DRAWING TO A CONCLUSION

We have come a long way since we began our discussion about everyday ethics in the professional practice of public relations by examining our own level of personal integrity. We work in an industry that is so powerful that to practise in a way that is morally sound, we need to be ever more vigilant about what we do, how we do it and how it is perceived.

Ethics is fundamentally about personal conceptions of right and wrong and the willingness to apply our own concepts of right to real situations. Professional ethics, however, is more than that since it must encompass the personal ethics of its individual practitioners , but it both enfolds and transcends personal judgements to include accepted standards of behaviour. It isn't enough to use only your own personal value system to be considered ethical in the professional domain. If you doubt your own moral capabilities, when you are in a position to hire other team members , consider selecting someone who can take on the role of ethics watchdog.

Whether outsiders call us flacks, spin doctors or other equally pejorative labels, as professional communicators we know what our moral responsibilities are. Now it is up to each of us to find a way to fulfil those responsibilities.