I would like us all to talk about PR and ethics. Recently while attending the PRSSA National Conference in Salt Lake City, I attended a presentation that was given by a group of students on research that they conducted with another group.

During their presentation they illustrated that less than one percent of PR students saw ethics as a key element in our industry. To me this is appalling as it should be to everyone. As an industry we struggle to maintain a positive image, oddly enough we can do image control for our clients but not our profession. PR is seen as spin, and movies like “Thank You for Smoking” though a great movie do not go to support our cause.

Obviously as a profession we need to maintain an ethical value, but how can we go about developing a better perception of ourselves. How can we compete with movies and the common belief that PR professionals are all corrupt spinners who will do anything to make their clients look better?

It has been said that in your career you will be asked to lie, to cover something up, or to be unethical. Whether this pressure comes from your CEO, your boss, or your client what will you do? How will you maintain your ethical values?