Declaration of Principles

A profession is distinguished by certain characteristics or attributes, including:

• Mastery of a particular intellectual skill through education and training
• Acceptance of duties to a broader society than merely one’s clients/employers
• Objectivity
• High standards of conduct and performance

We base our professional principles therefore on the fundamental value and dignity of the individual. We believe in and support the free exercise of human rights, especially freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the media, which are essential to the practice of good public relations.

In serving the interest of clients and employers, we dedicate ourselves to the goals of better communication, understanding, and cooperation among diverse individuals, groups, and institutions of society. We also subscribe to and support equal opportunity of employment in the public relations profession and lifelong professional development.

We pledge:

• To conduct ourselves professionally, with integrity, truth, accuracy, fairness, and responsibility to our clients, our client publics, and to an informed society;
• To improve our individual competence and advance the knowledge and proficiency of the profession through continuing education and research and where available, through the pursuit of professional accreditation;
• To adhere to the principles of the Global Protocol on Ethics in Public Relations.

Protocol Standards

We believe it is the duty of every association and every member within that association that is party to the Global Protocol on Ethics in Public Relations to:

• Acknowledge that there is an obligation to protect and enhance the profession.

• Keep informed and educated about practices in the profession that ensure ethical conduct.

• Actively pursue personal professional development.

• Accurately define what public relations activities can and cannot accomplish.

• Counsel its individual members in proper ethical decision-making generally and on a case specific basis.

• Require that individual members observe the ethical recommendations and behavioral requirements of the Protocol.

We are committed to ethical practices, preservation of public trust, and the pursuit of communication excellence with powerful standards of performance, professionalism, and ethical conduct.

Advocacy
We will serve our client and employer interests by acting as responsible advocates and by providing a voice in the market place of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate.

Honesty
We will adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of clients and employers.

Integrity
We will conduct our business with integrity and observe the principles and spirit of the Code in such a way that our own personal reputation and that of our employer and the public relations profession in general is protected.

Expertise
We will encourage members to acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience to build understanding and client/employer credibility. Furthermore we will actively promote and advance the profession through continued professional development, research, and education.

Loyalty
We will insist that members are faithful to those they represent, while honoring their obligations to serve the interests of society and support the right of free expression.

Advancing the Protocol

We believe it is the responsibility of each member association to draw upon its own member’s experiences to expand the number of examples of good and bad practice so as to better inform members’ ethical practices. Experiences should be broadly shared with other members within the association and with the Global Alliance so as to build up case histories that may assist in individual cases throughout the world. 

Appendix A offers some values-based guidance to members. Appendix B (pdf) is a set of case studies to add real life situations to the ethical practice of public relations. Both of these documents should be read as adding value and meaning to the universal code.

Prepared by the Global Alliance Code of ethics project team:

Jean Valin APR, Fellow CPRS, Canada
Don LaBelle, APR, Fellow CPRS, Canada
Chris Skinner and Gary Mersham, APR, South Africa
Jim Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, United States
Nigel O’Connor, IPR, United Kingdom
Toni Muzi Falconi, Italy
Ulli Sats, Estonia