Professional Journalists And The Public Relations Society Of America

A code of ethics is a means to demonstrate the ethical choices an organization believes to be important. Of course, all organizations will support their members doing what is legal, however, “The question should not be "How do I avoid a lawsuit?" but rather "How do I do what is right?"” (Moore, 2018, p xxii) and this is what a code of ethics is about. Many organizations have a stated code of ethics, and in communications, as in any field, there are similarities and differences in the ethics an organization chooses to support strongly enough to include them in their codes. The Society of Professional Journalists and the Public Relations Society of America have stated codes with many similarities and differences. They also have different approaches

PRSA and SPJ announce independence as a core value and go on to elaborate some. Under the value of independence, PRSA reports, “We provide objective counsel to those we represent. We are accountable for our actions.” This statement sounds like the organization wants it members to not end up beholden to anyone for anything (PRAS Code of Ethics, p. 2). SPJ reports “The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public” which implies they want journalist to be independent of influence from other obligations.
Accountability is another guideline both these organizations use in their codes of ethics. The SPJ code of ethics finishes up with the value of accountability which might give one the impression this is something the organization wants a member to be left holding onto after reading the document. For the PRSA, accountability is wrapped up in the value of independence which may be interpreted to mean that a feel accountability is a component of

This ethical guideline is included because we need to understand the consequences of our actions well enough to make well thought through, conscience decisions. When we don’t ask for help we then owe a debt, real or perceived, two whoever helped us. That debt owed can sometimes lead to less than ethical behavior as a means of paying that debt. If we are independent we are able to act on our own conscience, without any feeling that we owe anything to anyone..
Expertise is the thorough understanding of the subject matter at hand. This ethical guideline is included because knowing how to do one’s job is a valued principle, and supports the ethical guideline of independence. We portray ourselves as capable professionals, with knowledge and wisdom to impart, and if that’s not the case we need to ask for help, which can lead to a lack of independence. As a capable professionals we are, our integrity is supported by our expertise.
As a budding writer, I’m comparing journalism and public relations ethics because I want to get to know both. I want my communications career to be more in journalism. And I need my career to be in PR as I’m more likely to be able to stay with my current company in the PR field. As a modern communications professionals, we all need to understand that our careers will cover a broad variety of communications aspects and we need to be prepared for all of