Blog Post 4

The definition of PR currently is, “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” This is quite a basic definition, with no explanation of how, or why they do what they do. The definition should take into consideration the ever-evolving online media, with another level needed to cover the discourse that social media creates between brands and the public. In the text, Media Ethics, the author Plaisance notes, “the focus of ethics remains on the deliberate process rather than the final decision.” – the definition of PR would do well to include their processes from choosing clients to represent to how they determine what information is fit for public consumption so that the public understands that they are not just taking on any client, or any idea/ideal for pay.

In 2011 there was a push to see this definition of public relations re-written. There was a format to utilize from Public Relations Society of America website, “Public relations (does what) with or for (whom) to (do what) for (what purpose). 

It’s important that readers have a trusting relationship with the communicators in today’s media. When defining public relations, the scope of the definition should include the integral nature of its practice. Public relations serve a purpose for and to the public, and as such should be held to ethical standards, and in doing so, should strive to include ethics in the defining of the definition of PR itself.

Using that format, here is my version of what should be the definition of public relations: 
“Public relations works to identify and share integral information from an ethical standpoint with or for organizations, public figures and/or share holders to inform the intended public audiences for the purpose of facilitating mutual understanding between all parties. I took the current definition and manipulated it to be more inclusive of the nature of public relations, the what, and how of it all, if you will. I also wanted to ensure the definition helps hold public relations accountable for the scope of their duties that often include being faced with ethical dilemmas. 


In an article published in the NY Times in November of 2011, Redefining Public Relations in the Age of Social Media, author Stuart Elliot states a few examples of recent PR ethical breaches, one of which was the debacle caused by Netflix (a movie subscription company that mails DVDS or steams them live on your computer or TV). 

Netflix enacted a price hike without much warning (what many called gouging) to existing customer plans by a 60% increase in 2011 that caused a pretty severe consumer backlash to the company. Netflix gave hardly any notice to existing customers, which affected the trust consumers had because of the lack of transparency surrounding the communication giving to the consumer. The price hike couldn’t even be justified by bringing new value to the consumer, because it didn’t, which didn’t seem fair to the consumer. I don’t think that the Netflix executives made good choices in regards to informing their consumer base about a price hike. From an ethical standpoint, I think companies have a responsibility to give significant notice to consumers about changes in price, so that the consumer has the wherewithal to make a decision about what next steps to take.

As I noted earlier, since public relations serves a purpose to the general public, they should be held to a certain level of accountability. After all, much, if not all of what they do has the ability to shape public opinion, so one would hope that they follow ethical practices. Monitoring the field of public relations would ideally be a good thing, much of what they do (at the end result at least) is transparent, but how they get to that point isn't, so monitoring would help ensure ethical choices were being made before they presented to the public. I think that public relations firms should have mission statements that speak to the type of client they will represent, in the hopes that they would then be more ethical in who they choose to represent.