Hello everyone, Boikanyo Neo Motekwane again. This marks my third week at Salina & Associates Public Relations. Hope you guys are enjoying and learning new things. This week i want to involve you in a conversation. "Lets talk."
Well, I have this question for you guys..Is Public Relations an oxymoron or not? Please answer it looking at what you have done so far at your working place.
The following is my view...
I used to agree with the statement " Public Relations is an oxymoron," because of what i used to hear or read about regarding Public Relations profession/professionals. "They say Public Relations is being associated with all unethical things, for example lying, spin etc.They say Public Relations will never be ethical because the practice itself is a kin to manipulation and propaganda because of selfish information from Public Relations firms."
Source http://www.insidepublicrelations.blogspot.com/.
I disagree with the above information. Indeed the media tend to lead the public to believe that there is someting dishonest about public Relations.
Working at Salina & Associates Public Relations has opened my eyes. I now understand what Public Relations is. I have come to a conclusion that Public Relations is not an oxymoron because Salina & Associates Public Relations (PR FIRM) is a mirror reflecting information about their clients to the public and media. At S&A we are involved in well conceived, honest approaches to achieving mutual trust and respect from our clients and the community. I have realized that S&A PR understand that the relationship between them and the public is strengthened by honesty and fairness. A very good example is their campaign " HIGH 5 BEST TASTE EXPRESSION CONTEST" Strategies and tactics used for this campaign were very reliable. The competition was also fair.
Again, we are also encouraged to be fair at all times when calculating PR Value.
From this i came to understand that Public Relations is ethical. I have realized that PR firms understand and use PRIA code of ethics in their everyday work. For example fairness and honesty.
All I can say is Public Relations is not an oxymoron. PR firms like the one I am working at have a responsibility to stand up to their client and challenge something they feel is not ethical.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
That's all guys. Have a wonderful weekend and see you on Monday.
Regards
Boikanyo Neo Motekwane LUCT
boimotekwane@yahoo.com
8 comments:
It is quite a controversial issue Boikanyo,but it is interesting that your company understand and practice ethical PR.It is a challenge for PR professionals to maintain their ethical standards due to many challenges,but their priority should be ethical PR.
For my opinion, I think PR can and cannot be an oxymoron. It depends on the company's ethics and how the employees handle them. About the moral practice, I don't think its just an easy task to always be moral. Like for some Public Relations firms media coverage calculations are not always accurate; they go for the higher number when measuring the articles on newspapers so that their clients may think that they got the highest coverage. so do you think that is ethical pr Boikanyo? :)
Hey Neo,
i agree with Molly on this one. Pr is an oxymoron and its not an oxymoron depending on the ethical stand of the pr company and the staff implementing the pr procedures. morality and ethics are subjective to the person carrying them out, however i feel that its close to impossible to be ethical in a dog eat dog industry. Sandeep Juneja Agency(the Pr firm i am with, fyi) is one of the reasons that makes me say that mayb there is hope in pr not being an oxymoron.
hey Neo
Well I agree with you because I also have been fortunate enough to be i an honest and open company like Mantissa College. They have a strong team of PR Professional with good morals and esteem PR ethics.
Although this is so many other PR Consultancies there are a few that are painting this good profession what its not. I believe getting such a privilage to discover that there are some PR professionals who uphold their profession, we need to go out there and keep up the good spirit. We are the upcoming generation of this profession, we need to be real and operate with good ethics and make this profession proud
PR is not an oxymoron its just that sometimes one bad apple spoils the rest but hopefully companies such as S&A and Mantissa will change this statement.
Hello everyone! Thanks for your opinions, it realy means a lot. Wow, it seems all of us are learning from this internship(practice). Yes, I believe PR firms have different ways to deal with crisis and to apply Code of Ethics.The practice of public relations can present unique and challenging ethical issues. At the same time, protecting integrity and the public trust are fundamental to the profession’s role and reputation. I believe PR Firms do practice PRIA CODE OF ETHICS, if not all but some.
As for me I believe Public Relations is ethical.The company that I am working follows PRIA code of ethics. This have even built the organisation name as people associate it with honesty and transparency. Though there are some Public Relations organisations which are unethical it is not allowed by PRIA code of ethics.
ethical standards are very difficult to practice, we all have different ethics and what you may think is right i may think its wrong. and i am very impressed that your company are trying to practice ethical pr. its not easy, it takes real PR proffesionals to tackle such issues!
Its so interesting that you guys understand ethics. Yes, I agree with you Trish.Our personal ethics differ and so do companies ethics differ. But for PR firms I think they should try by all means to abide by the PRIA Code of Ethics and surely this will differentiate their profession from other companies.
Ethics at workplace is something vital because business is about doing what’s best for the bottom line not always about doing the right thing.Ethical choices are the right to make.
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