The ethics of public relations

“Ethics is good economics”. This is not a cynical phrase but means ‘it pays to be honest”. A business is more likely to succeed if it is trusted. In PR, credibility is vital. Not only must it be believable but it must be true. PR is about knowledge and understanding and that leads to goodwill, which depends on faith.

One can also say that “honesty is the best policy”. That means that PR will not work if it is not believed. This is different from propaganda, when people must believe in a certain political idea. In PR we are responsible for distribution of factual information, accurately and without comment. The audience must decide what to do with it.

Ethics is also about the ways PR specialists behave. Personal integrity becomes a part of their professionalism, as with politicians, teachers or doctors. Public relations specialists have to do PR for themselves. They are judged by the way they act. PR people give expert advice and they do not bribe journalists.

If employers ask PR specialists to do something unethical they should use their professional code of ethics as an argument.

ВАРИАНТ 5

I. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните в каждом из них глагол-сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык. В разделе (B) обратите внимание на особенности перевода пассивных конструкций.

A)

1. They printed some business cards with the new logo

2. What job will you have after the company reorganization?

3. They have refused my request for credit.

4. I am waiting for their reply to our letter for three weeks.

B)

1. The mail was loaded into the train.

2. English is spoken all over the world.

3. Employees are paid twice a month.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения. Подчеркните Participle I и Participle II и установите функции каждого из них, т.е. укажите, является ли оно определением, обстоятельством или составной частью глагола-сказуемого; предложения переведите на русский язык.

1. The package delivered this morning is from our partners.

2. Discussing your idea we came to the conclusion that you were right.

3. Listening to the presentation listeners made notes.

4. We have just had all our machines serviced.

III. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните в каждом из них модальный глагол или его эквивалент; переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. Can you translate this agreement into French?

2. They will be able to create the necessary conditions for the development of their enterprise.

3. He asked me whether he might take my dictionary.

4. She will be allowed to tell you about it herself.

5. I think we should accept their offer. I is the best we’ll get.

6. The old methods of teaching English are to be renewed.

IV. Переведите на русский язык.

Necessary qualities of pr Specialist

The demands on PR consultant or PR managers are great. They are often regarded as oracles and expected to perform miracles. Yet, no matter how great their intelligence, training and experience, they can never be experts in everything. PR man or woman has to be adaptable to be able to accept that in PR one never stops learning. The ability and the willingness to find out are very important.

The following qualities are very important for PR specialist, no matter what his or her background may be:

• ability to get along with all kinds of people (this means understanding, tolerating and never flattering them.);

• ability to communicate (that is to explain by means of spoken or written word or by visual means);

• ability to organize;

• personal integrity in both professional and private life;

• creativity when designing a house journal, writing a script for a film or a videotape;

• ability to research and evaluate the results of a PR campaign, and learn from these results.

Responsibilities of the PR manager may be defined as:

• to set targets or define objectives for PR operations;

• to estimate the working hours and other resources;

• to choose publics, media, time for operations, and best use of manpower and other resources;

The tasks of PR manager could be:

• to establish and maintain a good image of the organization and its policies, products and services;

• to monitor outside opinion and report it to the management;

• to advise management on communication problems, solutions and techniques;

• to inform publics about policies, activities, products, services and staff so that maximum knowledge and understanding is won.