Managing Public Relations, 2nd Edition

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PROFESSIONALISM, ETHICS, AND LAW

Being mindful of the advantages and disadvantages helps practitioners at all levels to

understand the benets and limitations of having a documented set of standards for

expected behaviors. Perhaps most important to understanding the importance of ethics

codes is the complementary roles they play. As Brinkmann (2002) explains, all ethics

codes are values- based, written standards meant to guide practice in a profession or

industry. Ethics codes, he argues, are established to mitigate moral conict, establish

professional standards, ensure professional morality, and promote a moral climate

in which work is perfor ...