Public Relations Ethics

I had the opportunity yesterday to listen to Daniel Yankelovich, a prominent pollster who has recently written a book titled Profit with Honor. It was the kind of event that was great from a marketing prospective. There was a good turn out, and his presentation was appropriate to current students, alumni, and area professionals. It was in short, the kind of thing that Universities should do to engage broad audiences in discussions of ethics.

What was interesting however about the actual presentation was Yankelovich’s approach to public relations and advertising. This was not a focus of the presentation but it was an interesting sidelight for those of us that are in the professor in higher education. During his presentation he talked about public relations as a tool in the hands of organizational leaders to build trust relationships. He indicated strongly that public relations could be a tool to build or destroy these relationships.

It continues to build on my feeling that colleges and universities have to lead in the area of transparency in terms of advertising and public relations. Internally, we have to police ourselves. Professionals who have been in the field long now that numbers like faculty staff ratio are bound to great deal of interpretation, and as a number tells students not nearly as much as they think it does. Likewise, how we use rankings is a major issue. As I wrote the obligatory U.S. News release I couldn’t help but wonder how that particular stranglehold can be at the very least softened.

The basis for ethical behavior in promoting colleges and universities seems to be in taking a student centered approach. Considering that audience first, and considering what facts and figures will really tell them what they need to know. The problem is that educating them about what they need to know can be tough.

It is a complex issue, but one I think is worth considering.