Review article

Public Relations Ethics and Ethical Codes

Helena Brautović ; Sveučilište u Dubrovniku
Dragana Brkan ; student

Abstract

The term Public Relations Ethics is often understood as an oxymoron, as rare
are those who find anything ethical in it. The fact that PR incurred a bad reputation and
PR professionals became manipulators of public mind rather than conveyers of truth
was a result of a PR' misrepresentation in the public. Tarnished history that effected
opinion about PR may be explained by several situations in which PR were used to
camouflage some serious problems, not to mention something that is today called
„spin“, a whole new area of PR dedicated only for working behind the scenes. There is
nothing ethical in spin, and it is not a surprise that everyone involved in
communications claims that spin has nothing to do with PR. Ethics are important in
business as much as in everyday life, but determining the criteria of good and evil and
then acting accordingly may seem rather easy. But PR professionals often stumble over
many questions and everyday decisions about what is and what is not ethical. That is
why PR and communication organizations have a set of rules or codes by which they
act and in which they believe. Ethical codes make a kind of promise about what
behavior can be expected and accepted.

Keywords

Public Relations; Ethics; Ethical Codes; Business Ethics

Hrčak ID:

44540

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/44540

Publication date:

18.12.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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