Global PR Blog Week 1.0

Are ethics good business?

Welcome - you are in the company of honest, decent people who not only value truth and transparency but also believe ethics is good business. (Whether they are honest and truthful because they were born that way, or because that's where the rewards lie... well, that's a different matter...).

Here are a few thoughts from a survey I did about ethics among PR practitioners in the North East of Engand. But before you read on, please take a couple of minutes to complete this survey.
Thanks, now read on...

OK, this contribution is not specifically about blogging, but then new technologies don't change ethical principles. It does, I hope, throw up a few thoughts on the nature of PR that are brought into sharp focus by the open access, boundary breaking potential of blogging.

For example, it touches on some fundamental questions - a brief look at some of the exchanges in the run up to this week suggested some people as see PR as a way of selling a brand or image, others as a way of creating greater understanding between organisations and publics through greater transparency. Some are happy to be advocates for their clients, putting out the good bits and being economical about the less good; others want to be more open. But as the my research suggests, however much some practitioners might preach transparency, there is a widespread acceptance that that's not what the client - internal or external - is paying PRs to do.

PRs often get a bad press but the picture that emerged from interview after interview was of practitioners taking the moral high ground when clients would prefer them to cut corners or be more economical with the truth.

The routine went like this….

Me: “I’m doing some research into ethics in public relations…”
PR practitioner: “Well, that won’t take long then, will it?”

They then went on to tell me – often in quite some detail - how they are not only ethical but more ethical than their colleagues and competitors.

And, to a great extent, I ended up believing them.

OK, it is difficult to explain how 63pc of PR practices in the North East of England can be ethically ‘better than most’, but that’s how they see themselves. Maybe it is not surprising that people in an industry that is focused on reputation should present themselves as being ethical, but it is significant they also view colleagues and rivals as being similarly ethical.

In general, how would you rate other PR teams in the North East?
always ethical (5pc) usually ethical (54pc) neutral (22pc) sometimes unethical (17pc) unscrupulous (2pc)

Interestingly, they also see themselves as being more ethical, or at least more concerned to be seen to be ethical, than many of the people who employed them, and that was the case if they were working in house or for external clients.

Some would say ethics is good business. Would you personally…
agree strongly (47pc) agree (49pc) no opinion (2pc) disagree (2pc) disagree strongly (0pc)

How about your clients/ internal contacts? Would they mostly
agree strongly (17pc) agree (68pc) no opinion (12pc) disagree (2pc) disagree strongly (0pc)

I have put these two questions to a range of different respondents and each time the majority of PRs ‘agree strongly’ but say their clients, or their in house colleague would only ‘agree’. It was only a small sample but I asked my fellow Global Blog week participants the same questions and here are the results.

The picture that emerged from interview after interview was of practitioners taking the moral high ground when clients would prefer them to cut corners or be more economical with the truth.

The study set out to try and identify the ethical ‘centre of gravity’ of PR practitioners – to work out how they arrived at an ethical framework. As the UK's Institute of Public Relations and others try to forefront ethical practice the industry needs to clearly identify procedures for establishing and promoting ethical values.

My research seems to show that there is a whole range of interpretations of what constitutes ethical behaviour. To an extent, these definitions are coloured by work experience prior to moving into PR, as well as exposure to the in house or agency culture.

Some regard PR as ‘the conscience of an organisation’. Do you…?
agree strongly (10pc) agree (49pc) no opinion (22pc) disagree (4pc) disagree strongly (0pc)

Some academics have questioned whether it is a good idea for PRs to take on the role when they are ready to ask for more grounding in the theory of ethics.

That said, I found it hard to wholeheartedly agree with one respondent who put the position succinctly: “If PR is your conscience there is something wrong with your ethics.”

On the job

Have you/ your team ever refused to carry out a piece of work for a client/ your employer on ethical grounds?
yes (39pc) no (61pc)

Has a client/ employer ever asked you to disseminate information you know to be false?
yes (29pc) no (71pc)

It is the role of PR to present the client/ employer in a positive light
always (68pc) sometimes (32pc) never (0pc)

Several respondents said that although they often have to transmit bad news this could be done in a way that reflected well on the organisation. One respondent, a partner in a private consultancy, said: “We take the view that we are advocates. We won’t lie but we are not going to volunteer damaging information. We will put the best foot forward, I would compare it with being a barrister in a court of law.”

Hacks v Flacks
Because I was interested in where ethical values came from I wanted to know if people had worked in other sectors before entering PR, and my sample showed that more than half (22 out of 41) had previously been journalists, suggesting newsroom culture plays an influential role in the industry (there was no clear career pattern among the others, with previous occupations including insurance, marketing, music promotion, administration, civil service and accountancy).

Often responses suggested ex-journalists had different perceptions than those who had followed different routes. For example, they were significantly more likely to take final responsibility for checking facts, rather than pass that responsibility up to their manager.

The final responsibility for checking facts lies with…
me (all 46pc, ex-Journalists 75pc); my line manager (all 25pc, ex-Journalists 2pc); client/internal contact (all 24pc, ex-Journalists 25pc); journalist (all 4pc, ex-Journalists 0pc).

Perhaps these are particularly interesting findings for those who are examining the impact and implications of participatory journalism.

Naturally, I asked ‘Who do you consider to be more ethical - journalists or PRs?
PRs (all 34pc, ex-Journalists 5pc); Journalists (all 17pc, ex-Journalists 9pc); Same (all 49pc, ex-Journalists 68pc)

It would appear this comparison was based on the behaviour of local journalists with respondents making a clear distinction between the two. One PR said: “There are a minority of journalists that don’t come to report, they come with an idea in mind and they will come for a quote to stack up a story. It amazes me that these type of journalists can’t see why people don’t trust them.”

Different cultures

On interesting difference appeared to arise when I asked My prime ethical loyalty is to:
no-one (0pc ) me (41pc) organisation (34pc) client (5pc) society (20pc)

I think this is a key question - one that underpins a lot of other assumptions on ethics - so it was intriguing to compare the results when I posted a small survey of attitides among 12 Global Blog participants. Most were from the US and here is what they said:
no-one (0pc ) me (16.7pc) organisation (0pc) client (25pc) society (58.3pc)

It will be interesting if the survey of Global Blog participants evolving this week reflects this emphasis on society rather than the practitioners own organisation. I will post a comment at the end of Global PR Blog Week.

My office hours, including Yahoo Messenger - Mediations 2003 - today are My 9am to 11am and 3pm - 5pm EST

Background
Approximately one-tenth of the UK population lives in the North East – Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham and what was Cleveland - but relatively few major businesses and organisations have their head office in the region, with many choosing Leeds or Manchester for their northern centre. This has a clear impact on the structure of the public relations industry.

Although a DTI report suggests the PR consultancy sector in the UK is reasonably well described, gaining a comprehensive picture of activity in the North East is difficult. DTW in Cleveland, is the only North East-based agency listed in PR Week’s Top150 Performers 2004 (based on fee income), ranked 93 nationally, and 29th in the listing of top regional agencies; it had a fee income in 2003 of £940,061, employing 26 staff to service 42 clients. Nationally, only one of the top 20 agencies was based outside London .

Only one North East respondent reported working in a PR team of more than 20 staff, and only seven in teams of more than 10 but less than 20; of the PR Week top 50 regional firms, 26 fell in to this category, and of the top 50 regionals, only five reported 10 or few staff. Nationally, 78pc of respondents said their consultancy employed fewer than 15, and 50pc five or less.
Although North East based agencies do drive or contribute to major retail and consumer brands, a significant proportion of private consultancy work is in the business to business sector; there is little involvement in, say, celebrity promotion and it is possible this has an impact on ethical culture in North East PR. It is recognised that this research would be enhanced if similar surveys were carried it in other parts of country, including London.

Author: Philip Young | Jul 13, 04 | Permalink | 2 comments
Category: @ Philip Young | Topic 2 Corporate Blogging

 

 

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