Elsevier

Public Relations Review

Volume 20, Issue 3, Autumn 1994, Pages 277-294
Public Relations Review

Hill & Knowlton's two ethical dilemmas

https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(94)90041-8Get rights and content

Abstract

This article presents arguments for and against the acceptance, in 1990, of two controversial accounts by the world's third-largest public relations agency: Hill & Knowlton, Inc. Does the acceptance of such controversial, high-billing accounts in the 1990s reflect the greed of the 1980s? The firm argues that its pro-life campaign for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops demonstrates its commitment to an individual's and organization's right to free speech. Also in 1990, the agency represented Citizens for a Free Kuwait, a lobbying group that sought to foster, with Kuwaiti government's support, Kuwait's interests in the United States. This article also examines the ethical implications of both accounts and concludes that whatever ethical infractions that may have occurred reflect the agency's dominant public relations practices, not necessarily the greedy 1980s.

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  • Cited by (5)

    Cornelius B. Pratt, APR, is professor of public relations at Michigan State University and guest editor of this issue.

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