PRSA Code of Ethics

The PRSA Code of Professional Standards for the Practice of Public Relations provides the public with a great resource to get an ideas what Public Relations is all about. It argues against the stereotypes of Public Relations Specialists to be image swayers. It gives a great representation of the core values of PRSA members. These values provide the foundation to the Member Code of Ethics and are vital to the integrity and profession as a whole. These include: Advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyatly, and fairness. Out of all the values, I found that the honesty to be one of the most important ones. The codes states, "We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating with the public." I feel that without honesty, all other values lose their meaning entirely. It doesn't matter if the company has indepedence or expertise, people want the truth.

Principles of the PRSA Code of Provisions include: free flow of information, competition, disclosure of information, safeguarding confidences, conflicts of interest, and enhancing the profession. The PRSA Code of Provisions went into depth for each principle by discussing the intent, guidelines, and examples of improper conduct. The principle of conflicts of interest was the very interesting to me. I thought it was a very appropriate principle to discuss and that it was a great reminder to accept people for who they are and what they believe, to not be biased and give others the respect they deserve.