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Preamble
The purpose of this code of ethics is to lay out the guidelines that should be followed
when handling all aspects of public relations. These are not rules that are mandatory to follow;
they are a list of highly suggested values that, when followed, will show an all-around positive
result in all aspects of your business and relationship with clients. This code of ethics can also be
followed on a personal level and these are values that I have been standing by my entire life and
will carry with me throughout my professional and personal future.
Values
The first value that will be discussed is honesty. In PR, honesty is a value that should be
used on a daily basis. Honesty is defined as being truthful with people and not hiding
information, no matter the magnitude. Being honest in PR is vital because this is the first step in
creating a relationship between you and your clients. Honesty is something that we are all taught
at an early age. As we get older, it becomes even more important to tell the truth because we are
leading both professional and personal lives. In public relations, honesty is, I think, probably one
the most important values to remember. If you are working for a public relations firm, you have a
responsibility to be honest with not only your client, but also with the public. If you are working
on a PR case for Apple, your main job is to promote the brand to the public in a positive light as
well as maintaining a positive relationship between the brand and the public. While promoting
the brand, you may run into difficulties and think that there is an easier way to do your
promotion, but it may not be completely acceptable for what your client stands for or could give
the wrong message to the public. Another job for a PR firm is to handle any crisis that

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affects their client. It might seem easier to keep the bad details from the public, but as
consumers, they have a right to know the good and bad about the company they are spending on.
The second value that is important in public relations is loyalty; loyalty to your client and
loyalty to the public. When people think of loyalty, they often think of not turning your back on
someone who trusts you and not betraying someone that you have a relationship with. The same
thing applies to the field of public relations. This value has some similarities to the value of
honesty, but there are some other elements that need to be included. When a company hires you
to be their PR representation, you make a commitment to be on their team, no matter the
circumstances. If your client slips up, it is your job to come to their defense and help them get
back on their feet. Apart of that is not discussing the issue at hand with people outside of work.
You never want to be caught talking about your client in a negative way as that will send the
wrong message to possible future clients as well as give you a bad reputation.
The third value I want to talk about is credibility in the media. Credibility in the media is
defined as an honest and open relationship between a PR firm, the media and the consumers.
This value is important for any job that involves communicating directly with the public about
any product. When a company hires you as their PR representation, it is part of your job to make
sure that the relationship between your client and the public is a positive one. Part of that is
making sure that whatever is promised to the customer when they buy the product, is actually
delivered. If your client promises to its customer fast cell service, the way you present that to the
public is very important. You cannot add elements to your clients product when you are
marketing it because that will give the customer the wrong idea, which will then upset your
client as well as make your firm look bad. When working in PR, it is vital to remember that you

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are the barrier between the public and your client, so you need to make sure you are delivering
reliable and credible facts.
The fourth value that is important to remember when working in PR is respect. Respect is
the mutual understanding and agreement that when two people enter a relationship of some kind,
they will support the other person as long as both parties are comfortable with the situation at
hand. As a representative for a company, you have to respect them, what they stand for as well as
the service that they provide. There is a fine line that has to be discussed when talking about
respect. You may not personally agree with the product that is at hand, but as a professional, you
have to avoid bringing personal opinions into the equation. Respect your client enough to
understand that it is not part of your job to tell them why you personally wouldnt use their
product. If their product is something you just cannot get on board with, then have enough
respect to step back from the project to prevent further conflicts of interest down the road.
Another part of respect is not discussing parts of the project with people outside of work. This
issue was talked about in the section on loyalty, but I feel that it is so important to remember, it
should be mentioned twice. If you do not agree with a particular part of your clients company or
product but dont want to step away from it, then you should not be gossiping about the parts you
dont agree with at your friends party that weekend. Word of mouth is a very powerful tool and
you would not want it to spread that you were being disrespectful towards the people that are
providing you with a job. If there comes a time when you disagree with something your client is
doing, then choose to either respectfully step away from that part of the project or keep your
personal opinions to yourself.

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Ethical Dilemmas
One of the biggest issues happening in public relations today is the Volkswagen scandal.
The company was recently accused of placing detectors in the diesel engines that had the
capability to enhance the car performance when they were being tested. This is a PR issue
because this is a company that has kept a positive image in the public eye and now that image
has been tarnished. Not only is this a PR issue, but it is also represents a huge loss of trust
between Volkswagen and their customers as well as paints Volkswagen as an uncredited
company. With a scandal like this, it is up to the PR team to do everything they can to repair that
damage and make sure that the customers dont feel lied to or taken advantage of. After this
scandal, Volkswagen made some changes to their company to show their customers that they
were working to fix the problem. According to The Wall Street Journal, Volkswagen has recently
suspended some of their engineers while the investigation is underway. This was a smart move
for the company because the engineers were some of the people responsible for tampering with
the cars so this shows that the company is willing to risk their employers in order to make things
right with their customers.
The second problem I want to talk about on the topic of PR is the Facebook scandal that
recently took place. Facebook supposedly was going to start charging their users on a monthly
basis to keep their pages on a private setting. People were upset about this because privacy is a
very important part of social media today and for as long as Facebook has been around, one of
their biggest audience draws was the fact that it didnt cost a thing. With this sudden
announcement, people felt lied to and they expressed their displeasure with the company through

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online posting. This presented the problem of users feeling lied to and betrayed, but the bigger
problem was how Facebook was going to take steps to ensure that every single one of their users
felt completely comfortable with using their site. I am a Facebook user myself and I am still
wary of posting on the site because the idea of weak security has been planted in my head. The
CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, made a statement explaining that the new policy was a
hoax and that people did not have to pay to use his social media page. According to The
Guardian, Facebook also advised its users to double check their privacy settings because now
any public post can be seen by anyone. Even with the statement and the advice about privacy
settings, Facebooks PR team was all of a sudden faced with all of this negative backlash in a
matter of 24 hours and they had to take the necessary steps to show their users that their security
was not being threatened. However, even though it was a hoax, it was still a PR challenge
because all of a sudden this very successful company was painted in a bad light and the public
was feeling threatened. The PR team was responsible for repairing the damage that was done to
the company and making sure that the users of Facebook did not feel the need to stop using the
site.
Philosophers
The philosophers that I want to discuss in my code of ethics are primarily Mills
utilitarianism, Kants not treating humanity as a means to an end, and Rosss pluralistic value.
These three philosophers focus on a lot of different aspects such as: consequences of an action
being undetermined until the action is done, how to go about handling a problem that arises, as
well as moral acts in humanity and the constant battle between doing what is good and what is
right. In media, there are few acts that can be reversed once they have been done. Working as a

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media professional requires that you think through your entire course of action before doing it.
Kant would argue that when doing a job, you have to focus on both the way you will get it done
and the end result. For example, Kant would argue that the Volkswagen scandal was unethical
because the company only focused on one thing and did not take into consideration the end
result. Mill would say that this is also unethical because tinkering with the results of safety tests
did not result in doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. These philosophical
ways of thinking relate to PR because as a professional, you have a duty to do your job, but
sometimes personal opinions get in the way of that. Also, working for a PR firm requires you to
think on your toes and be ready for anything. This means that the course of action you choose,
may not be the best one, but you will not know that until you have already completed it.
Revision
As I continue to grow in my career and in my field, I realize that my professional and
personal views and values will change. It is important that I realize that as a professional, it is
apart of my duty to adjust my values as I grow because that is how I will make sure to always be
ethical. In media, there is always a new outlet or a new way to communicate, which means that I
will probably be adjusting my values at a faster rate than other professions. I am excited to see
what new things come into play in the world of media and how I as a professional will be able to
adjust my ways of thinking and my style of work.
Conclusion
Public relations is a very tricky field to be in for professionals. As a PR rep, you are
responsible for keeping the relationship between the public and your client positive. When doing

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that, you have to ensure that you follow your own values and stay true to them. Keeping those in
check will help make sure that you represent your client in a positive manner and will make
doing your job easier and make you more successful in the long run. One of the easiest ways to
do these things is to choose what is important to you on a personal level and then apply that to
your professional life. The four values that I just discussed have been important to my character
since I was a kid and I have noticed these values becoming more prominent in my life today as I
grow closer to a completely professional life. The three philosophers that I discussed in my paper
remind us of a few things. They remind us to think through our entire course of action before
executing it, to make sure any task that we complete will result in the best outcome for the
greatest number of people and that we keep our personal and professional values in mind when
solving a problem.

Works Cited
Boston, William. Volkswagen Suspends More Employees. The Wall Street Journal. October
26, 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-widens-suspensions-in-emissions-scandal1445791586

Hern, Alex. Facebook users urged to check Privacy Settings. The Guardian. October
26, 2015.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/26/facebook-check-privacy-settings-publicpost-search-index

Erika Throckmorton
Media Ethics
Code of Ethics: Final Draft
November 21, 2015