PRSA pt. I: Making it Simple

      If law is about what people must do and ethics is what people should do, then ethics begin where the law ends. The PRSA’s Code of Ethics, the COE, then are the basic guidelines for ethical behavior which starts with the law. You can view the full PRSA Code of Ethics here, but below are the basic infrastructure of the COE.

      The ethical public relations practitioner, according to the PRSA Code of Ethics must:

      Be honest and accurate in all communications while avoiding deceptive practices by acting promptly.

      Protect and advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information while concurrently protecting the interest of the public while advocating and acting in the best interest of their client, employer, or organization.

      These are the undertones of the PRSA's COE advisory. It could be said that it could be condensed further into the phrase: 'if it feels wrong, don't do it', however, each individual is primed and shaped differently throughout their lives. This means that allowing individuals to act according to their own conscience results in a varied definition of what is ethical. Sans some sort of ethical standard, PR practitioners are left to make decisions on their own, which could be chaos. 



      The PRSA's Code of Ethics exist as a reference point for when you are feeling ethically challenged. In addition to the guidelines mentioned earlier, the PRSA also includes extensions of the PRSA code in the case you find yourself in similar situations. In these situations, law and morality mix leaving you to a choice on what to do in that circumstance. That is when these Ethical Standard Advisories (ESAs) come into play while portraying how thin the line is between ethics and law. The right thing to do in most of these situations is to choose the situation that affects the least amount, if any amount, of people. 

      Thus far, we have considered concepts regarding the idea to mandate ethical decision making. It must be implied here, now, that while their relationship is symbiotic, must remain separate. Think of morality as Batman - it exists outside of the law to be vague and mysterious allowing us to do what needs to be done, in accordance with the law of course, but in a way the law cannot. Public relations practitioners are the Batman.