OUTSIDE CONFLICTS

Although the protagonist in our little scenario at the beginning of this chapter was not dating someone at her place of business, strictly speaking, in the field of public relations there are many people with whom a personal relationship can affect, or at the very least be perceived by others to be affecting , the professional one.

Are there any ethical implications in the establishment of personal liaisons with clients or potential clients ? Perhaps we can learn something from the experience of the legal profession. Lawyers, too, face issues when confronted with a developing sexual relationship with a client. While lawyers cannot be disbarred for this behaviour ”only cautioned ”they are directed to terminate the professional relationship before continuing the personal one. This seems simple enough. A personal relationship changes the perceptions of the entire situation and can affect one's professional judgement. This is true of members of the legal profession and can certainly be true of PR professionals.

And then there is the situation of personal relationships with members of the media. Personal friendships, or more, with members of the media, one of our more important publics, have a number of ethical implications, both for the journalist and the PR professional. Consider the following situation.

You are a female PR professional who begins dating a journalist you meet at the end of a press conference. You try to be discreet with your relationship, but sooner or later you are spotted and the rumours begin. ˜Perhaps she's bribing him is one perception. ˜Perhaps she's leaking information to the media is another possible perception of those who are observing. Either way, the situation, harmless as it may be, has the potential to be perceived as a bad situation ”and a perception is really all that is necessary for the liaison to be labelled a conflict of interest.

The nature of PR's role within organizations, with its access to proprietary information, makes it very important to maintain a sense of decorum at all times ”whether for the reality or the perception.