We talk a lot about reputation management for our clients and organizations. But what about for ourselves? What's your reputation worth?
PR pros must be proactive in maintaining our own credibility. Thankfully, I have never been faced with a situation where I was asked to intentionally mislead, lie or cover-up something on behalf of an organization. And I hope I never will.
But I think it's bigger than an individual decision. Every time an apparent ethics breach occurs and a PR pro is caught in the middle, or worse, the cause, our profession veers off course. Collectively, we lose and the profession is lost without a foundation of ethics.
Take a close look at the fist line of the PRSA Member Code of Ethics pledge:
I pledge:PR ethics is one of those areas that sadly, sometimes gets forgotten from within, mocked from outsiders, and keeps us from taking steps forward.
To conduct myself professionally, with truth, accuracy, fairness, and responsibility to the public...
I've heard for years about how we need a PR campaign for the PR profession. Well it starts with a focus on ethics to (re)build our profession's credibility.
I love the call to action over on Neville Hobson's blog on this topic:
Why don’t we all make September our own ethics awareness month by asking ourselves: What am I going to do?
Here’s a start: before the end of this month, read your respective professional association’s code of conduct:Fantastic idea.
(If you’re not a member of any of these bodies, read the codes anyway.)
- Public Relations Society of America Member Code of Ethics 2000 (PDF)
- Chartered Institute of Public Relations Code of Conduct and Complaints Procedure (PDF)
- IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators
