Clarifying ethics terms in public relations from A to V, authenticity to virtue BledCom special issue of PR review sleeping (with the) media: Media relations

A definitional problem exists regarding ethics in public relations: many terms are used interchangeably and much confusion exists. This study is based on 28 elite interviews with opinion leaders in public relations and uses a grounded theory approach. Refining the way we understand and discuss ethics is particularly important in the public relations subfunction of media relations because it is on the front lines of interaction with journalists and publics. The credibility of media relations is often challenged by journalists, and the ethics supporting organizational decisions is often questioned by publics. Recommendations are offered from the moral philosophy literature to clarify and increase precision in terminology use related to ethics across the function and our most visible subfunction, media relations. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.