Public relations pros are defending their profession following a study that suggests lying is pervasive among PR executives.
Out of over 20 public relations executives anonymously interviewed by the University of Pretoria’s Ronel Rensburg, 17 admitted lying to the media on a regular basis and 16 said they would do it again. The paper “Lying to protect the organization: An occupational hazard?” reportedly quoted one anonymous PR executive as saying: “Of course I lie – I lie because my CEO expects it.”
“I lie to the media and my staff. I even have to lie to the CEO because I know more than he does,” another stated.
Rensburg’s report prompted gaps from the audience when he presented the paper recently at the International Public Relations Research Symposium in Slovenia.
PR practitioners took issue with the paper. They pointed out, correctly, that the sample size of 20 interviews cannot possibly produce an accurate picture of PR in South Africa or in the U.S.
“When you look at it from a research perspective, I would say the 20 interviews is not enough to make a statement about how things happen in South Africa,” Sarab Kochhar, director of research at the Institute for Public Relations, told the International Business Times. “It’s definitely not a reflection of how things are done in North America.”
Ready to Defend Personal Reputations
The statements expressed in Rensburg’s report do not represent the norm, countered Dr. Marlene S. Neill, an assistant professor at the Baylor University in the Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media, in an article for the PRSA’s blog, PRSAY. A survey of 30 senior executives in 2010, published in the Journal Mass Media Ethics, found that PR executives would not compromise integrity and risk their personal reputations, which they consider their most valuable asset.
One stated: “I can’t afford to lose my credibility… As PR professionals, it’s all we have. And if I lose my credibility here, it’s not like [I] can just go start over with someone else, somewhere else. Credibility is something that you can’t afford to lose”
Specific Examples of Defending Principles
Some provided specific examples of how they stood by their ethical beliefs. When one executive was told to put false information in a press release, she refused and suggested rewording the press release or leaving the information out. When her options were not accepted, she resigned.
Another PR executive, then a spokesperson for a university, refused to lie to the AP and was eventually demoted. The examples demonstrate that PR pros are willing to stand up for ethical practices, Neill asserts, stressing that PR pros must preserve their credibility and reputation in order to properly perform their jobs.
She points to one of the executives who said, “I’m a firm believer in the theory that the truth will come out sooner or later. It may take a week, it may take six months, it may take five years, but if you don’t tell the truth, sooner or later you realize it’s going to come out.”
Bottom Line: Although a survey of PR executives indicates that lying is prevalent among PR executives, some PR pros say they have refused to lie to the media, even at the costs of their jobs. Lying destroys credibility. Credibility is crucial to corporate PR.
Please share examples of PR professionals demonstrating a high standard of ethics in the comments below.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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