Public relations without ethics will face the same fate as propaganda. Research reflections. (Case study of PR associations in Poland)

The article is based on two basic theses. The first one involves a conviction that professional public relations does not exist without the observance of a code of conduct. No other issue is more important in PR than ethics — business ethics and ethics of people running the business. Without them the concept of PR will face the same fate as propaganda. The second thesis concerns a critical approach towards frequent, at least in Poland, manifestations of ignorance towards public relations philosophical genesis and ethos. That is why the author’s aim is to convince the reader that public relations is able to develop itself, provided that it is not subjected to marketing, despite the fact that it owes marketing a lot.