Educating communication professionals: The case for ethics in the curriculum

Abstract

This commentary examines the value of teaching ethics as a part of public relations and communications management education. It centers on the premise that teaching ethics to public relations students cannot provide any degree of assurance to future employers, or society, that these individuals will actually behave in an ethical manner. The question of whether it is ethical to teach ethics to students in the professions is raised – the author muses as to whether public relations faculties would have a different view of what they teach to their students, how they teach it and who teaches it if they were held accountable for the moral decisions of their graduates.

©Journal of Professional Communication, all rights reserved.