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persuading women to take up cigarette smoking, which was then considered unfeminine and inappropriate forwomen with any social standing. To counter this image, Bernays arranged for New York City debutantes to march inthat year's Easter Day Parade, defiantly smoking cigarettes as a statement of rebellion against the norms of a male-dominated society. Photographs of what Bernays dubbed the "Torches of Liberty Brigade" were sent to newspapers,and many women were fooled into taking up the cause, demanding to be admitted into previously all-male smokingclubs in the belief that this was an important step in the struggle for gender equality. Tobacco companies have beengrateful ever since for Bernays' success in overcoming the "taboo" against female smoking.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, public relations specialists held approximately 122,000 jobs in1998, while there were approximately 485,000 advertising, marketing, and public relations managers working in allindustries. Modern public relations uses a variety of techniques including opinion polling and focus groups toevaluate public opinion, combined with a variety of high-tech techniques for distributing information on behalf oftheir clients, including satellite feeds, the Internet, broadcast faxes, and database-driven phone banks to recruitsupporters for a client's cause. The skills and techniques used to manage the public have also expanded over theyears. According to the PRSA, "Examples of the knowledge that may be required in the professional practice of

public relations include communication arts, psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics,and the principles of management and ethics. Technical knowledge and skills are required for opinion research,

public issues analysis, media relations, direct mail, institutional advertising, publications, film/video productions,special events, speeches, and presentations."In addition to corporations, public relations practitioners serve a variety of institutions in society including tradeunions, government agencies, schools, and nonprofit organizations. Practitioners aspire to managerial rather thanfunctional status within the institutions they serve. A number of PR-related disciplines exist, many with names thatreflect the industry's desire to be seen as managers rather than mere publicists. Those disciplines include: crisismanagement, reputation management, news management, opinion management, perception management, outragemanagement, issue management, public affairs, investor relations, and labor relations, to name a few.Many of the techniques used by PR firms are drawn from the institutions and practices of democracy itself.Persuasion, advocacy, and education are instruments through which individuals and organizations are entitled toexpress themselves in a free society, and many public relations practitioners are engaged in practices that areinnocuous or even beneficial to the public, such as helping publicize university research findings, planning charityfundraisers, or designing course catalogs for community colleges. However, a number of strong criticisms of publicrelations have been made over the years.One of the most pernicious public relations strategies is the creation of front groups, organizations that purport toserve a public cause while actually serving the interests of a client whose sponsorship may be concealed. Thecreation of front groups is an example of what PR practitioners sometimes term the third party technique, the art of"putting your words in someone else's mouth."

Beyond the ethical problems with this practice, public relations poses another, deeper challenge to society: Does theorganized practice of propaganda by corporations, governments, and other powerful institutions really serve theinterests of democracy and human freedom? Critics of the profession see public relations as a fundamentallyreactionary response to the perceived danger of ordinary people thinking for themselves or implementing alternativeeconomic and social models.Public Relations is a field which is viewed with much skepticism by the American public, journalists, students, andeven public relations practitioners. Actions must be taken to change the unethical image these people hold of publicrelations. Several solutions have been offered by practitioners, including instilling moral values in the home,educating about ethical/unethical behavior, hiring more honest practitioners, rewarding and publicizing goodconduct, and governmentally regulating the licensing of practitioners. In my opinion, all of these propositions areunfeasible, be it because the solution would be too difficult to implement, or because it is an infringement of firstamendment rights.The way to reverse the unethical perception of public relations is to develop a universal code of ethics. None of thefour arguments popularly cited against a universal code is problematic to such a task. A universal code, in fact, can

be devised which will be satisfactory to those within different social/cultural/geopolitical systems, notwithstandingthe gray areas of cultural values which may be present within such specific systems.Public relations practitioners should establish a professional model similar to that of Certified Public Accountants,recognizing that much of what they do professionally cannot be exclusionary. Globally, they can be confident thatthere is a plenitude of shared ethical values, and those which are within differing areas of moral taste can bediscussed, universally accepted or negotiated. A universal code of professional ethics for public relations isconceivable.

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ReferencesKruckeberg, Dean. Universal Ethics Code: Both Possible and Feasible. Public Relations Review Spring (1993):2130.PR Week, an industry trade publication, covers PR from a largely sympathic point of viewPR Watch, a publication of the Center for Media & Democracy, specializes in exposing deceptive and manipulative

public relations campaignsAbout Public Relations, by the Public Relations Society of America

Larry Tye, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations (1998)John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public RelationsIndustry (1995)Scott Cutlip, The Unseen Power: Public Relations: A HistoryLawrence J. Gittman. Financial analysis for managers Volume I.

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