Ethical Challenges, Decision Making, and Solutions
in Public Relations
Detailed Lesson Plan for Three-hour Teaching Module
Prepared by Emma Daugherty, APR
Professor
Department of Journalism & Mass Communication
California State University, Long Beach
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Rationale for Module
This three-hour ethics module is integrated into Journalism 370, “Principles of
Public Relations,” which is a core course for all majors in Journalism & Mass
Communication at California State University, Long Beach. As a required course
for students enrolled in the Public Relations Specialization, “Principles of Public
Relations” is designed for students who are interested in learning how an
organization, either public or private, successfully deals with its publics or
stakeholders.
This course attracts students in communication studies, English, business,
recreation, and other majors. No matter what our graduates pursue in life, it is
essential that they have the ability to communicate effectively with other people
and understand how their communication can deceive and at times perpetuate the
status quo and become hegemonic in nature. This course will help students look at
ethical situations, note the problems that could occur, and deal with them in a
logical, analytical manner. It focuses on policy making and the public interest.
The course teaches students about strategic planning and covers a breadth of
subsets in the practice of public relations: community relations, media relations,
investor relations, consumer relations, and employee relations. The text delves
adequately into these areas and offers cases that focus on mostly successful
programs. Less than a handful of problematic cases are presented – the most
notable one being the Enron case. Interestingly, and disappointingly, the text
analyzes Enron’s public relations efforts (or lack of) from only a tactical
standpoint. Few of the public relations textbooks focus on ethical issues in public
relations in any depth and less on ethical problem solving.
The media portray public relations professionals as manipulators and spin
doctors. Therefore, society generally views public relations in much the same way,
which could not be further from the truth. Public relations is actually the planned
effort to develop meaningful relationships with an organization’s stakeholders
through good character and responsible performance, based upon effective twoway communication (Cutlip and Center, 1978). Much has been written about
corporate social responsibility (CSR) in public relations, and most of the literature
focuses on successful social programs offered by profit-making institutions.
Studying CSR programs, although helpful in conveying course concepts, is not the
most effective method for teaching students about ethical issues in public relations,
ethical decision-making processes, and ethical solutions that will enhance
relationships and not hurt them.
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According to the Public Relations Society of America website, “The practice of
public relations can present unique and challenging ethical issues. At the same
time, protecting integrity and the public trust are fundamental to the profession’s
role and reputation. Bottom line, successful public relations hinges on the ethics of
its practitioners.” Additionally, the PRSA Code of Ethics begins by stating: “We
serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those we represent.”
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Learning Objectives for Module
 To develop a basic understanding of what it means to act ethically
 To enable students to fully understand the meaning of ethical behavior in
public relations
 To familiarize students with the tools to identify and analyze ethical issues
in the practice of public relations
 To learn what some of the most relevant issues are in public relations
 To explore the various instances in which ethical situations arise in the
public relations practice
 To develop a basic ability to understand and apply a variety of philosophical
approaches to solve issues in the public relations practice
Learning Outcomes for Module
 Students will understand what it means to act ethically.
 Students will be able to identify the types of ethical issues facing public
relations practitioners.
 Students will be able to employ ethical decision-making processes when
faced with problems and understand the ethical aspects of the consequences
of their actions.
 Students will be armed with the ammunition they need to be capable and
ethical decision makers as public relations professionals.
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Mode of Instruction
This three‐hour teaching module consists of the following:
 A quiz offering different scenarios, asking students how they would react to
different situations
 An initial discussion of what is ethics and some basic ethical principles
 A discussion about ethical decision‐making as a systematic, informed
process
 An examination of some of the most prominent ethics issues in the public
relations practice
 A closer examination of these ethical issues and the ways they may escalate
 A discussion of how ethical principles and a systematic ethical decisionmaking process help to analyze and resolve those five ethical issues
Classroom Pedagogy and Activities
 As a class, students first take a quiz projected on PowerPoint that offers
scenarios relating to their own personal ethics, such as taking allowable sick
days without being sick. A discussion follows.
 Next students as a class answer ethical questions on PowerPoint relating to
the profession of public relations, such as taking credit for media placement
not generated by the public relations firm. A discussion of varying
viewpoints will ensue.
 The first part of the session focuses on what is ethics, the difference between
ethics and religion, ethics and law, ethics and morality; ethical
decision‐making as a systematic process; the main ethical principles.
 The class segues into a discussion about public relations ethics, and the
instructor asks students to list the most relevant ethical issues in the practice
of public relations.
 Students then engage in a think-pair-share exercise, involving more personal
and in-depth revelations about ethical attitudes and reactions.
 The class will identify the most important ethical issues in the practice.
 Small groups are formed and assigned one of the top ethical issues identified
by the class.
 Each group uses the board to report on how they would address their ethical
issue.
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 Each group presents and leads the discussion with their classmates.
 After the discussion, three real-life case studies on the most important issues
in the public relations practice are distributed to each group to analyze.
 All groups are instructed to achieve a consensus among group members.
Groups then report on their conclusions.
Assessment
 Small groups are asked to report on their outcome and provide a rationale
 A follow-up classroom discussion asks students to describe and explain how
much they learned about ethical dilemmas in public relations and how to
solve them.
 Students are asked to identify a current problem in public relations making
the headlines and write a brief reflection piece on ethical (or lack of)
decision making.
 An examination offers a case study about an ethical dilemma in public
relations for students to solve.
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Topics for Discussion:
Relevant Ethical Issues in the Discipline of Public Relations
Ethical issues surface in all facets of the public relations practice. Some of the
most relevant issues are the following:
 disclosure of information
 conflicts of interest
 billing practices by public relations agencies
 reporting results to clients by public relations agencies
 employees disclosing confidential client information (client confidentiality)
 hiring and firing practices (i.e., stealing an agency’s employees and taking
them with you,
 stealing client accounts
 employees disclosing employer information via social media
 treatment of the local community (i.e., knowing that your company is
polluting the local environment)
 disseminating false information to the media
 poor treatment of the consumer public (i.e., being aware that a product your
company sells is faulty and harmful to the public)
 lying to company shareholders
 salary discrimination
 sexual harassment
 home-work balance issues (65% of all public relations practitioners are
women; 80% of undergraduates studying public relations are women)
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