President's
Column
By Monique Uher, APR
2001 President
You know, as I reflect upon the situation at
Furr’s Supermarkets last week, I am reminded of a deep, dark secret
I’ve carried close to my heart for more than a decade. True confession:
I consciously never intended to
practice public relations for a living. It’s tough work. You serve two
masters – your organization and the public(s) it serves. You can get
burned.
Whether Suzanne Skaggs was misdirected or she
acted of her own accord is of little merit to this dissertation. Directly
or not, the profession of public relations has taken a hit to its
credibility – at least locally. Although Ms. Skaggs is not a member of
our chapter, and not, to the best of my knowledge, a member of PRSA
national, as stewards of the reputation of our profession, the question
is, should we react? Maybe should we reach out to her. Maybe, to
paraphrase Voltaire, we should all tend our own gardens.
As little as six months ago, PRSA’s Code of
Ethics outlined a course of action specifically aimed at protecting the
professionalism of public relations. Now, with a new code of ethics in
place, one aimed at reinforcement as opposed to enforcement, the course of
action is not so clear. The new code emphasizes education and training,
with a focus on universal values that “inspire ethical behavior” by
providing language, experience and examples to help the individual
practitioner “better achieve important ethical and principled business
objectives.” Assistance with interpretation of the code is long overdue,
but does it go far enough in protecting the integrity of the industry?
It wasn’t so long ago public relations
practitioners were held in questionable esteem. And I’m not talking
about the PT Barnum era. The concept of “spin” and the term “spin
doctors” found their way into mainstream vernacular with the advent of
the Clinton-Gore era. Suddenly PR practitioners were synonymous with the
folks whose job it (still is) to turn every word, pause, phrase and blink
of the eye into a “win” for his or her side of the political arena.
Think about it: how many of you found yourselves talking to clients who
wanted you to “spin” a message to better suit their cause?
One of the greatest benefits of membership in
PRSA is association with a body of professionals recognized for their
solid, upstanding work in a profession with great potential for
vilification. But what good does association with a group of really great,
totally respected people do if the profession they practice becomes the
butt of liar jokes?
Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do and I
absolutely don’t regret my choice of profession (though I consciously
desired never to work in this field, I later consciously changed my mind
and pursued a PR career). It’s tough sometimes but it’s rewarding
almost all of the time. I get to bridge communication gaps and reverse
misperceptions in service to both my masters. I know there’s risk
involved; I welcome it, as I know many of you do. I just want to be sure
that, if I do stumble, the butt of the joke is me. Not the tens of
thousands of diligent professionals around the world working toward the
proliferation of sound public relations.
I invite you to check out the new code of
ethics and use the chapter listserv to begin a dialogue on this and other
issues pertaining to the practice of public relations and professional
communications.
Until next month,
Monique (now APR) Uher
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