The Role Of Ethics In Public Relations

Chapter 5 in Johnston and Zawawi's, "Public Relations: Theory and Practice," discusses the importance of ethics in the public relations field. The chapter canvases the idea of 'best practice public relations.' We as future public relations practitioners are presented with the knowledge that,
"As ethics is important to organizational excellence on the one hand and to public relations on the other, practitioners should be at the forefront of the movement for ethical organizational conduct." (Johnston & Zawawi, 2004; p. 111).

We are introduced in this chapter to terms such as counselor, advocate, corporate monitor and corporate conscious, and are invited to explore the various roles these aspects play in public relations ethics. We also learn that ethical dilemmas are a major part of the public relations practioners' responsibilty, and that these dilemmas occur on a variety of level, including;
-interpersonal;
-organisational;
-stakeholder.
(Johnston & Zawawi, 2004; p. 116).

I found this chapter useful, mainly as a result of the annotated bibliography assignment due earlier this week. Ethics seems like a fairly straight forward term to define, but when applied to public relations it becomes much more complicated. There are many things that the public relations practitioner must consider, not the least of which the relationship he or she is helping to build between the organisation and its publics.

This week we began exploring the legal side of public relations, an area in which i personally still have much to learn. I look forward to continuing my readings on this particular field, as i find it both interesting and extremely challenging.

This week I commented on Nathan Swan's blog:
http://cmns1290nathanswan.blogspot.com/