Anyone in public relations for any length of time will certainly encounter his or her share of ethical dilemmas. While the best way to deal with these challenges can be debated, there is no doubt having ethical standards for your PR work is important for your long-term career (and reflects on the industry as a whole, as well).
During this month's #SoloPR Topic Chat on Twitter, the community discussed why ethical standards are important in PR, and shared excellent insights and tips on how to handle some common sticky situations. We were joined by Bonnie Upright and PRSA to discuss the following questions on ethics:
1. PRSA doesn't sanction members, so why does it make sense for us to talk about ethics?
2. Do you have ethics policies in writing for your #solopr business, or take it case by case?
3. Do you ever find yourself needing to educate clients on ethical practices? How?
4. You learn a client has purposely misled you. What do you do?
5. What do you do if a client asks you to “skirt the truth” in an announcement or statement?
6. What do you do if you hear a competitor is spreading false information about you?
A few of the top tweets are highlighted below (followed by a link to the full transcript):
Be sure to check out the transcript in PDF for the full discussion. Please note that the transcript is in reverse chronological order.
If you weren’t able to join us this week, weigh in on the chat questions in the comments!
In case you missed it, the #solopr chat has moved to a twice monthly schedule. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 1-2 p.m. Eastern – a regular ritual for some of the savviest PR pros on Twitter. Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to participate.
If you’re looking for immediate answers to your questions and real-time access to wisdom from veteran pros, join us as a Premium member of Solo PR Pro – our private Facebook group is available 24/7.
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This is a very interesting topic, i think it is very important to follow a certain code of ethics. Nowadays i think people don’t know how to differentiate what’s wrong and right.
Interesting how they approach the issue of ethics in an emerging market , definitely something that everyone in the media should read.
Interesting how they approach the issue of ethics in an emerging market , definitely something that everyone in the media should read.