Communications as Ikor

미국PR협회인 PRSA는 10일자 USA Today의 북리뷰 기사에서 언급된 PR 직종관련 부정적 코멘트들에 대해 다음과 같은 반론문을 해당지에 제공했다. 우리가 눈여겨 볼 것은 10일자 기사에 대한 반론문을 11일에 전달했다는 사실이다. 우리 한국PR협회는 이런 시스템을 가지고 있는지 한번 돌아봤으면 한다. 그리고 그 이전에 이러한 ‘업’에 관련한 철학에 stick되어 있는지도 한번 점검해 보자.

같은 인간이자 프로페셔널로서 부러운 부분이다. 정말.

Please take a moment to read the article and our response and, if
you’re so inclined, to add your voice to this discussion of our
profession.

February 11, 2009

To the editor:

Seth Brown’s article and book review, “Despite Dim View of Public
Relations, It May be Needed,” concludes that “PR is amoral, difficult
to define, and difficult to measure.” Had Mr. Brown actually solicited
input from the public relations industry in researching and writing his
article, he would have come to a very different set of conclusions.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) champions a Code of
Ethics for its 32,000 professional and student members and, more
broadly, the public relations industry at large. The values it
advances—Advocacy, Honesty, Expertise, Independence, Loyalty, and
Fairness—are fundamental beliefs that guide the industry’s behaviors
and decision-making process. The PRSA Code also contains specific
provisions for advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful
information, and for disclosing all information necessary to foster
informed decision making in a democratic society.

In our complex, pluralistic society, public relations helps
individuals reach decisions and function more effectively by
contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions. It
aids businesses, governments, and other organizations in understanding
the attitudes and values of different audiences in order to further the
achievement of their institutional goals. The public relations
practitioner is a counselor to management and a mediator, helping to
translate private aims into reasonable, publicly acceptable policies
and actions, and to mitigate risks.

The outcomes that public relations drives are no longer difficult
nor expensive to measure, and include both attitudinal and behavioral
metrics, as well as financial measures, such as return-on-investment.
Public relations’ effect on sales, market share, brand awareness, stock
price, reputation and trust, customer satisfaction, fundraising,
employee morale and retention, event participation, Web site traffic,
and regulatory changes can all be quantified, by way of example.

Mr. Brown also decries the industry’s lack of formal training. In
fact, PRSA maintains student chapters at 302 colleges and universities
that offer baccalaureate degrees, are accredited by nationally or
regionally recognized accrediting associations or boards, and offer a
sequence of at least five courses in public relations that are
supplemented by ancillary courses allied to this field of study.

Furthermore, PRSA and the Universal Accreditation Board, a
consortium of 19 public relations and communications organizations,
administer a course of study and testing that allow individuals to
become Accredited in Public Relations (APR). The APR designation proves
that an industry professional has successfully demonstrated competency
in the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to practice public
relations effectively in today’s business arena.

As for Mr. Brown’s use of “Hitler, Goebbels, and the Nazi propaganda
machine” as a metaphor for the public relations industry, I would
hasten to add that Hitler was a book author, as well.

Sincerely,

Michael Cherenson, APR
Chair and CEO
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

[출처: PRSAY] – PRSA 블로그.

맨 마지막 히틀러 관련 문장이 참……………………..재미있다.