Public Relations Ethics : Is withholding information a good practice of public relations?

Becoming a good public relations practitioner starts with respecting and taking into considerations the ethics of being a good public relations practitioner.

Every public relations organisation has a code of ethics which the members are expected to abide. The primary objective of this code of ethics is to form guidelines to educate members on how they should conduct themselves in their professional lives. The truth lies, ethics are really troubling PR professionals and consistent violation has been of a matter of debate for the past years. Real ethical behaviors are expensive, and that’s where the PR industry’s ethical dilemma originates. I personally think that all public relations firms routinely engage in unethical practices and they don’t do that because they are evil people but they do it because their wealthy clients have problems and cleaning up their image is often easier and cheaper than cleaning up their mess.

Source : Ethics

Withholding information is common amongst PR professionals and is perhaps one of the most greatest malpractice of the industry and it will led to the public concluding that the company is hiding something.

The question is, how long a company can withhold information from the public?. The longer an organisation withhold information is the more people start speculating and guessing and that’s the more a company starts to lose credibility.

I understand that sometimes PR professionals withhold information in order for them to investigate and get clarity on certain issues but how long they will withhold information and the damage that will be caused in the meantime is what will determine the outcome of that crisis.

Do you think withholding of information by PR professionals is a good practice of PR: is it ethical or unethical? Lets hear your opinion on this matter.

The role of PR is being misunderstood: Do employers really understand the role of PR ?

 Understanding the different roles of PRP’s by management is of out most important especially in social media.

In most cases pressure for most PR practitioners comes from the management’s misunderstanding of the role of Public Relations in a company. PR is a profession that is grossly misunderstood across board and is perhaps one of the professions with the most definitions. I think people often tend to define the role of PR by its most visible techniques and tactics but they fail to understand that PR is a process that involves research, analysis and feedback from the public. Looking at PR operations, PR operates on two levels: giving advice to employers or clients and strategically communicating to the public.


Most of the time employers believe that PR practitioners supposed to represent their company in a positive light at all times but is this true definition of Public Relations as a profession?.
If that’s the case then it means that lies, propaganda and manipulation become inevitable because no matter how good a company is , problems do occur sometimes and it is the duty of the PR professional to handle the crisis in a way that balance their loyalty to the employer and the public. inside PR.

According to my understanding it is not easy to say to your boss: I’m right. You’re wrong. Bosses do not understand PR better than the PR professionals, they understand profit margins and company image and that does not make them unethical but it’s just means they think differently.

That takes me back to my question, do employees really understands the role of PR?. let's get it rolling, what's your opinion on this matter.