Chapter 12: Persuasion... or Propaganda?

OVERVIEW

Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful .

Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

”Lao-Tzu

Public relations practitioners today have a variety of roles, from the purely technical to the respected counsellor within organizations of every kind, from huge profit-making conglomerates to small grassroots not-for-profits and everything in between. Regardless of the role, however, PR people and the managerial function they represent must take on the position of advocate. It is simply the nature of what we do. Further, in advocating on behalf of an organization, person or cause, we often find ourselves in the position of having to persuade others to our point of view. How we go about doing that is what makes advocacy and persuasion bull's eyes for ethical quagmires. In the name of strategic persuasion, public relations practitioners have, over the years , resorted to a variety of techniques that hover on the border between persuasion and blatant propaganda, or between the truth and lying by omission. We'll examine the ethical issues inherent in the persuasion process and then illustrate this with three discussions. First, we'll examine how the ethical role of PR advocate speaks to the need for careful selection of clients , employers and causes. Second, we'll focus on how the words we choose to convey our messages can have ethical consequences. Finally, we will examine that particular public relations strategy: the development and implementation of the so-called front group .