Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice)

Section A

IPR Principles

1. Members of the Institute of Public Relations agree to:

   1. Maintain the highest standards of professional endeavour, integrity, confidentiality, financial propriety and personal conduct;

   2. Deal honestly and fairly in business with employers , employees , clients , fellow professionals, other professions and the public;

   3. Respect the customs , practices and codes of clients, employers, colleagues, fellow professionals and other professions in all countries where they practise;

   4. Take all reasonable care to ensure employment best practice including giving no cause for complaint of unfair discrimination on any grounds.

   5. Work within the legal and regulatory frameworks affecting the practice of public relations in all countries where they practise;

   6. Encourage professional training and development among members of the profession.

   7. Respect and abide by this Code and related Notes of Guidance issued by the Institute of Public Relations and encourage others to do the same.

Principles of Good Practice

2. Fundamental to good public relations practice are:

Integrity

• Honest and responsible regard for the public interest;

• Checking the reliability and accuracy of information before dissemination ;

• Never knowingly misleading clients, employers, employees, colleagues and fellow professionals about the nature of representation or what can be competently delivered and achieved;

• Supporting the IPR Principles by bringing to the attention of the IPR examples of malpractice and unprofessional conduct.

Competence

• Being aware of the limitations of professional competence: without limiting realistic scope for development, being willing to accept or delegate only that work for which practitioners are suitably skilled and experienced ;

• Where appropriate, collaborating on projects to ensure the necessary skill base;

• Transparency and conflicts of interest;

• Disclosing to employers, clients or potential clients any financial interest in a supplier being recommended or engaged;

• Declaring conflicts of interest (or circumstances which may give rise to them) in writing to clients, potential clients and employers as soon as they arise:

• Ensuring that services provided are costed and accounted for in a manner that conforms to accepted business practice

Confidentiality

• Safeguarding the confidences of present and former clients and employers;

• Being careful to avoid using confidential and ˜insider information to the disadvantage or prejudice of clients and employers, or to self-advantage of any kind;

• Not disclosing confidential information unless specific permission has been granted or the public interest is at stake or if required by law.

Maintaining professional standards

3. IPR members are encouraged to spread awareness and pride in the public relations profession where practicable by, for example:

   • Identifying and closing professional skills gaps through the Institute's Continuous Professional Development programme;

   • Offering work experience to students interested in pursuing a career in public relations;

   • Participating in the work of the Institute through the committee structure, special interest and voctional groups, training and networking events;

   • Encouraging employees and colleagues to join and support the IPR;

   • Displaying the IPR designatory letters on business stationery;

   • Specifying a preference for IPR applicants for staff positions advertised;

   • Evaluating the practice of public relations through use of the IPR Research & Evaluation Toolkit and other quality management and quality assurance systems (e.g. ISO standards); and constantly striving to improve the quality of business performance;

   • Sharing information on good practice with members and, equally, referring perceived examples of poor practice to the Institute.

^{[ *]} In our discussions of ethics in public relations practice and its application to best practice, we have referred from time to time to the codes of ethics of professional associations. For your reference and with their permission, I am providing here the relevant parts of the code of conduct of the Institute for Public Relations in the UK.