Public relations is nothing like Nazi propaganda
LOCAL public relations industry professionals were shocked to read the article in the Guernsey Press, Standing in the way of control (April 21). The piece contains a highly inaccurate and deliberately provocative comparison of Goebbels’ propaganda with the public relations profession. Public relations is a strategic discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning the understanding of stakeholders and ethically influencing opinion and behaviour. It is a planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill between an organisation and its audiences. Conversely, propaganda is the dissemination of deliberately biased or misleading information, usually used to promote a radical political point of view. Ms Hubert’s comments in her opinion piece are indeed her opinion, rather than a fact-based assessment of the public relations industry. A very high proportion of PR practitioners in Guernsey are members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, which is the world’s only royal chartered body for public relations professionals. We are committed to professional standards and lifelong learning.
Moreover, through our ethical code of conduct we are accountable to employers, clients and the wider public. Local PR professionals are bound, through their CIPR membership, to act with integrity and according to the core values of CIPR code of conduct. Those values include:
l Maintaining the highest standards of professional endeavour, integrity, confidentiality, financial propriety and personal conduct,
l Dealing honestly and fairly in business with employers, employees, clients, fellow professionals, other professions and the public,
l Respecting the legal and regulatory frameworks and codes of all countries where they practice in their dealings with other people,
l Upholding the reputation of, and do nothing that would bring into disrepute, the public relations profession or the Chartered Institute of Public Relations,
l Encourage professional training and development among members of the profession in order to raise and maintain professional standards.
PR professionals sit at the heart of many organisations or work alongside clients to serve as trusted, respected and valued advisers. The line between the media and public relations is highly porous, with several of Ms Hubert’s colleagues, including the editor of the Guernsey Press, working in both industries. Unfortunately, some of her comments epitomise the very thing she accuses the public relations industry of – the spread of falsehoods – an irony she seems happy to ignore.
THE Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Channel Islands Committee