Today I want to introduce you to the non-profit trade association for public relations professionals, the Public Relations Society of America, or PRSA, as you'll hear me call it today. This organization is nationwide and has a very active membership. I highly recommend becoming a member. Some employers will even pay for the membership, and I also recommend becoming involved. This organization provides a large network, but also professional development opportunities for continued learning. Whether you are new to the field or a longtime professional, PRSA is worth a look. For your reference, I've included some important resources here, links to the Public Relations Society of America and to the profession's code of ethics. Part of being good at public relations means keeping up to date on the industry's happenings. Here is a list of trade publications, several of which I peruse every day or every week. Things move so quickly, I like to have a beat on the pulse of public relations. One time I had a student ask me why I required them to read the news every day and take current events quizzes. If you are going to work in communications or the field of public relations, current events is a requirement. Being up-to-date on news and happenings only allows you to be better at your job. Having knowledge of current events will help you identify opportunities or potential crises that may affect your brand or organization, reading the news every day is critical to practice. In this lesson, we will talk about PRSA and the different services and committees available. We will also think about the national network and what it means to be part of a profession. I'll conclude today by highlighting the code of ethics that guides practice. Public relations and ethics are not commonly used in the same sentence and we've talked about P. T. Barnum and his stance and in mass media like movies and television shows, PR practitioners are portrayed as manipulative and doctors of span. You've seen Ari Gold in Entourage or Samantha Jones in Sex and the City or Olivia Pope in Scandal. While these representations are all fun to watch, they are not a positive representation of the field of public relations. Just because a profession has a code of ethics, does that legitimatize practice? No, of course not. But PRSA created this code of conduct to shape practice and to grow a profession that strives for transparency and honesty and to conduct business mindful of the triple bottom line, our profession has had a sordid past and is competing with a field like advertising that's had problems with honesty since its inception. Public relations want to be legitimate and to be seen as a profession of counselors and reputation managers. We're going to go over this code of conduct in detail. Now let's look more closely at the Public Relations Society of America organization. Many professions have professional societies. These societies bring professionals together, creating a network, but also sharing knowledge and resources, working to advance the profession and to do good in communities nationwide and in some instances, worldwide. Public Relations Society of America is comprised of 30,000 professionals and growing. Keep in mind, the profession is actually very recent and is growing. But also PR is in a blurred state, having much overlap with marketing and advertising. You'll come to see that I'm a purist, I believe in public relations independent of other fields. There are more than 100 chapters of PRSA nationwide and the Public Relations Society of America also host student chapters. Public Relations Students Society of America. There are 375 student chapters. I bring this up because I'm a professor and have a vested interest in one of these student chapters here at CU Boulder. But even more so if you are looking for a communications intern, PRSA is a great resource for you. Students all over the country are eager to gain experience in public relations. Within the professional organization, there are 14 different interests groups across a range of industries like corporate communication, technology, traveling, tourism, and others. With these interest groups, there are communities of expertise, specialized content, and networking opportunities, but then also service opportunities within the communities these PRSA chapters serve. If your current employer is not a member, you might ask them about it. Membership in PRSA is great exposure for any company or organization, but also for the employees. The Public Relations Society of America published its first code of ethics in 1954 and has revised it over the years, with the last revision being in 2000. As you can imagine, the organization decided a code of conduct was needed because of bad professional behaviors in the name of public relations. For those professionals who wanted to be part of something serious and more broadly respected, bad behavior could not be tolerated. That's why we see a code of conduct appear in the 1950s. PRSA created a code of ethics to combat some of the criticism surrounding the profession. The code of ethics is designed to anticipate and accommodate professionals when ethical challenges do arise. PRSA wants its members to abide by ethical practices so that they uphold the profession as credible and transparent doing a public service. Thus, PRSA expects the pursuit of excellence and says that ethical practice is the most important obligation of its members. PRSA's Code of Ethics includes professional values and professional standards of conduct. The code of conduct came about because of professionals gone wild or professionals engaging in bad behavior. People like Dan Edelman and Arthur W Page wanted legitimacy in the profession and many thought code of ethics would eradicate the bad behavior and get rid of all the dishonest players. In earlier versions of the code of conduct, there was enforcement included, guaranteed because bad behavior and unethical behavior was rampant. As time moved on, the enforcement measures were removed, but PRSA still expects ethical behaviors from all of its members. PRSA's professional values are the foundation for the code of ethics, setting the standard for professional industry practice. First is advocacy. This is the idea that PR professionals should act responsible and always advocate for our clients. We are paid to represent their best interests and we should safeguard that trust. Next is honesty. This is where our sorted past has colored our current reality. Practitioners are expected to communicate with the utmost accuracy and honesty. We want truth in our communication stream far away from the idea of spin doctor or just for the headlines professional. We are communicating for our clients, and so it's important that we are always doing so with our best interests in mind. Lying and hiding the truth is never a good idea. Even if the truth hurts our brand, we must be honest. In doing public relations and representing so many different clients in various sectors, practitioners acquire a lot of specialized knowledge and expertise. PRSA's professional values include expertise. The organization expects members to use their specialized knowledge and expertise responsibly in a way that advances the profession. Continuing on with the professional values, PRSA includes independence. This value takes ownership of the management function of public relations. When we counsel clients, we are responsible for that advice; good or bad, we are responsible, and that responsibility should guide our practice. Next is loyalty. PRSA members are expected to be committed to their clients' success, but also to remember their obligation to the public and to act in the public's best interest. We are obligated to the profession, but also to clients and co-workers and colleagues to be loyal and to always act in the best interests of our client. Finally, fairness is the last of PRSA's professional values. This simply asks that members always operate fairly when dealing with clients, employees, competitors, media, and so on. PRSA wants members to respect others' opinions and to support free expression. These six professional values are the foundation of PRSA's code of ethics. You can get a sense of what PRSA is all about with these values. It's about defending and advancing the profession. Members want the industry to be seen as honest and credible. Along with the professional values we just discussed, PRSA's code of ethics includes this provision of professional conduct. This is behavior that is just expected of PR professionals. Since public relations is about serving the public interest, PRSA expects members to advance the free flow of information. After all, honest and accurate information is essential to the public interest and contributes to an informed society able to make decisions on how best to live their lives. This means that public relations professionals will maintain integrity in their relationships with various stakeholders, media, government officials, and the public. This means we operate in the light, we are honest and truthful in all communication and we preserve that free flow of information. For example, if we work for Sony, we don't send a new PlayStation to a writer at gaming former magazine to influence a favorable article. That's not proper conduct. Next is competition. PRSA believes that fair competition among professionals preserves an ethical environment. This means that we follow ethical hiring practices and preserve intellectual property rights in the marketplace. PRSA includes disclosure of information, which supports the notion that open communication fosters informed decision-making and helps people participate in the democracy. This means that we avoid deceptive practices and we disclose financial interests and sponsorships, and we are honest and truthful in our communication with the public. As an example, lying by omission here would be considered a violation of these professional standards. We never want to knowingly deceive the public. In order to build trust with our clients, it's important to safeguard competences. This means that we protect private and confidential information. That means if we change jobs, we can never talk about that proprietary information or use it in a way that would be detrimental to our previous employer. Remember, we want to be ethical at all times. PRSA also includes conflicts of interests so that we, as professionals, are mindful of our own reputation. We want to avoid any real potential or even perceived conflict of interest. In doing so, we earn trust and respect from clients and employers. We always want to act in the best interests of our client or employer, so disclosing is important, and being aware of public perceptions is too. Lastly, members of PRSA are expected to enhance the profession. We always want to work to advance the profession, to legitimatize it, but also to build the reputation of public relations practice. I leave you with this quote by President Abraham Lincoln, "Public relations is a new profession that has made great advancements, but still has much more work to do."
