Ironically, I’ve spent the afternoon speaking with Sharon Alt, president of our client Alt Benefit Consultants, about ethics in the insurance industry, and we seem to be in the same boat on an issue that transcends both of our professions.
I was greeted this morning by an email blast by the PRSA national board of directors in response to comments made by CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen (links to both are below), and it really made me think—I don’t think either stance is exactly right.
I certainly don’t appreciate being lumped into a profession of generally deceptive and unethical people, and I can see how his statements have rustled some feathers. My personal favorite generalization within the article is below:
“But in every tragic drama comes a moment of comedic Zen. And in L'Affair McClellan, that has come from the public relations community, where some now wonder whether the former flack violated the "ethics" of his craft.
Apparently, an industry the very essence of which is to try to convince people that a turkey is really an eagle has a rule that condemns lying.
The Public Relations Society of America states: "We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent..." This clause strikes me as if the Burglars Association of America had as its creed "Thou Shalt Not Steal."
Show me a PR person who is "accurate" and "truthful," and I'll show you a PR person who is unemployed.”
I understand the need for a professional society (of which I am a member) to defend its members, but really there is no way to be 100% certain that each PR practitioner is ethical. It’s the ultimate dilemma in any service industry.
Similarly, you can’t trust all insurance agents to be ethical, either. Or car salesmen, or advertising execs, or even the guy who fixes your car.
Every industry has its bad apples, so why try and defend them all?
I don’t believe a witch hunt is merited, but certainly, it’s unrealistic to lump all professionals from ANY given industry into categories of “good” or “Bad.”
The article in its entirety (along with pages and pages of angry PR people defending their profession) at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/01/sunday/main4142947.shtml#ccmm
View the Public Relations Society of America response below:
http://www.prsa.org/supportfiles/news/viewNews.cfm?pNewsID=842347385
1 comment:
Hi Alison I like your blog! Just out of interest, I founded and run my own ethical PR company here in England, we are committed not only to providing an ethical and environmentally sound PR and marketing service to our clients,who are mostly in the ethical arena themselves, but I personally work, live and play to these principles which I am passionate about. Part of what we offer is advice on how to make your business and practices more socially responsible and ethical! It's one of those big oxymorons isn't it - how can marketing be ethical? When the very nature of marketing is to sell stuff to people who may not want it! But I believe the more ethical our marketing, the safer consumers can be in knowing that they are making the right choices for the right reasons. Right I've wittered on enough Nice to meet you! Lisa
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