November 2000 NMPRSA Bulletin Online
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KRQE-TV News Reporter Andrea Thompson Talks about the Changing Face of Albuquerque’s News Market

Andrea Thompson received local and national attention when she joined the KRQE-TV news team earlier this year. Thompson, who was a star on the popular program "NYPD Blue, " will address the Public Relations Society of America New Mexico Chapter at its November 30th meeting, starting at 11:45am, in the Sheraton Uptown Hotel (2600 Louisiana Blvd N E). Thompson’s presentation will be included as a part of the annual membership meeting.

As a lead reporter for KRQE-TV, Thompson has been covering important stories and issues in Albuquerque and throughout New Mexico. Thompson will address her perceptions of the statewide news market. She will also provide tips on the best way to forward your story ideas for consideration by Thompson and the KRQE-TV news team.

The annual membership meeting of the New Mexico Chapter will precede Thompson’s address. Chapter President Tom Garrity, Treasurer Sam Giammo APR, Secretary David Geary, and Membership Chair Greg Johnston will present brief reports on the state of the New Mexico Chapter. The NMPRSA Gavel will then be passed to President-Elect Monique Uher. This will be the final chapter meeting of 2000.

Cost for the luncheon is $15 for members and $18 for everyone else. RSVP to the luncheon by contacting Sam Giammo at (505) 272-3682 or before noon on Monday, November 27, 2000.

NMPRSA Members Making a Difference
By Tom Garrity
NMPRSA President

New Mexico members involved
New Mexico PRSA members are making a positive impact on the national level. For the first time in many years the New Mexico Chapter has had a voice at the National PRSA Assembly. Past president Chad Perry APR was selected as our delegate to represent the New Mexico Chapter at the Assembly in Chicago last month. While Chad will provide a separate report on the actions of the 2000 Assembly, I am proud to report that Chad was also placed on the slate to be the treasurer for the Southwest District (consisting of chapters in NM, TX, OK, KS and LA). In addition to Chad, there are other members making a positive impact on the national level. Sam Giammo APR is involved in the leadership of the Healthcare Section of PRSA and I am involved in the leadership of the Travel and Tourism Section. Getting involved at the district and section levels of PRSA offers you an additional return on investment in the form of specialized professional development and networking. You can learn more by visiting www.prsa.org.

A success in the books
Turning our attention to New Mexico activities, a lot of members worked very hard to bring us our recent full-day seminar "Cutting Edge Communications: The Basics and Beyond". Please join me in thanking President-elect Monique Uher and her talented team for a successful conference. The conference team includes: Marjorie Cambise, Jennifer Kemp, Michelle Portillo, Celeste Walther, and Monique Uher. The conference was very effective in providing information that was useful for practitioners at a variety of skill levels. This type of meeting is not successfully executed without the leadership of volunteers… thank you!

You’ve got mail
Every once in a while it is good to review proper etiquette when posting an e-mail to the NMPRSA Listserve. For background, the NMPRSA Listserve is an effective mechanism to relay important information to the chapter. For those of us who are new to this technology, a Listserve is the electronic version of a broadcast fax. When replying to a question or request in the Listserve it is important to reply directly to the individual and not to the entire group.

Annual membership meeting
Mark your calendars now and plan to attend the annual membership meeting of the New Mexico Chapter on November 30^th at the Sheraton Uptown. On the business side you will see presentations from Treasurer Sam Giammo, Secretary David Geary and membership chair Greg Johnston. Since this is the last meeting of 2000, we will have the traditional passing of the NMPRSA gavel from the president to the president-elect. On the educational side, we will be fortunate to have a presentation from news reporter Andrea Thompson of KRQE-TV. Additional information about the membership meeting can be found in this newsletter.

How is your driving?
Prior to Sam Waltz taking center stage at the September NMPRSA luncheon, attendees had a chance to participate in a Target 7 Investigative story. Emmy award winning reporter Larry Barker, of KOAT-TV, brought a representative from the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department to administer the state driving test. The story will air in November and will focus on different aspects of that driver test. How did NMPRSA members fare? Well there is good news and bad news. The good news, everyone who took the test passed. The bad news, NMPRSA had the lowest test scores of all the groups participating in the survey. Did I mention that everyone passed?!

PR Pointers: Talking Shop, Talking Trends
Contributed by David Geary

As the French Press Agency sees us …
The United States has 275 million people, with whites now in the majority. Based on Census Bureau figures, if current demographic and immigration rates continue, in 50 years Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and African-Americans will outnumber whites.  Of the 275 million, 6.5 million speak little or no English, and 17.3 million speak only Spanish.  Despite decades of greater prosperity that elevated 2.2 million out of poverty (defined as an annual income of $17,000 for a family of four), 32.3 million people - 11.8 percent -- remain in the underclass.  Despite an economic boom, 42.6 million have no health insurance.  And "The descendants of revolutionaries who fought a war against Britain for self-rule appear to be losing their taste for active democracy," with only 62 percent of Americans registered to vote, and fewer than half of them vote.  So, about 30 percent of Americans determine the
government for all.  ("United States in throes of rapid change," AFP-French Press Agency, November 2, 2000)

PR's three "simple" problems, but what work lies ahead
According to Professor Melvin Sharpe at Ball State University, public relations has three problems. First, PR has not controlled its own definition of the profession, allowing all others to define the term based on their own views and needs.  This has led to derogatory views of PR.  Second, the absence of a behavioral definition of PR (PRSA, he says, defines PR in terms of professional activities) has hurt the profession.  He advocates a definition of how we behave, rather than what we do.  Third, he says it will take much work coming up with the behavioral definition (let alone testing, analyzing, defending, and communicating it) before it will increase respect for PR.  (Sharpe, Melvin L., "Behavioral paradigm for public relations," Public Relations Review, Vol. 26, No. 3, Fall 2000, pp. 345-361)

Galloping mega-mergers may hit a brick wall without PR counsel
A recent Business Week poll found 66 percent of Americans believe corporations prefer profits over safe, reliable and quality products.  Business gets credit for prosperity, but is seen as too powerful. The magazine sees that PR advice is needed to bolster customer relations, enhance employee relations, and "temper the quest for excessive political power."  (Bernstein, A., Arndt, M., Zellner, W., & Coy, P., "Too much corporate power?" Business Week, September 11, 2000, pp. 148 ff.)

Spring 2001 APR Exam Isn't That Far Away!
Now that the Fall APR Examination is over, it’s time to start thinking about the Spring 2001 APR cycle.

The application deadline is Feb. 12, 2001. This means APR candidates must have an application on file at PRSA headquarters in New York, NY by that date.

The Spring 2001 test will be administered some time between March 16 and March 25, 2001.

NMPRSA will provide a preparatory course before the exam to chapter members.

For more information regarding the process, contact Chad Perry, APR, at 925-8547, or email him at cperry@unm.edu.

To register for the exam, contact Kathy C. Mulvihill, manager of the Universal Accreditation Program, at PRSA. Her phone number is 212-460-1436; her email address is .

PRSA Adopts New Code of Ethics
By Chad Perry, APR
Members of the Public Relations Society of America now have a new code of ethics to govern their professional conduct.

This code was passed at the 2000 Assembly held in conjunction with the 2000 Public Relations World Congress this October in Chicago, IL.

I attended this assembly as a delegate for the New Mexico chapter. It was an intense, long day that covered a wide range of topics, adopted the new code of ethics, amended the national PRSA bylaws, and elected next year’s national board.

The most significant thing accomplished at this year’s assembly is the new code. All PRSA members will be asked to sign a statement when they renew their dues pledging to conduct themselves by this code.

A committee reviewed the old code and researched what other organizations have done to their ethics codes. This committee also had some attorneys review the old code to see if it could indeed be enforced.

The attorneys told them the old code was full of loopholes and was a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

It was decided, then, that compliance to the new code would be strictly voluntary. For instance, the new code no longer requires PRSA members to inform PRSA regarding another member violating the code. Nor will a member be asked to testify in or witness any proceedings regarding code violations.

In fact, the only way in which a member can have their membership revoked (and by the national board) is if that member is convicted of a crime that is in direct violation of the code of ethics.

The new code has four main parts – a preamble, the PRSA member statement of professional values, the PRSA code provisions and the PRSA member code of ethics pledge. The statement of professional values includes the following core values: advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness. The code provisions section covers the free flow of information, competition, disclosure of information, safeguarding confidences, conflicts of interest and enhancing the profession.

These sections are clearly worded and are more comprehensive in how we are to conduct ourselves. The new code is too extensive to include here in this report, but I have been told that the new code will be online at www.prsa.org very soon.

I will update everyone on this new code as soon as it is made available.