The Ethics of PR

As of yesterday, anyone who is sick of hearing about the Royal Wedding (as mentioned in my last post) need not worry. A new historical landmark (at least, in the U.S) has been released: the death of Osama bin Laden, the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in an operation conducted by American military forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ten years after the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C., the suspected mastermind behind the plane bombings is finally deceased.

Regardless of your stance on this news, it must be noted that the framing and reporting of this issue is quite contoversial, specifically regarding the ethics of the coverage. This post will explore the use of PR in "sensitive" cases, and examine how, when, and where PR specialists must take special care not to violate ethical standards of the public.

Ethics in PR are tricky. Despite the constant war between PR specialists and journalists, they both have very similar roles in the communication of news. They want their story to sell, to be "sexy", attention-grabbing, and dramatic, but at the same time, they want their coverage to be as professional as possible, neutral, and factual. Whether we like it or not, we are all "selling" stories, the difference lies in our targeted messages and audience. Thus, in the case of

However, in the case of death, disaster, or violent acts, how much, as PR specialists, do we really want to reveal? And is the act of withholding information a violation of ethics within itself? What constitutes as ethical or unethical? In journalism and communication, typically, not much is considered unethical. This may be a stereotype, but it is one that I have personally found to have much truth to its claim. A quick Google images search will show you that pretty much anything and everything can be posted for the world to see, be it the horrific photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, pop-singer Rihanna's bloody face after being beaten by her then-boyfriend, or the brutal murder photographs released during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. However, the degree to which a PR specialist or journalist violates certain ethics depends on several different factors, including country, political and social climate, and other significant current events.
 
Withholding the photos of a dead Iraqi child killed by an American soldier in Iraq, for eaxmple, may constitute as an ethical act in the U.S., while it may seem entirely unethical in a European country with many Iraqi refugees who wish to have both sides of the war shown. However, the reverse may also be true. Ethics, in my opinion, are fluid, and constantly changing, depending on the above-mentioned factors. In another example, a country with more conservative religious values may have different ideas of what ethical treatment of news is than a country with a secular government.

The most important thing to note is that, in the realm of PR, we must constantly be acutely aware of the environment around us, our targeted audience, and other actors who may see or want to use the information we release. When in doubt, listen to your gut. It will tell you more than your peers or your boss will.

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