Taking PR to the next level

Professional institutes such as the CIPR and the PRSA encourage and support professional standards. Black, 1989, argued that to establish PR as a profession and to maintain high standards, many PR bodies adopt a formal code, such as those of the CIPR. Additionally, he argued that “strict adherence to an appropriate code of conduct will do much to establish public relations as a profession and will help to maintain high standards” (Black, 1989; P.12). If Black suggests that strictly adapting to a set of codes will establish PR as a profession, then arguably, are codes of conduct the only answer to professionalism? What about academic credibility. So in theory, with the combination of education and codes of conduct, the status of public relations will be pushed slightly further.

The question that springs to my head first is - Is PR percieved as a profession, if not why not?

What do you all think??

So, what do the others think....??

Ethics and codes of conduct fall closely in line with professionalism, especially in relation to the practitioners own set of values and principles. Since it is argued by Maloney, 2000, that PR is ‘week propaganda’ it is perceived as a persuasive and manipulative activity, it is apparent that a lack of ethics lowers the reputation of public relations. Thus, although this maybe difficult, to actually enforce a set of professional codes would enhance the reputation of PR. “Conveying information in a persuasive way, does not excuse the presentation of false or misleading information. In sum, you have to ask not only whether something is legal but whether it is the right thing to do” (Wilcox, 2001: P.108). Wilcox argues that a practitioner has to do more than just to obey the law. Personal values and public interest must also be taken into consideration. By doing so the practice of public relations may be perceived as more of a profession.

The concept of professional codes of conduct was introduced as early as the 1920’s. This is highlighted by the book written by Berney’s, ‘Propaganda’. Within his book, he presented a code of ethics for the profession, starting with the principle “that a PR man refuses a client whom he believes dishonest, a product which he believes fraudulent or a cause which he believes to be antisocial” (Tye, 1998: P. 99). Therefore, according to Berney’s, acting in an immoral manor is totally unacceptable and would be rejected by the industry. Professionalism develops with a profession practiced by a person where standards are established. When law became an established profession, inevitably those who practiced it would meet to exchange ideas about who, what, when, why, where and how they practice what they do. After time they agree that standards need to be set to ensure consistency. Standards however, may not be enforceable and there will be those who may not wish to subscribe to them. In line with the concept of professionalism, Black, 1969 used the idea of a ‘qualifying doctor’ as an analogy when describing PR practitioners. He stated that when a doctor qualifies, he/she would have completed long studies and training courses in order for them to acquire the knowledge they need to qualify. They are also expected to ‘subscribe to Hippocratic Oath’, which is a form of professional conduct. Similarly, PR practitioners are also expected to do the same. They are expected to ‘acquire sound knowledge in media and methods of art’ and ‘should subscribe to an accepted code of professional conduct’ (Black, 1969 p.12).

When members of a profession come together to talk (e.g. different companies etc) they may decide to establish codes of conduct to weed out bad apples that give the profession a ‘bad name’ and to ensure the reputation is held in high esteem. Furthermore, after a time, as more people join in, they form unions, societies, associations. Eventually, they may go for chartered institute status. Thus, it can be argued that codes of conducts are born out of professionalism (general agreed accepted standards practiced by professionals belonging to a profession.)

Can we suggest that Professionalism is born out of Codes of Conduct?

In the late 1940s the Institute of Public Relations was established by a group of practitioners. The aim of the IPR was to ‘provide a professional structure for the practice of PR’ and to ‘enhance the ability and status of their members of professional practice’. This was done through the introduction of a specific set of codes of conduct.

Public Relations education has developed immensely over the years. Due to this development, the professional bodies such as the IPR, have published guidelines for the practice of PR. These guidelines state that “PR should be taught by individuals with sound experience and understanding in both academic and practical aspects in the field' (IPR, 1990).

due to the fact that PR is perceived as a manipulative and persuasive technique, the question to ask is whether or not a PR practitioner can carry out their ethical responsibilities in a professional manor. In addition, one of many purposes of establishing codes of conduct within associations, such as the CIPR and PRSA, is that they can be used to enhance the professionalism of public relations.

PR as a Profession - Are PR Practitoners Professionals?

Many Public Relations practioners regard themselves as creative rather than scientific. In my view, of course a PR practitioner is seen as the one with a creative mind-set, but surely, the power of manipulation and persuasion, which is posed on specific target audiences, is to some extent scientific, is it not?

Many such as Grunig and Hunt (1984), have argued that PR is still a young profession but it only really reached its status in the late 1980s. It is evident that PR is an exciting discipline with skills, techniques and strategies to offer.Therefore, Practitioners feel that they should be recognised as professionals. Additionally, this perception of practitioners is due to the fact that there has been significant growth and implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility within organisations.

The PR industry is changing and developing considerably. There are many reasons for this. However there are 4 main reasons of change. Firstly, The growth in communications has aided PR to grow. Due to a variety of channels, there is the need to respond to and deal with information overload. Secondly, The advent of new media offers more direct and targeted means of communications, for example, internet based technologies. Thirdly, Increased globalisation and competition has enabled the practice of PR to respond to situations globally, in a competitive manor and finally, The increase in rates and levels if change – unpredictability is heightened as we live in a more pressured and complex environment. Therefore, as PR changes, it is seeking to be more professional in meeting the industry standards and more strategic in terms of working at higher levels aswell as well as working on a ‘technical role’ level.

It is because of these main reasons why PR works on tactics – getting things done on a more strategic level and is forced to contribute to decision making within organisations. Therefore, we can suggest that PR is moving towards a higher professional status.

In addition to this, theorists such as Gregory 2004, have stated that PR is ‘dynamic, fast moving and is at the centre of action’. One of the main reasons as to why this is so is because if the fact that organisations are increasingly recognising communications as being at the heart of their operations. This is proved by the statistics from the IPR, which show that 17% and all FTSE 100 companies have a PR department.

Do you feel that the practice of Public Relations needs to do more than just ' getting things done on a more strategic level' to reach the status that it should be at?

Welcome & Introduction

I'd like to begin by welcoming you all to my blog. I hope it's of interest to you.

I've never actually experienced blogging before, so this is my first time and i must say, im looking forward to posting my views and receiving your thoughts on the relevent topic. This Blog is about the changing nature of Public Relations. It will concentrate on whether PR is percieved as a profession or not and what qualities PR currently holds, which proove the industry to be moving towards more of a professional status.

Please feel free to post your thoughts - Enjoy!

-Thanks-