SAMANTHA PERRY

Communicating Ethically in Public Relations

What question or problem did you examine, and why?

The problem that I examined in my paper was the power dynamics between companies and publics. Once looking at the problem of the power dynamics, we can then understand the ethical implications; we can then look at how public relators are relaying information and decide whether it follows ethical standards. I was interested in this subject because of a previous internship in the public relations field. I got an inside look at the way the public relations team dealt with disseminating information. I was interested in further exploring the ethical implications that come with communicating with publics.

What excited you most about your research?

Typically, the public relations field earns a bad reputation. I was excited while doing my research to learn that many companies do have ethical forms of communication with their publics. Since public relations is a field that I am considering for a career, I was happy to see that the field is just misinterpreted; in most cases the public relations teams understand that ethics plays a major role when communicating.

How does this research reinforce or change your work as a professional? 

The research that I have done for this paper has made me have a greater respect for the role that ethics plays in business. While working at my internship, I have to say that ethics was not at the forefront of my brain. But, after working on this project, it is clear that ethics must be at the center of what public relators do. Ethics can make or break a business; if you act without ethics there is a great chance that the public will not have trust in you, without that trust, they will not become your customers. Acting ethically will gain trust and therefore, gain business and profits.