As the practice of public relations becomes increasingly important to business and society, its responsibility to preserve the public's trust through ethical behavior grows right along with it. The larger our role and effect, the larger our need to understand and address ethical approaches and challenges as they relate to our interaction with the public, our clients, and the way we conduct our own businesses. 

To help identify and uphold standards of practice and stay current on new issues, PRSA's Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS) has developed and maintains a Code of Ethics and an ongoing series of Professional Standards Advisories. The Society’s support of ethics is also carried out through BEPS members and PRSA chapter ethics officers throughout the U.S.

The Code outlines core values, which form the basis for guiding principles and guidelines. As summarized on PRSA National's website, the values advise us to:

Protect and advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information.
Foster informed decision making through open communication.
Protect confidential and private information.
Promote healthy and fair competition among professionals.
Avoid conflicts of interest.
Work to strengthen the public's trust in the profession.

The Code's guidelines help us to:

Be honest and accurate in all communications.
Reveal sponsors for represented causes and interests.
Act in the best interest of clients or employers.
Disclose financial interests in a client's organization.
Safeguard the confidences and privacy rights of clients and employees.
Follow ethical hiring practices to respect free and open competition.
Avoid conflicts between personal and professional interests.
Decline representation of clients requiring actions contrary to the Code.
Accurately define what public relations activities can accomplish.
Report all ethical violations to the appropriate authority.

The Professional Standards Advisories are scenario-based tools for applying ethical decision making in actual daily situations, including:

Intellectual property ownership.
Deceptive online practices and misrepresentations.
Disclosing payment of expert commentators and spokespersons.
Front groups.
Overstating charges or compensation for work performed.
Disclosing the status of client-based PR agency staff.

There is also an extensive Resource library of case studies, best practices, and guides for ethical decision making, in downloadable PDF and PowerPoint formats. 

Need someone to talk to? The Westchester/Fairfield Chapter Ethics Officer is Stephanie Harwood, APR, at ethics@prsa-wf.org or 203-972-7574, and its BEPS liaison is none other than Jim Lukaszewski, APR, Fellow PRSA, at  tlg@e911.com or (914) 681-0000.