Example research essay topic: Public Relations Practitioners Code Of Ethics - 1,166 words

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... unica tors (IABC), and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Members of these organizations are expected to follow these sets of standards. Next, licensing would be a states function, and public relations people often work on a national and international basis. Furthermore, the machinery required for the government to license and police all public relations practitioners in this country would be elaborate and very costly to the American taxpayer.

In a final argument, proponents reason that, if medical doctors have defined themselves and have accepted a different paradigm of professionalism than have chiropractors and faith healers, then practitioners, in accordance with the state, can define and protect this definition of public relations (Kruckeberg 23). Opponents claim that legislators show little or no interest in licensing public relations, since the health and welfare of the general public are not directly at stake. In addition, this analogy of comparing public relations professionals to medical doctors is inappropriate. This is because of the First Amendment-type rights which prohibit the exclusion of others to the performance of most types of public relations activities. Public relations is considered part of the mass communications field, and practitioners do not feel that anyone should be able to regulate what they say or do. A more befitting comparison would be between public relations counselors and Certified Public Accountants, because, like public relations, not all of the activities of accounting practitioners can be exclusionary or limited to hose in professional positions (Kruckeberg 24).

In other words, it is common for ordinary people, as opposed to professionals, to utilize many of the activities involved in both public relations and accounting. In my opinion, this point wins the argument for those opposed to licensing, and leads to a more realistic solution, proposed by public relations people: the development of a universal code of ethics, self-binding to all practitioners. Ethics codes in public relations do currently exist. One such code was created by the PRSA. However, this code is neither general enough nor does it encompass enough practitioners to solve the immense ethical dilemma faced by practitioners, as will be illustrated in the next section. The PRSA Code of Professional Standards Most professional organizations and many businesses have codes of ethics, which are intended to set acceptable norms of behavior for working professionals and employees.

The public relations field is no exception. Several public relations organizations have created ethical codes and hold their members responsible for upholding these standards. The Public Relations Society of America is one such organization that has a highly regarded code. Adopted in 1950, the PRSA Code of Professional Standards for the Practice of Public Relations was a fore-runner in the field and remains highly regarded due to its longevity. The society was established in 1948 its primary mission being the unification of the public relations profession. Its first concern, according to the late Rea W.

Smith, former executive vice president, was the development of an ethical code so that its members would have behavioral guidelines; management would have a clear understanding of standards; and professionals in public relations would be distinguished from shady promoters and ballyhoo advance men who, unfortunately, [had] been quick to appropriate the words public relations to describe their operations. (Wilcox, Ault & Agee 117) This code consists of 17 articles dealing, for instance, with fairness toward clients, employers, and the public; with intentional communication of false or misleading information; and with engaging in practices that corrupt the channels of communication or processes of government. If a complaint is made about a member by a peer, that person is investigated by the society's Board of Ethical and Professional Standards. These findings are reviewed, and punitive actions can be made by the board of directors. The PRSA may expel, suspend, censure, or reprimand a member, depending on what aspect of and how seriously the code was violated. Enforcement of these standards is effective. However, only about ten percent of the estimated 15, 700 public relations professionals in the United States are members of the PRSA.

In addition to encompassing only one out of every fifteen practitioners, the society can take no legal actions against violators. The only thing the code jeopardizes is the practitioners membership status. No news releases are made about a terminated member, so little damage can be done to the persons career. Therefore, this code, although good in theory, is not really that effectual. Only a universal code of ethics, encompassing all practitioners, will be able to do the job. Development of a Universal Code of Ethics as a Solution Public relations does not have to become a legally protected profession or be governmentally licensed and regulated.

Rather, a professional model similar to that of Certified Public Accountants could be used. No indomitable obstacles impede the development of a binding code for the public relations professional community, although it might be a logistically difficult and sobering task. Creating a universal ethical code is both a reasonable and an essential task, if one expects public relations practitioners to ever gain the respect they might actually deserve (Kruckeberg 21). Whenever someone tries to implement something new or attempts to make progress/ there are always people ready-and waiting to contradict the idea or squelch the movement. In the case of developing a universal ethics code for public relations, these people are ignorantly preventing a phenomenal plana plan which could free the term public relations ethics from being considered an oxymoron. The first argument opponents have against a universal code is that there may be considerable differences of opinion, globally, about what constitutes ethical practice by those public relations professionals practicing within different social / cultural /geopolitical systems (Kruckeberg 22).

However, more similarities between cultural values exist than some realize. Kruckeberg (26) states that central moral aspirations in nearly all cultures include: life, social order, family protection from arbitrary rule, prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment, the guarantee of a place in the life of the community, and access to an equitable share of the means of subsistence. For example, in all cultures, parents have duties toward their children, and children have duties to their parents; everywhere gratitude is regarded as good, the miser is despised, and the man of generous spirit is held highly. Rather than throwing up ones hands and declaring that they do things differently in other countries, it would be useful to put forth a general code and let its interpretation and use suggest further refinements that will help adapt it to the nuances of the global community (Hunt & Tirpok 9). A second argument is that of conflicting codes.

Many public relations practitioners find themselves covered by more than one code code specific to their workplace, in addition to one or more codes resulting from membership in professional associations. However, in a study of numerous codes conducted in 1985, it was found that similar themes of accuracy, objectivity, truthfulness, and completeness recurred in all, indicating that ethics codes do not change substantially from organization to organization...

Research essay sample on Public Relations Practitioners Code Of Ethics