supports a historical trend of associating public relations with all things unethical-lying, spin-doctoring, and even espionage.”[1] Ethics or the perceived lack of ethics, is a continuing and controversial issue within the industry. Professional and ethical codes therefore play an important role in ascertaining to critics that the industry is indeed an ethical one. In order to analyse the purpose and effectiveness of professional codes in the public relations arena, codes implemented by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Institute of Public Relation (IPR) shall be considered in more depth.
Codes of ethics are familiar and fundamental to all professions, the public relations industry is no exception. This is because “ethics are the foundations for values and ideals and therefore form an important part of organisational culture. Ethics are a part of organisational identity and of course a vital part of the organisation’s reputational stance.”[2] However, code of conduct or ethics have a somewhat different purpose and thus impact upon the public relations industry. The industry faces difficulty in being recognised as a profession on an equal footing to other more traditional professions such as that of medicine or law. Other professions and the general public view the PR industry to be dishonest and ‘sleazy’, lacking in integrity. Shannon A. Bowden gives an example of this; “One of the most notable headlines was the representation of ‘Citizens for a free Kuwait’ by well-known public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, who created a false testimony delivered to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. News broke later that the Kuwaiti government sponsored this front group in order to convince the US to enter the 1992 Gulf War. Critics charge that Hill & Knowlton was successful in this effort because of its disregard of ethics. In the wake of controversy, one Hill and Knowlton executive notoriously reminded staff “we’d represent Satan if he paid”.”[3] The industry has a tarnished image. They provide a form of regulation, acting as a form of deterrent from the stereo-typical image of a tarnished, dishonest, unruly industry. Codes of ethics provide structure and give clients and the public a standard to hold the industry up to. They provide moral and practical expectations. Therefore codes of conduct or ethics provide a sense of stability and integrity. In turn this allows for public relations organisations and officers to secure “the respect and recognition they deserve from the public.”[4] This instils a level of professionalism and trust within the industry, something which every profession must possess. Jacquie L’Etang states that the code of ethics can be seen as “a badge of respectability and a sign of professionalism.”[5]
Both the PRSA and the IPR codes of practice attempt to position the public relations industry as a respectable profession. Professionalism is a fundamental purpose of the codes. The PRSA has a section entitled ‘enhancing the profession’ within in its code of ethics. In this section it states; “public relations professionals work constantly to strengthen the public’s trust in the profession.”[6] The IPR have a similar section named ‘maintaining professional standards’, here it asserts its purpose of “identifying and closing professional skill gaps through the Institute’s Continuous Professional Development programme.”[7] By inserting professionalism as a key feature of the codes, the PRSA and IPR hope to gain trust from the public, deeming it a professional industry.
The PRSA and IPR may however be ineffective in achieving this. Having a code of ethics to promote professionalism can only be taken seriously and truly considered effective if the codes can be enforced. A public relations person is not required to join any particular association to practice public relations as a profession and so membership to these organisations is voluntary not compulsory. A large amount of public relations practitioners are not members of any particular organisations such as those of the PRSA or IPR and so are not accountable to any sets of codes of ethics. This is a major flaw. No organisation can promote professionalism within an industry as a whole, if members of that profession do not have to join a governing organisation of that industry, thus rendering the effectiveness of codes useless in the grand scheme of PR. This then leaves the industry open to loopholes. If a public relations practitioner can only be reprimanded for breaking the codes of ethics if they are a member, then the wrongdoer will simply discontinue their membership and thus face no consequence. Jacquie L’Etang writes that “IPR members often resign before they could be expelled. As James Derriman, Managing Director of Charles Baker City and Chairman of the Institute’s Professional Practices Committee commented, “[un]fortunately, in more cases than one during my period with the committee it has not been possible to take effective action because the practitioner responsible has ceased to be in membership”.[8] The code is therefore rendered useless. It is unenforceable. “Codes are presumed to be for the benefit of society, but can only be so if misdemeanours are punished and sanctions applied to those who transgress the code. If an occupation is unable to enforce its code, or seems reluctant to do so, then the code is no more than a window dressing.”[9] Therefore the claims of critics that the PR industry is not a professional one may be warranted. The industry is not able to enforce its own codes, and so is reduced to being merely an attempt to show the industry in a professional light. By not having the means to enforce such codes, the codes remain simply an attempt to grab at the notion of professionalism, ineffective in actually achieving it. The IPR and PRSA must make more effort to explain and educate PR professionals to the advantages of being members. If more professionals join and continue their membership even in the face of difficulty such as when codes of ethics are broken, then perhaps the organisations will be better positioned to enforce their codes.
It seems that codes of ethics were introduced to curtail the tarnished image of the PR industry. They aimed to regulate the business, providing a sense of professionalism and gaining respect form the public and critics alike. However the codes provide no real practical method to implement moralistic ideas of integrity, fairness, honesty and loyalty. They have been left open to interpretation by the individual practitioner. Even if the codes are not complied with there is no real, concrete way of enforcing them. “There is no magical code of conduct that will solve all ethical concerns experienced by public relations professionals. Anyone who offers the one-size-fits-all ethical solution is viewing the context of public relations too simplistically.” Public relations practitioners represent different stakeholders, each of which will have a different expectation to what is considered ethical. Therefore not all parties can ever be ethically satisfied. Ethics in the field of public relations are governed by the ethics of the individual professional rather than a code of ethics, regardless of its well-meaning intentions. The codes of the PRSA and IPR have been a sound attempt in encouraging an ethical approach to public relations, but in reality it serves no practical use in achieving this. The codes are too wide and open to interpretation. Instead they have been used to try and place the public relations industry amongst other more traditional professions .
[1] Bowen, S., (2007). Ethics and Public Relations. [online] Available from: http://www.instituteforpr.org/essential_knowledge/detail/ethics_and_public_relations/
[2] L’Etang, J.,(2009) Public Relations; Concepts, Practice and Critique. London; Sage Publications, p88.
[3] Bowen, S., (2007). Ethics and Public Relations. [online] Available from: http://www.instituteforpr.org/essential_knowledge/detail/ethics_and_public_relations/
[4] L’Etang, J,.(2004). Public Relations In Britain. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. p163.
[5] L’Etang, J,.(2004). Public Relations In Britain. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. p163.
[6] PRSA Code of Ethics [online] Available from: http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/ethics/preamble_en.html
[7] IPR Code of Ethics [online] Available from: http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:umoYpFlNbDQJ:www.media-accountability.org/library/UK_IPR_Code.doc+ipr+codes+of+ethics+2000&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
[8] L’Etang, J,.(2004). Public Relations In Britain. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. p183
[9] L’Etang, J,.(2004). Public Relations In Britain. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. P158
