Question 1
One of the most unpleasant moments is whether a PR agency can do ethical PR for an unethical organization or company?
In this regard, many national PR companies, like the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in U.S. and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) in the UK have developed a code of ethics for PR professionals to follow and abide by. However, the basic principle of any PR strategy or program is the duty to tell the truth. Thus, the PRCA code of conduct stipulates this duty and also the duty not to disseminate misleading or false information on purpose or recklessly and eliminate risks of an accidental use of such information. The success of any PR activity depends on to what extent a company is credible and is perceived to be. Following the code of ethics enhances public's trust and, consequently, contributes to the effectiveness and success of company's PR activities. (Hatt, n.d.; “Professional Charter and Codes of Conduct”, n.d.).
Therefore, it is clear that the cornerstone of public relations is trust and PR industry would hardly function without it. It is very important to gain trust where it is needed and restore it where it is lost. Can trust be restored if a PR professional works for an unethical company? One can say that a PR agency is not a barrister who simply has to follow the cab rank rule, accepting all instructions regardless personal dislike of a client, belief that the case is an objectionable, or any feeling of uncomfortableness because of the client's source of funding. In the case of the barrister, the client has the option to choose a preferable barrister (Darr, 2016; Hobstbawm, 2006).
Fortunately, one may think that in the PR industry it is much easier, and if a PR professional feels that unethical behavior of the client can spoil public's trust, he or she has the right not to take this case and is not obliged to implement PR activities for this client. However, Crenshaw (2015) gives the example that only confirms the opposite. It is a story about the dentist Walter Palmer who is known as #CecilTheLionKiller, as he hunted and killed a «beloved Zimbabwean lion». The story caused an aggressive public's reaction and led to the refusal of PR agencies representing the dentist to further represent the dentist. Another digital marketing company that registered Palmer's web domain was attacked so badly that they had to give up and refer to the crisis management plan (Crenshaw, 2015).
It seems that in the UK, for example, or U.S., a rare PR agency would represent the dentist. If we take the PRCA professional charter and code of conduct, stating that a PR professional has to conduct his or her activities with regard to the interest of public, it will occur that the situation shouldn't be so. Basically, the incident with lion drew public's attention to the issues of illegal hunting to such an extent that any large-scale well-funded campaign could do. In fact, this situation can be turned for the good, acting with regard to the public interest (Cernshaw, 2015; “Professional Charter and Codes of Conduct”, n.d.).
Summing up, the main thing here is to represent the public interest, which makes it possible to implement ethical PR activities for an unethical client or organization, representing the situation or client from another angle.
Question 2
Within the context of public relations corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not an easy issue to discuss either. There's always a question whether a company should implement CSR policy if it doesn't help shareholders, as a company has duties only to its shareholders.
In this regard, it is worth referring to Milton Friedman's well-known statement about corporation's duty or responsibility, which is to make as much money for its shareholders as possible. It may seem that the statement has nothing to do with such issues as safe working conditions, air or water pollution, child labor, or climate change (Coleman, 2013).
However, there's the second part of his famous saying, which explains that there's no contradiction between the struggle for bigger profit and a civil society. It promotes the idea that any business has only one social responsibility which consists of usage of business's resources and engages in activities aimed at increasing company's profit only if it doesn't go beyond the rules of the game. In fact, Friedman highlights the idea that others should create a legal framework for businesses so as to invisibly make them promote this or that social issue when pursuing their own interest. It can be explained with the help of the pollution externalities, for example. This is an important social issue that should be controlled properly, which means that political and legal systems can create the required legal framework. Thus, liability laws and property rights will make a company responsible for pollution and, as a consequence, the company will take these additional costs into account. It will allow the company continue to maximize its profits, but at the same time, the company will care about the society as in this case pollution costs are included in the costs of doing business (Coleman, 2013).
Friedman also argues that even if a company has other social responsibilities than making the profit for shareholders, how it can be understood what the interest of the society is. Here Friedman underlines again the necessity in the legal and political system as institutes that are able to define social responsibility and to transparently encourage companies to internalize costs for these social responsibilities (Coleman, 2013).
The question can be answered through the Kant’s point of view on ethics as well. He provides a useful moral rule with a categorical imperative stating the following: "Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature." In fact, this rule encourages a person to consider whether his or her action is suitable for becoming a universal law or principle for other to follow. Thus, this imperative can be applied to our situation: is doing CSR when it doesn't contribute to shareholders a principle that everyone should follow? (Trevino & Nelson, 2014). The answer is not simple, but taking into consideration that fact that Kant's imperative is related to deontological theories that determine what is right based on universal ethical principles, duties, or values such as promise-keeping, loyalty, respect for property, etc., it can be answered as yes and no at the same time, depending on what we take as a duty: a company's duty to promote social issues or to make profit. However, if we combine it with Friedman's theory the answer will be yes.
References
Coleman, T.S., 2013. Corporate Social Responsibility: Friedman's View. Becker Friedman Institute For Research In Economics. Available from: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/news/feature-story/corporate-social-responsibilty-friedmans-view [Accessed March 7, 2016].
Crenshaw, D., 2015. Can A PR Agency Ethically Defend An Unethical Client? - Crenshaw Communications. Crenshaw Communications. Available from: http://crenshawcomm.com/can-a-pr-agency-defend-an-unethical-client/ [Accessed March 7, 2016].
Darr, A., 2016. Cab rank rule. - Newspaper. Available from: http://www.dawn.com/news/1233468 [Accessed March 7, 2016].
Hatt, J., Ethical & Legal Practices of Public Relations. Ethical &Amp; Legal Practices Of Public Relations. Available from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-legal-practices-public-relations-57666.html [Accessed March 7, 2016].
Hobsbawm, J., 2006. Where the truth lies: trust and morality in PR and journalism, London: Atlantic Books.
Professional Charter and Codes of Conduct. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://www.prca.org.uk/ProfessionalCharterCodesofConduct
Trevino, L.K. & Nelson, K.A., 2014. Managing business ethics: straight talk about how to do it right 6th ed., Hoboken NJ: J. Wiley & Sons.
