8. Licensure

Some believe codes of behavior will lack wholly effective means of enforcement untill practitioners become legally certified. Controlled access is the hallmark of a recognized profession. Therefore, controlled access, through licensure, to the title of “certified public relations councelor” is viewed as the only way to separate the frauds and flacks from legitimate practitioners.

Proposals that public relations be licensed were discussed before PRSA was founded. Proponents such as Edward L. Bernays, who was instrumental in formulating the modern concept of public relations, believe that licensing can protect the profession and the public from incompetent practitioners.

Those who argue for licensure believe it is the only effective method of enforcing professional standards, but efforts to impose such standards are highly controversial. The Public Relations Society of America has commissioned several studies on the subject of licensure but has never endorsed it. Even if licensure were implemented, many practitioners would probably not be affected because they work in corporate departments. In the legal and accounting professions, many trained practitioners never sit for their bar or CPA examinations because they do not have to represent their firms in official capacities. Thus, licensing standards would probably not result in significant change.

Both PRSA and IABC have accreditation programs for experienced practitioners who pass a comprehensive examination. These programs are the closest anyone has come to licensing procedures. Less than one-half the memberships of both associations are accredited.

The issue of ethical practice in public relations is closely tied to efforts toward accreditation and licensure. While no amount of testing or education can guarantee ethical behavior by an individual, the potential removal of accreditation or a license can give professional codes of practice more leverage. By promoting professional responsibility and recognition, public relations organizations can encourage ethical behavior and awareness by their members.

1. Speak on the history of prsa Code.

2.Give a complete answer to the questions.

1. Who has given the five characteristics of a professional group?

2.What is Chester Burger philosophy?

3.Some believe codes of behavior will lack wholly effective means of enforcement untill practitioners become legally certified. Controlled access is the hallmark of a recognized profession. And what is your opinion?

5. Read the text attentively. Answer the questions given below each case. Discuss the problems with your partner.

1. Case Study

Should a Sophist or a lobbyist or a public relations professional "sell" his or her talents to the highest bidder, regardless of personal beliefs, values, and ideologies? When modern-day public relations professionals agree to represent repressive governments somewhere on the globe or Nazi sympathizers in Austria or Switzerland, these ethical questions remain very much a focus of modern public relations.

Sometimes, in everyday practice, situations arise where the proper thing, the ethical thing, even the legal thing to do is not always immediately clear. Following are several such situations.

1. A well-known athlete is charged with selling drugs and planning and carrying out, with others, the death of a young married couple. His attorney calls you, a close friend, to advise and assist him in handling the intense media interest in the case. During the period before trial, you learn that the athlete was, in fact, a drug dealer and did participate in the murder. The lawyer tells you that the information is privileged. You decide to await the outcome of the trial. The lawyer is able to get his client acquitted.

What should you do?

2. Your firm is one of six under consideration by a manufacturer planning to introduce a new service into your area. You are given confidential information as to the service and the plans of the company. You are aware that the company will face severe opposition from certain groups and politicians, and that the job will entail overcoming this resistance. The company turns down your firm and the assignment is given to acompetutor.

Can you disclose the information you have learned to the manufacturer's opposition in your area?

3. Your public relations firm publishes a newsletter directed to brokerage houses. A corporate executive asks your help in making his company better known among the brokerage community. A subsequent issue of the newsletter carries a highly optimistic forecast of the company but omits some information. Nothing in the story indicates any relationship between you and the company.

Were you under any obligation to disclose this relationship, and should you print a retraction?

4. You are a corporate public relations director. Your employer tells you to set up a supposedly independent organization to introduce and promote the use of a new product made by your company. This new organization is to be financed secretly by your company and some of its suppliers.

Is there anything wrong with establishing this organization?

5. A distributor of medicinal products arranges with your firm to put on a press conference for an independent British scientist who has tested the products and wriitten favorably about them. You also arrange speaking engagements for the visiting scientist. After the press conference you learn that the scintist was actually an employee of the research arm of the manufacturer of the products.

What actions should you take?

6. A client asks you for help in a financial merger situation. You decline because the matter is outside your expertise, and refer the company to a fellow practitioner who is knowledgeable in financial affairs. The fellow practitioner is so appreciative he sends you a check for $500.

Can you accept the money without telling the client?

7. One of your clients calls you to assist in a takeover situation. You tell a friend who had originally helped you get the client. Several days later, your friend buys 5,000 shares in one of the companies involved in the takeover. You do not buy any yourself. The day after the merger announcement, your friend sells the shares, at a profit of $15 a share and a total profit of $75,000.

Are you guilty of insider trading, even if you made no profit?

8. Your employer asks you to give a series of talks in communities served by your company regarding its new plant and the service it will provide. On a visit to the plant to acquaint yourself with its operation, you get clear evidence that it cannot fulfi11 the expectations outlined in the talk prepared by your company.

Can you give the talks as originally prepared?

Word-combinations to Public Relations to be learned by heart.

allegiance to the professsion - преданность профессии

assist relations with the public – наладить / поддерживать отношения с обществом

as well - также

at the heart - зд. во главе, в середине

be an agent for one’s policies – проводить чью-либо политику

be defensive - занимать оборонительную позицию

body of knowledge - основа знаний

combine the weaponry of sword and pen – совмещать перо и меч

conduct a complete investigatiion - провести полное исследование

convey information - донести информацию

correct erroneous communication - исправить ложное (ошибочное) сообщение

dissiminate false information - распространять ложную информацию

encourage commitment to smb., smth. - поддерживать обязательства перед кем-либо

enforcement procedure - обязательная процедура

engage in deception - вовлечь в обман

errosion of public confidence - разрушение общественного доверия

feature smb. in real-life situation – показать кого-либо в обычной жизни

fight tooth and nail – сражаться насмерть

fraudulent testimonials - ложные показания

further one’s museum and circus - продвигать

gain lucrative contract - получить выгодный контракт

give credit for ( ideas and words)- доверять( идеям и словам)

give due respect to the ideal of smth. - воздавать должное идеалам( добра и т.п.)

go far beyond the position - превосходить

grant permission - дать разрешение

harm the credibility - вредить доверию

have a hand – приложить руку

impose sanctions against smb. - налагать санкции на кого-либо

in the long run - в конце концов

issues of security - ценные бумаги

keep to the letter of law - придерживаться буквы закона

maintain a high ethical standard - придерживаться высоких этических норм

need-to-know (facts, information, etc. ) - важные для сведения (факты и т.д.)

on a foundation of trust - на основе доверия

on behalf - от имени

out-of-court settlement - по решению суда

place smb. in a false position - поставить кого-либо в ложное положение

pull the strings - дергать за нитки

right-to-privacy - право частной собственности

short-sighted and misguided practices - близорукая и вводящая в заблуждение практика

sound personal values - значительные личные ценности

stay within legal limits - оставаться в рамках закона

top level - высший уровень

unsubstantiated claims - необоснованные требования

unlawfull dismissal - незаконное увольнение

uphold ethical standards - соответствовать этическим нормам

III

1. 1.Read the text.

relations with the media or Media Relations

The media are businesses that gather, package and sell information.

Journalists have mixed feelings toward public relations practitioners—suspecting them of manip­ulation, while depending on them for information.

Public relations practitioners view journalists as an audience, a medium through which to reach the broader public, and as gatekeepers representing and responding to the public's need to know.

When public relations practitioners build re­lationships of confidence and trust with journalists, many mutually beneficial interactions can result.

Three direct ways of intentionally reaching the media include news releases, discussions with journalists (particularly interviews), and news con­ferences.