When working in the field of public relations, there is no doubt that you will be confronted with an ethical dilemma. As PR practitioners, we have a lot of power in shaping narratives across politics, business, medicine, and other domains. This requires careful and ongoing planning and consideration. Ethics are integral to public relations. In today's video, my purpose is just to pause and to think more in depth about ethics in public relations practice. For your reference, I've included some readings here on ethics and public relations. For decades now, the profession of public relations has tried to combat the public perception of manipulation and dishonesty. We have always tried to separate ourselves and our profession from others deemed dishonest and not credible, like advertising. However, professionals in public relations have been caught in the act of unethical behavior and unbecoming behavior of a public relations professional. We make mistakes, humans make mistakes, brands make mistakes. But hopefully by thinking through some of the common pitfalls in public relations, you won't make as many mistakes in practice. Public relations was born of deception in the days of P. T. Barnum. We have worked really hard since then at legitimatizing the profession. Due to the globalization of business and mass media, public relations often services a worldwide audience while meeting the demands of the instantaneous information age. With the global economies biggest growth periods ahead, PR is most profitable days may be just on the horizon. To be successful, PR practitioners are required to make intelligent split-second decisions on situations laden with ethical dilemmas. This requirement is the same for practitioners in an agency, corporate, solo practitioners or consultant, or even a government or public affairs job setting. In 2003, FleishmanHillard's Los Angeles office, was involved in a controversy over the agency's three million dollars public relations contract with the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles, California. This began as a controversy over political contributions, but quickly turned into an issue of over billing. The Los Angeles Times reported in July of 2004, that seven former FleishmanHillard employees said they were encouraged to inflate bills to the Department of Water and Power, a practice adopted for commercial clients. In 2005, FleishmanHillard agreed to pay 5.7 million to settle the lawsuit brought by the city of Los Angeles. Another industry example is Ketchum's role in placing media stories for Russia. They place some op-eds in CNBC and the Huffington Post. Ketchum is on contract with the Russian government to promote the country as a place favorable for foreign investments. The placement of op-eds is a standard part of PR practice, but it's rare for readers to find out who is behind the curtain. Lots of people think Ketchum's behavior is unethical. To guide your practice in the field, here's some questions to consider. Who are we trying to influence and why? It's important that we understand the ultimate goal of the communication and why a specific audience has been identified. What do we have to do or say to win their support? I'm going to remind you here about PR's goal to be a legitimate profession and that means operating on the light. The gray is not the light, gray is gray. We don't want anyone to even have the perception that we are engaging in unethical practices. What are the possible positive and negative results of our actions? It's important for us to think about both the intended and unintended consequences of the public relations. Society is increasingly expecting companies and brands to take a stand. As we talked about in corporate social responsibility and corporate social advocacy, companies are getting involved in political and social issues. As an example, the MLB just pulled the All-Star game from Atlanta because of new voter laws recently passed by their Republican leadership in Georgia. This is a major brand taking a stand on a political issue and this is a multi-million dollar decision, one that is publicized worldwide. Major loss for Atlanta but major gain for my state, Colorado. Denver is very happy to host this event, especially after the pandemic setback for many businesses. As practitioners, we work on behalf of our clients. Sometimes we don't agree with our clients political and social views. Can you work for a client who you do not agree with? This is an important question to consider as you look for jobs in the field of public relations. It's also a broader question, one more agencies will consider when taking clients and more employees will consider when looking for a job. In college, Marlboro came to campus and recruited graduating seniors for employment. I knew a classmate who took a job on the point of sale marketing team. Honestly, I was a little surprised. This classmate did not smoke or use tobacco and really I thought of her as very socially aware. I asked her why she took the job at the tobacco giant and she said money. She said the salary and benefits were really good, unmatched by the other three offers she had received from companies who did not sell tobacco products. I didn't probe any further, but still to this day, I wish I had asked her about the optics of it all. If she had any ethical quandaries about the job or how she felt about smoking? I didn't keep up with her, but it would be interesting to know how long she stayed at Marlboro. Could you work at a company that you do not morally align with even if the salary and benefits were unmatched? What are your boundaries? Where will you draw the line? As companies increasingly intertwine with political and social issues, are you ready to make ethical decisions even if it means losing your job?
