In Case You (or I) Missed It: 'Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics' Recap, Finale?

This might be the final recap I've got up my sleeve, and it covers quite the amount of legal territory.


From Chapter 3
Ethics, described in a single sentence, is the study of how we as a people should behave. Our behavior is derived from values for any situation. Ideally, one can be an honest, open, and fair advocate, since society at large knows that said advocate is functioning in a specific role. For the case of PR specialists, groups such as the PRSA, IABC, and IPRA set the particular standards and ethics for the profession. The main goal is to provide a continuous education of standards to all members, as well as raising those same standards.
Almost every professional organization (including the aforementioned three) have published and documented codes of conduct for how professional behavior is measured. There are also codes published dealing with financial relations; video news release production; working with bloggers; and social media networks.

How an occupation becomes a profession involves an ever-changing process that requires following many steps, with a prime one being accepting of, and following, professional standards--this mainly applies to those with no formal training. How PR is considered a profession is because of the following criteria:

• Possesses a body of knowledge
• Is a widely-accepted discipline at the college and university level
• With that comes academic centers for research.

Groups such as PRSA and IABC have certification/accreditation programs fitting along those lines. The professionals who go through and pass those programs must show a great amount of loyalty to the prescribed standards by which the profession and public interest demand. In terms of dealing with the news media, for example, it is considered offensive to engage in 'gift-giving' due to the fear of undermining media credibility and public trust. Advertising influential news coverage and having no disclosure about celebrity affiliation with talk shows also fall under that banner.


From Chapter 12

PR practitioners can land themselves in legal hot water in many ways, most of which guarantee a lawsuit or dealing with a government regulator. Among those offenses can be either providing advice to, or otherwise supporting, the client's illegal activities. Other major subjects of offense include:

• Libel and slander, or collectively defamation, where the emphasis is on false and negligent communication with a subject who suffered financial, reputational, or mental loss. There are exceptions, such as the bad reviews of movie critics (which are seen as 'fair comment').
• Invasion of privacy (which really speaks for itself)
• Copyright law, which deals with protecting creative works
• Trademark law, which deals similarly with names, symbols, slogans, etc.
• Government regulations, where one treads carefully to not incur the wrath of agencies such as the FTC, SEC, FCC, FDA, and EEOC.
• Corporate speech, which is a murky area as organizations are allowed to express opinions and views on public issues.
• Employee speech, especially in an age where digital communications makes it possible to almost freely express opinions within a corporate landscape.
• And then there's liability for sponsored events; any safety or security issues during different types of promotional events press the need for companies to possess liability insurance.

In those cases, there must be a good cooperative relationship between PR personnel and legal counsel to handle each one effectively. They both must do the following:

• Report to the same top exec.
• Be represented on key committees.
• Be aware of the legality that comes with almost anything and be up-to-date on certain protocols via briefings.

In this light, the new practice of litigation PR is emerging.


(That is the last time I leave an entry unpublished.)