ABSTRACT
PR people often like to say they are in the reputation management business, but paradoxically they have quite a serious reputation problem themselves, which is why so many practitioners avoid using the term ‘public relations’ to describe what they do. A major reason for this is the ethical question marks which have hovered over PR from its earliest days. Oddly enough, for an occupation that focuses on communication, PR has a weak public voice of its own – and plenty of more vocal critics. For these reasons, public relations has always struggled to shore up its moral standing, which is a major reason why PR ethics matters. This chapter looks at:
PR’s reputational problems.
What others say about the industry – including the way PR is portrayed in popular culture, such as TV and film, the attitude of PR’s ‘frenemies’ in journalism, and PR’s critics in academia and elsewhere.
PR’s intriguing relationship with propaganda.
The PR industry’s own debates about ethics.
PR is not an all-conquering ethical force: what are the limits to its role?
