Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice

Copyright
......Page 5
Table of contents
......Page 8
List of figures......Page 10
About the author......Page 12
About the consultant editor......Page 13
Foreword......Page 14
Preface......Page 16
Part 1 What lies beneath......Page 20
Ch. 1 Before we begin: new profession… or one of the oldest?......Page 22
PUBLIC RELATIONS ETHICS: OXYMORON?......Page 23
A TARNISHED HISTORY......Page 24
DEFINING OUR TERMS......Page 26
A PROFESSION OR PROFESSIONALISM?......Page 28
MEASURING YOUR PROFESSIONALISM QUOTIENT......Page 29
Ch. 2 Untangling the web: the ‘truth’ and other strangers......Page 32
THE ‘TRUTH’ IN PUBLIC RELATIONS......Page 33
CAN YOU PREDICT HONESTY?......Page 36
ONE PRINCIPLE AMONG SEVERAL......Page 38
TRUTH AND TRUST......Page 42
THE LIMITS OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY......Page 43
TO WHOM ARE YOU LOYAL?......Page 44
THE VIRTUE OF BEING ‘GOOD’......Page 47
Ch. 4 Whose rights are right?......Page 49
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES......Page 50
WHEN MY RIGHT CONFLICTS WITH YOURS......Page 51
RULES RULE OUR LIVES......Page 53
THOSE DARN DEONTOLOGISTS......Page 54
THE REAL TROUBLE WITH RULES......Page 55
‘SITUATIONS ALTER CASES’......Page 56
THE PROBLEM WITH SITUATIONS......Page 57
Ch. 6 Robin Hood ethics......Page 59
WHAT THE HECK IS ‘UTILITARIANISM’?......Page 60
MOTIVES BE DAMNED......Page 61
PROBLEMS WITH ROBIN HOOD......Page 62
Part 2 Ethics and the practitioner......Page 64
R-E-S-P-E-C-T......Page 66
STILL THE MORAL CHILD......Page 67
THE MORAL CHILD GROWS UP......Page 68
AN ETHICAL LITMUS TEST?......Page 70
MORE THAN GOOD MANNERS: ETHICS AND ETIQUETTE......Page 72
MORALITY AND YOUR LEVEL OF COMPETENCE......Page 74
THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY......Page 78
Ch. 8 The good, the bad and the (almost) ugly: ethics codes......Page 82
MINIMUM STANDARDS OR IDEALS?......Page 83
WHO NEEDS CODES, ANYWAY?......Page 84
RELYING ON A PERSONAL CODE......Page 85
USING PERSONAL VALUES......Page 87
DEVELOPING YOUR OWN CODE......Page 88
Ch. 9 Sex and the single (or not) PR practitioner: conflict of interest......Page 91
SLEEPING WITH… THE ENEMY?......Page 92
PRACTICALITIES BEFORE ETHICS......Page 93
OUTSIDE CONFLICTS......Page 94
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ETHICALPRINCIPLES......Page 95
OTHER CONFLICT SITUATIONS......Page 96
A DILEMMA YOU DON’T NEED......Page 99
A CONTINUUM OF TATTLING......Page 100
HOW TO BE A WHISTLE-BLOWER......Page 101
TATTLING......Page 102
THE TEMPTATIONS OF MOONLIGHTING......Page 103
Part 3 Strategies and dilemmas......Page 106
Ch. 11 PR ethics and the media: the old and the new......Page 108
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JOURNALISTS......Page 109
MEDIA ACCESS AND ETHICS......Page 110
JOURNALISTS HAVE CODES, TOO......Page 111
ASPECTS OF ETHICAL MEDIA RELATIONS......Page 112
MEDIA TRANSPARENCY AND PR ETHICS......Page 113
PR ETHICS AND THE NEW SOCIAL ORDER......Page 115
Ch. 12 Persuasion… or propaganda?......Page 118
ENGINEERING CONSENT......Page 119
ETHICAL PERSUASION… AN OXYMORON?......Page 120
ANY CLIENT, ANY TIME?......Page 121
THE ‘RIGHT’ TO PR COUNSEL......Page 122
A WAR OF WORDS......Page 123
THE PITFALLS OF EUPHEMISM......Page 124
THE ‘CONTROLLED LEXICON’......Page 125
THE VOCABULARY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS......Page 126
PERSUASION BY LOBBY......Page 127
TRANSPARENCY VERSUS OBFUSCATION......Page 128
‘AWARE’ OF THE ISSUES......Page 131
SEEKING A GOOD FIT......Page 132
FROM GOOD CAUSES TO GOOD TASTE......Page 135
A PR PRACTICE......Page 139
THE UNSEEN AUTHOR......Page 140
CROSSING THE LINE?......Page 142
ACCEPTABLE VERSUS UNACCEPTABLE USES......Page 143
Part 4 Organizations, ethics and public relations......Page 148
Ch. 15 The true reality of everyday ethics:making decisions......Page 150
THE BEST YOU CAN HOPE FOR......Page 151
ETHICAL DILEMMAS: NOT ALL THE SAME......Page 152
DECISION STEPS......Page 153
MAKING THOSE ETHICAL DECISIONS IN PR......Page 157
A CASE IN POINT......Page 159
OTHER APPROACHES......Page 160
CRITERIA FOR SECOND GUESSING......Page 161
THE RESEARCHER TOLD US SO......Page 164
Ch. 16 PR and the corporate ethics programme......Page 168
ETHICS AS WINDOW-DRESSING......Page 169
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFINED......Page 170
THE CASE OF THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE......Page 171
ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS AND PR......Page 172
Ch. 17 Making business accountable: the ‘new breed’ of PR......Page 176
BACK TO THE CLASSROOM......Page 177
TEACHING AND LEARNING......Page 178
LEARNING ABOUT ETHICS......Page 179
DRAWING TO A CONCLUSION......Page 180
Appendix 1 For your bookshelf......Page 182
Appendix 2 Chartered Institute of Public Relations Code of Conduct*......Page 186
Appendix 3 Guidelines for the ethics audit......Page 189
Index......Page 192