Q: Dear Ethel:

Why does PRSA make such a big deal out of ethics? I've read the Code of Ethics, heard a few speakers, what's left to say? I'm an honest person. I get it already! - Bored in Hampton Roads

A: Dear Bored:

Where to begin? How about this: What emotion or attitude do PR practitioners need to evoke from an organization's stakeholders to be effective communicators and change-agents? What emotion or attitude do PR practitioners need to inspire in their CEOs before they are afforded the opportunity to influence the organization at the highest levels?

The answer, in both cases, is trust. And unfortunately, public opinion is not going our way.

The National Credibility Index, a five-year study published in 1999 and underwritten in part by the PRSA Foundation, showed that PR practitioners' credibility rank near the bottom when compared with that of other public figures. Another indicator, called the Trust Barometer, last year ranked PR executives below 30 percent on the credibility scale, just a little higher than entertainers (26%) and bloggers (16%). (Source: Institute for Public Relations)

It's not helpful to our profession when we are called "spin-doctors" and "flacks" by PR watchdog organizations such as Corporate Watch:

There is a considerable body of evidence emerging to suggest that modern public relations practices are having a very significant deleterious impact on the democratic process - PRs have often engaged in deliberate deception on their clients' behalf and have developed a deeply unhealthy relationship with the 'free press'. Furthermore, by giving vested interests the opportunity to deliberately obfuscate, deceive, and derail public debate on key issues the public relations industry reduces society's capacity to respond effectively to key social, environmental and political challenges. (http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=1570)

It's even worse when members of our profession act in ways that make it appear that those derisive monikers are well deserved. After being criticized for unethical practices by using questionable practices to represent controversial clients, one Hill and Knowlton executive was reported to tell his staff: "We'd represent Satan if he paid." (Columbia Journalism Review - Oct./Nov. 1992 http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/92/5/pr.asp)

The 1990s to early 2000s saw a huge public outcry and wave of new legislation such as the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act following corporate scandals such as the collapse of Enron. These scandals have made the public even less trusting of organizations and the public relations executives that represent them. We, as practitioners, are increasingly in positions to influence the decision-makers. According to an IABC Research Foundation study, 65% of us have regular access to the top-level decision-making executives in our organizations. While that is good news for our careers, in that our bosses are viewing us as more than newsletter editors and publicity generators, it also compels us to become educated about ethics so that we can knowledgeably advise the CEO. As Shannon A. Bowen, Ph.D., says in her report "Ethics and Public Relations," published by the Institute for Public Relations in December 2007, we must strive to become the "ethical conscience" of our organizations:

To advise the top level of an organization, professional communicators must become conversant with issues management, risk and crisis management, leadership, organizational culture and policy, and ethics. Decisions at the higher levels of the organizational system almost invariably include an ethical component. From matters of external publics and multinational relationships to product standards or international relationships with employee publics - all pose ethical challenges. These challenges are matters not only of policy but also of communication. (http://www.instituteforpr.org/ipr_info/ethics_and_public_relations/)

As I've begun my research to write this column this year, I've been amazed at the volume of online resources available on public relations ethics, as well as the number of news stories surrounding actual ethical quandaries. I will be bringing you some of these in coming months, but I hope I can stimulate your curiosity to do a little reading on your own, beginning with the articles excerpted here. And perhaps the best place to begin is by reading - and book marking - the PRSA Code of Ethics at:  http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/ethics/preamble_en.html.

Until next month - always do the right thing!