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Angelina Moles PR History and Ethics Analysis Public Relations is a widely diverse communications field that manages and constructs a relationship between the organization it represents and the public in which it is built. With a strong PR management team, a company can go from hardly known to a national empire. Public Relations is dedicated to make an organization have an unscratched reputation and heavenly image with the niche audience that they are trying to persuade. Although Public Relations definition might seem to say that PR is in place to build everlasting relationships with the company they represent and the public that surrounds it, and hold true to building the companys image on good morals and values, PR has seen uproar in negative perceptions from the media and society as a whole. Some question whether PR specialists lack good judgment on ethical values or if they will do anything to obtain a sturdy paycheck. The practice of public relations, contradictory to what some may think, has been around since the 15th and 16th century, it just wasnt titled the same. Due to the invention of the printing press in 1450, having information widely distributed became much less tedious and much simpler. This lead way to more public interest in the world that surrounded them. In the 1600s and all throughout the 1700s public persuasion was seen all around the colonies of new America in forms of pamphlets. These pamphlets included the well know Federalist Papers written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison that were in place to persuade the public to ratify the U.S. Constitution. This pamphlet is a prime example of gaining public support through diction and persuasion leading to the golden age of Press Agentry in the 1800s. P.T. Barnum was the master of using press agentry and best represents the hype of it as stated by Wilcox and

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Cameron in Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics. He would stage public events just to gain the attention of the public. The beginning of formalized public relations practices first took place in 1905 when Ivy Ledbetter Lee, a pioneer and then journalist for the New York Times, opened the first public relations counsel. Lee focused on publicizing the truth, and most accurate information rather than hype. Lees model is still employed today, but the modernized approach we see most often in the world today was brought along by Edward L. Berrnays. Berrnays model was dedicated to brilliant campaigns and extensive self-promotion (Wilcox and Cameron 47). His is known as the Father of Modern Public Relations and his approach is what PR is dedicated to achieving. Along with these new and innovative campaigns of PR, came unethical procedures. Ethics is defined in Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics as the standards of conduct which indicates how one should behave based upon moral duties and virtues rising from principles of right and wrong. One prime example of unethical produces would be P.T. Barnums staged public events. Some would consider this ingenious and others would view it as deceitful and unlawful. In the eyes of PR it didnt matter, the main point was that the public got ahold of the meaning and turned it into a large scale publicity stunt. Lee also employed his own use of unethical publicity when he convinced Rockefeller in 1914 and 1915 to visit a mining plant and talk with the miners and their families while making sure the press was there to capture every moment. It was planned, fake, and unethical because under all the hype of the mining industry, it made the miners feel like they had been scammed and Rockefeller was only there for his benefit not for theirs. The use of the press agentry model exemplified how ethics werent even involved in the picture; it was all about the hype and exaggeration of the truth.

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Unethical uses of PR have become more pronounced in this day and age. Documentaries such as Toxic Sludge is Good for You portray the PR business as scandalous and fake by using its upper hand in the communication field to sway information to their liking. PR has been criticized in the public eye of been manipulative and deceitful. Some even believe that there are no morals or ethics in the PR profession. In the journal article Ethics and Public Relations written by Dr. Shannon A. Bowen, a professor at Syracuse University, Bowen looks back on the history of PR and the modern day practice of PR. She focuses on the ethics behind the field. In Bowens research she found from the IABC Research Foundation that little or no ethics training is held by public relations practitioners leaving them up to harsh criticism on whether they do know how to be ethical or not. In her article, Bowen also offers six key guidelines to creating a more ethical approach on public relations. Her article shows the flaws in ethics dealing with PR and the strengths that public relation practitioners use on a day-to-day basis. Human nature is built upon morals and values all unique to each individual. It is almost impossible to please every persons ethical beliefs while trying to publicize a company or organization. Public relation practitioners must find a way to build up their credibility. Whether it be by employing mandatory ethical training courses in PR fields or mending their relationship with the public as a whole, PR management fields must constantly build up their ethos. Public relations is based on forming strong relationships with organizations and the public they represent. Bowen says it best Careful and consistent ethical analyses facilitate trust, which enhances the building an maintenance of relationships after all, that is the ultimate purpose of the public relations function.

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Works Cited Wilcox, Dennis L. and Cameron, Glen T. Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2012. Print.

Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Pro. Loretta Alper & Sut Jhally. Festival of Films, 2002.

Bowen, Shannon A. Ethics and Public Relations. Institute for Public Relations: Ethics: Topics. Web. October 30, 2007.