4 Keywords to Keep Ethics in Public Relations

When corporations or celebrities make a major gaff, many individuals assume they call the spin doctor to clean up the mess. While there are a few bad apples in every industry, a true professional lives by 4 key words to maintain ethics in their public relations practice. These are the inalienable rules of engagement and must never be compromised no matter how big the project or how important the client. Accuracy. We all want to please the crowd and give them what they want to hear, but in the end, as Jay Carney and other White House officials learned the hard way, we all have to give out the true facts – hopefully not in the same national level. As professionals, we cannot simply put out vague information and let the chips fall where they may. Getting away with the “but they came up with their own conclusion” defense is not sticking to the code of ethics. Offering a poisoned apple to a damsel is as bad as forcing her to bite it. Confidentiality. Client information must be protected at all times. It may seem harmless to share them with a spouse, but it is. Take a page from the story of Nina Devlin and the Lehman Broker. The confidentiality clause protects both the client and professional. It gives boundaries to the working relationship that makes for a more efficient affiliation. It should be taken seriously not only because it makes the working contract look official. Fai ess. Fighting fair can be hard sometimes especially if you are on the defensive or the retaliatory track. But engaging in a healthy competition with your peers will actually help a PR professional stay longer in the business. If your PR person is a little bit too aggressive with a take-no-prisoners attitude, then you might want to rethink retention. Champion. It is the responsibility of every pr professional to act and work within the PR Code of Ethics. Being an accredited PR professional, I represent not only my firm or my client, but all pr professionals in the business. With the communication tools branching out to social media from the traditional person to person networking, it gets easier to cut corners. But any true blue PR professional would know that keeping to the straight and narrow not only leads to successful campaigns and repeat business but also builds reputation and strengthens credibility.