ethical practice

I think the two key points to remember from this week's readings were

1. the definition of ethics
2. and its role in public relations

1.

Ethics refers to he personal values which underpin the behaviour and moral choices made by an individual in response to a specific situation.

This quotation is what defined ethics in the readings this week. Ethics are standards of integrity and about doing the right thing. Seib and Fitzpatrick (1995) mentioned that the five duties a public relations professional had were to oneself, the client, the employer, the profession and society.

This made me think more about public relations in practice and how making ethical decisions were based on our personal convictions towards these duties that we held. There will often be dilemmas as to making ethical decisions in spite of our efforts to help our clients however public relations practitioners do have a moral responsibility towards our duties. With society being mentioned by the readings to be the key component in making ethical decisions, it will be important to bear in mind that public relations practitioner should always serve public interest over the other duties.

The reading also discussed about the four factors that most individuals base on when making ethical decisions: situation, the person's values, principles and loyalties. Professor Ralph Potter of Harvard University arranged these factors into something known as the Potter Box technique which has also made me think about public relations in practice. With the Potter Box technique, the practice of ethical decision making in public relations can be seen more clearly.

2.

The four major roles in public relations are the roles of counsellor, advocate, corporate monitor and corporate conscience. These four roles were further discussed in the readings. The role of counsellor requires public relations practitioners to protect and build an organisation's reputation. The role of advocate was defined with the the term 'advocacy'.

'Advocacy' is the act of publicly representing an individual, organisation or idea with the object of persuading targeted audiences to look favourably upon, or to accept the point of view of, the individual, the organisation or the idea.

The role of corporate monitor requires one to listen to discussions in Parliament, attend industry seminars, analyse media coverage or conduct research. Finally, the role of corporate conscience requires one to control the flow of good and bad news to employees and the community.

With these four roles being defined in the readings, it has certainly shown to me how the job scope of a public relations practitioner is wide ranging. In practice, one has to conduct research, follow up on the industry's market, maintain the corporation's image and convince the public of the corporation's product or idea.