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21-09-2009
The duty to tell the truth
While most people will accept that the business of business is persuading others of the value of what you are selling – whether it is a product, service or your expertise – there is a fine line between what is acceptable and when that persuasion drifts into exaggeration or even little white lies to get the job done.
PR has, for years, been plagued with negative criticism on anything from its actual relevance in the real commercial world to the notion of it being a ‘black art’ with PROs living life through one champagne lunch to the next. It’s hardly shocking that this view of pros has stuck.
In an industry where PROs rarely trust the word of other PROs, how can we expect others to trust us? Many people perceive public relations as something less than respectable – we may be seen as clever strategists that convince the public that what's wrong is right, spin doctors who sell hype and puffery to gullible minds.
Some see PR professionals as manipulators of the public mind rather than conveyors of truth.
The CIPR holds a standard for public relations practitioners to have an ‘honest and responsible regard for the public interest; checking the reliability and accuracy of information before dissemination; never knowingly misleading clients, employers, employees, colleagues and fellow professionals’. Nowhere in the cipr code does it explicitly state that PR has a duty to tell the truth.
If PR does not have a duty to tell the truth and yet the media are printing what PR practitioners are telling without question, then the media are potentially printing distortions, evasions or outright lies. However, this assumes that just because PR does not have a duty to tell the truth, that all PR people automatically lie.
That is not the case. For Max Clifford, and others like him (leaving aside the debate about whether Clifford practices PR or publicity), PR has a duty to its clients. The best interests of the client may not always involve telling the whole truth.
At Kinetic, we recognise that sometimes telling the whole truth can be damaging to our client and the communities in which they work. However, we never advocate lying. Some things are easier to hear than others and some are easier to tell but our values include demonstrating integrity, making ethical decisions as well as being open and straight-talking.
The brands that do own up when something goes wrong, which are quick to respond in a crisis and which are open and honest about processes and policies are often those which have the strongest reputations long-term.
PR has, for years, been plagued with negative criticism on anything from its actual relevance in the real commercial world to the notion of it being a ‘black art’ with PROs living life through one champagne lunch to the next. It’s hardly shocking that this view of pros has stuck.
In an industry where PROs rarely trust the word of other PROs, how can we expect others to trust us? Many people perceive public relations as something less than respectable – we may be seen as clever strategists that convince the public that what's wrong is right, spin doctors who sell hype and puffery to gullible minds.
Some see PR professionals as manipulators of the public mind rather than conveyors of truth.
The CIPR holds a standard for public relations practitioners to have an ‘honest and responsible regard for the public interest; checking the reliability and accuracy of information before dissemination; never knowingly misleading clients, employers, employees, colleagues and fellow professionals’. Nowhere in the cipr code does it explicitly state that PR has a duty to tell the truth.
If PR does not have a duty to tell the truth and yet the media are printing what PR practitioners are telling without question, then the media are potentially printing distortions, evasions or outright lies. However, this assumes that just because PR does not have a duty to tell the truth, that all PR people automatically lie.
That is not the case. For Max Clifford, and others like him (leaving aside the debate about whether Clifford practices PR or publicity), PR has a duty to its clients. The best interests of the client may not always involve telling the whole truth.
At Kinetic, we recognise that sometimes telling the whole truth can be damaging to our client and the communities in which they work. However, we never advocate lying. Some things are easier to hear than others and some are easier to tell but our values include demonstrating integrity, making ethical decisions as well as being open and straight-talking.
The brands that do own up when something goes wrong, which are quick to respond in a crisis and which are open and honest about processes and policies are often those which have the strongest reputations long-term.
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