JEM’s Gems - Ethics is more than just right and wrong
JEM’s Gems - A regular column by Joanne Emerson, APR
Not much has changed over the years when it comes to dealing with ethical issues in public relations in every field from medicine
to simple commerce.When Michael Levine released his book, “Guerilla PR,” in the mid-1990s, he said ethics is more than a simple matter of right and wrong. “You will truly hurt yourself if you behave unethically. For one, you can’t get away with falsehoods, with backstabbing, with intentional and malicious manipulation of people and media outlets.
“The folks out there are far too smart to be taken in. The only result will be the complete discrediting of you and your project. Ethics constitute the unwritten and unenforceable laws that allow us to get along with each other. Without ethics we have complete breakdown in the moral order of society.”
He said that you represent only yourself, but within that self-contained universe, you must uphold the highest sense of ethics.
At the outset, you never deliberately lie, which means the following:
- Do not make a promise you know you cannot keep.
- Do not fabricate anything about your project that you cannot in some way substantiate.
- Do not mislead the media as to any of the central merits and attributes of your project.
Do any of these, and, as they say in the movies, you’ll never work in this town again…
Ethical behaviour is important in all aspects of life. “I cringe when I see decent people justifying abhorrent business practices simply because ‘that’s the way it’s done.’ There’s no excuse for that. Maybe powerful people - including powerful publicists - can get away with it.”
His advice? Walk the straight and narrow. Do what you can to aggressively pursue your PR objectives, but don’t cross the ethical line. You’ll sleep better at night.
- Are you currently being challenged by an ethical dilemma?
- Have you ever been challenged by an ethical dilemma in your career as a PR practitioner that you would like to share with others?
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