The state of public relations ethics: training, readiness and pressing issues

September 1, 2015

By Marlene S. Neill, Ph.D., Baylor University

Each September, the Public Relations Society of America sponsors activities such as webinars and Twitter chats to recognize ethics month. What better time to examine the state of ethics in public relations than ethics month? This September, the PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards and the Arthur W. Page Center will sponsor survey research to better understand public relations executives’ readiness to respond to ethical issues presented in the workplace.

Among the issues being explored include:

1. Whether or not practitioners took ethics courses in college

2. The availability of ethics training in the workforce

3. Whether or not practitioners are aware of and taking advantage of ethics resources offered by PRSA

4. What are the most pressing ethical issues today?

5) How prepared are practioners to provide counsel on ethics issues?

6) Whether or not they take active roles in promoting ethics in the workplace.

I became interested in conducting this study after completing three prior studies on ethics in public relations. The first study dealt with public relations’ role as an ethical conscience. Previously, a study provided evidence of a “state of neglect” among public relations professionals in “ethical understanding, ethics counsel, and the ability to enact the role of ethical counsel” (Bowen, 2008, p. 271-272).

However, Dr. Minette Drumwright and I found senior public relations practitioners who embraced their role of organizational conscience (Neill & Drumwright, 2012). In fact, they discussed their motivations and the specific techniques they used. While this study was focused on senior executives, it would be beneficial to study other generations to determine how prepared practitioners in general are to provide ethics counsel.

In a more recent study, I examined the trend of employer branding in internal communication, which is focused on promoting a company’s core values as a competitive advantage and as a means to increase employee engagement and commitment. Employer branding is focused on developing intellectual and emotional buy-in among employees to the point where they are committed to their employers, reflect the brand’s values and become brand champions. I presented this research at the International Public Relations Research Conference in Miami in March 2015. In that study, I found that internal communicators, many of whom work in public relations, help promote ethics and core values in routine communication, which included deliberately scheduling appropriate content through editorial calendars.

However, the study on internal communication was based on 32 in-depth interviews. Additional research is needed using a larger random sample to determine what roles public relations plays in promoting ethics and values internally.

Finally, I just completed a third study with Erin Schauster, an assistant professor of advertising at the University of Colorado-Boulder. We interviewed advertising and public relations executives working in agencies to identify the most common ethical issues they are facing. However, that study was focused on just one sector and included a sample of 29 executives.

The survey for this new study was created based on findings from these three studies. I am grateful to the Arthur W. Page Center for supporting this research and look forward to sharing the results.

PR Professionals as Organizational Conscience

Note: Marlene S. Neill is a member of the PRSA Board of Ethics & Professional Standards.