When bloggers turn bad

Did anyone catch this story about Edelman and Wal-Mart?  Apparently, in an attempt to get publicity for their client, Edelman (publishers of the Edelman Trust index) set up a fake blog about a couple who were touring the States and just happening to camp out in Wal-Mart parking lots.

Red faces all round when they were rumbled and howls of protest. 

I fear that the public is coming to expect this sort of behaviour from a profession that brought us lies to the US congress, fake TV news and 101 other scandals.  Looking at the writings of the US Center for Media and Democracy will make your hair curl.  As will this article from US PR newsline BullDog.

I guess one of the risks of running a large consulting business is that it's very hard to legislate for the errors of judgement of individual practioners in your firm.

Yet, the reputation of professional communicators as a whole is in need of some TLC or some tough love.  In the UK, the Chartered Institute of PR (of which I've been a proud member for well over a decade) has just announced a more tough stance on professional misconduct .  Interestingly CIPR President Tony Bradley touches on the issue of promoting higher ethical standards in his blog (which is always highly readable).  At the same time he mentions the potential for growth of communications as a profession in China (where attitudes to freedom of information are little different).

Which brings me to the point of my ramblings... who is defining ethical standards for internal communicators?  And would we benefit from having a clear professional code which we can call upon to shield us when we're asked to do things at work which make us uncomfortable.

There is an IABC code, and most national PR associations have something in place.  However, as many IC people struggle to see a connection between themselves and PR, these might not always resonate.  Maybe we could look to HR associations for guidance but I suspect that wouldn't be a perfect fit either.

Even so, I wonder how many of us are either aware of the codes that might apply to us or know of instances where they have been enforced. 

Liam

Comments

[Tony]

I think that is a very interesting point, but I would answer the question with a question (sorry).

Is it possible, in an environment where confidentiality and non-disclosure is so important, to have a professional code that you could fall back on in such a situation yet retain a position within a firm?

You have opened a can of worms about the balance between doing the bidding of your employer yet maintaining integrity and confidentiality. We as communicators would have to be very certain that we had all the facts and a clear view of the big picture. Else we could not claim our code of ethics is being broken by the actions we have been asked to do.

[Timm]

Speaking as an HR person: While personal ethics are certainly a hotly discussed topic among HR professionals (the core typically being: "How much of a business partner vs. how much of an employee advocate should we be"), I've never heard of an official HR code of conducts. But if there is one, I think internal comms could profit from it.

@Tony: To answer again a question with another question - why should internal comms in that respect be any different than Marketing or Finance?

[Liam]

Timm - I don't think there is any difference between the ethical standards expected of any professional - especially when it comes to refusing to commit unethical practices on behalf of an employer or client.

I was incredibly impressed by the lengths which BP went to last year to roll out its code of conduct to all employees and its willingness to tackle come very complex issues (including unauthorised collaboration with competitors and relations with Government). But most of all it defines a set of common behaviours which make sense whatever function you work in.

The UK's CIPD has a code of conduct (http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1CCA7253-9E93-4D05-B1C0-527D80746853/0/2916CodeofProfConduct.pdf) which stresses the need to be fair etc...