My good friend Chrystal often asks me, “What do you do again?” At this point in my career, I’m hard pressed to come up with an answer to the question. Based on Stuart Elliott’s New York Times article, I’m not the only PR professional in this boat. At the time Mr. Elliott wrote his article, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) had just embarked on a campaign to update the definition of the profession. Per the article, this process should have been completed by the end of 2011. However, a quick trip to the Association’s website reveals that the process is proving no easier than it was in 1982, the last time the definition was updated. Although the Association missed its original deadline, it has narrowed down the search to three options. Truthfully, I would find almost any definition better than the current one:
“Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”
The current definition of public relations does not encompass the scope and complexity of the profession today. Specifically, I find the term ‘adapt mutually to each other’ unrealistic in the face of the real-life goals and objectives of a modern PR practitioner.
In my experience, the practice of public relations – at least for a consumer goods company – is the practice of persuasion. Specifically, I would define public relations as “the engine that helps an organization define and manage its reputation, while helping to support the bottom line.” I find the current definition of PR a bit too altruistic when in reality, PR is about reputation, brand and crisis management, and about persuading consumers to purchase the brands or services – or embrace the goals and philosophies – of an organization. If a business or organization isn’t achieving its goal – growing the bottom line, however that ‘growth’ is defined – then there would be no need for PR. I don’t believe the current definition addresses this underlining objective. I believe that to miss this element is to devalue the role of public relations to any organization as it is integral in helping an organization succeed.
Ethics comes into play in my new definition of PR with the area of reputation management. Every organization must decide what it stands for and how it wants to do business. Some set a stake in the ground, determined to act responsibly both to their investors (key stakeholders) and to their constituents (consumers). Other organizations are less concerned by social responsibility, but are moved more so by the bottom line (financial). It is my belief that a PR practitioner committed to the industry’s code of ethics must first choose to work for or represent an organization with similar ethical standards. If one chooses to work for an organization only committed to growing the financial bottom line, that practitioner may find him or herself faced with ethical dilemmas that challenge their personal or the PRSA code of ethics. However, if an organization includes in their definition of the ‘bottom line’ the growth of the community in which it does business or the personal development of its employees or development of a service-oriented culture, he or she may experience fewer dilemmas of ethics.
I find news that the PRSA is working with the Federal Trade Commission to monitor and more clearly define best practices in PR encouraging. Both supposed breeches in conduct by Facebook and the CEO of 5W Public Relations are harmful to the reputation of the PR industry and to the reputation of individual PR practitioners. While the actions of Facebook may have a more direct impact on everyday social media users, the supposed actions of Ron Torossian of 5WPR are equally as disturbing given his position as the head of a PR agency. In both these cases, the reputations of the organizations and the individuals who lead them worked to damage public trust and harmed the communities involved.
I believe that the efforts of PRSA and the FTC can only help the PR field. Stricter regulations on transparency in marketing and PR will help level the playing field for businesses, making for a better place in which to do business. In fact, learning more about these breaches encourages me to learn more about ethics in PR and to explore ways in which I can become a better practitioner in the field. Doing so may help me better understand the craft, and help me better explain what it is that I do to my friends and family.
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