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I’m gonna need more coffee.

(Photo by Matthew W. Jackson, via Flickr/Creative Commons.)

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If you had just 5 minutes to summarize the major ethical issues facing public relations professionals, what would you say?

It happened last week when Lauren, a PR major at West Virginia University, contacted me via email for input on a paper she was writing. She was on deadline; I had a class to teach. If I didn’t answer her immediately, I knew I never would. Besides, helping her is good PR for Kent State, right?

Here’s my 5-minute response to a semester-long question, edited slightly to tighten copy and fix typos. What would you have said in your 5 minutes?

Lauren asked: What ethical issues do you think are important (in public relations) otday and why?

My 5-minute response:

We could turn this into a long list, Lauren. Instead, you get my top three:

1. Greed. It leads executives (our clients) to make bad decisions. And those bad decisions destroy companies, reputations and lives (Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, etc.). The fundamental rule in ethics is simple: Do the right thing. If you do, you will most often be rewarded — at least in the long term. Our capitalist system, for all its attributes, seems to foster a culture that works in the opposite direction. It’s way, way too focused on the bottom line. PR folks can’t “PR” (verb) their way out of bad behavior.

2. Transparency — or lack of it. This is a HUGE issue today, especially in the age of the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle. Management must be open, honest and above reproach. Management must make its decisions and implement policies as though all the world is sitting in on the process. Management should have nothing to hide (save important info you don’t want the competition to have, like the designs for your new cars!). Too often, American managers are unwilling to open their processes to public scrutiny, and too reluctant to carry on meaningful conversations with key constituents (customers, employees, community, etc.) and even more reluctant to act on the concerns of those groups. It’s this culture of secrecy that makes U.S. consumers (and investors as well) unwilling to trust the business establishment.

I can think of exceptions, to be sure. Not all American business executives are bad apples, but they’re the ones we read about on the front page.

3. Courage — or lack of it — on the part of PR people. When the heroic whistle-blowers brought down Enron, I’d to see a PR professional among them. It is  incumbent upon PR, as guardian of corporate reputation, to point out the wrongdoing and stand up against it. It’s our professional duty.

That isn’t to say we run to the papers every time we disagree with corporate policy or leak stories about corporate wrongdoing. We have an obligation to be loyal to our clients. But dang it, we should be pounding our fists on the table in every boardroom and reminding management what happens to executives (and companies) who operate on the “dark side.” We must serve as the corporate conscience — the chief ethical officers (CEO…hmm. Has a nice ring to it!)

Ray Simon

I met legendary PR professor Ray Simon in 1987. He came to Buffalo, at my invitation, to address the PRSA chapter there, and he discussed the questions you see in today’s headline.

Ray began teaching PR at Utica College in 1949. I used his book, “PR Concepts and Practices,” when I taught my first PR class at the University of Buffalo in 1985, and have always held Ray in the highest regard.

Ray’s key messages about “PR as profession” became part of my own lessons for the next 23 years. But since I can’t locate the  script he gave me that day, you’ll have to trust my notes and my memory.

Ray outlined 5 attributes of a “profession,” and he addressed how public relations measures up in each category.

1. Professions have standard education requirements. A profession, Ray said, is marked by an education regimen that is thorough, rigorous and consistent. Those who plan to enter that profession master the same basic skills and knowledge. Example: Every aspiring surgeon learns, in medical school, how to remove an appendix. The procedure is fairly standard, regardless of where it’s taught.

Can we say the same about PR education? Many who work in the business have no formal education in the field, nor do many employers require it. In addition, you’ll find that PR curricula vary widely from school to school. PR lacks a standard approach to education, though a commission of AEJMC and PRSA did offer a solid plan.

2. Professions draw upon a substantial body of knowledge. Travel to Harvard and you’ll find a building known as the law library. Venture to Johns Hopkins and you’ll find a medical library. “Where’s the PR library?” Ray asked.

Even schools  known for producing top public relations grads don’t have PR libraries. In fact, the library sections housing PR books and periodicals are downright microscopic when compared to  the traditional professions.

Sure, we can argue that PR taps the knowledge of the social sciences, but we can hardly liken PR’s body of knowledge to that of law, accounting or medicine.

3. Professions require standardized testing of competence. You don’t have to pass a test to enter PR, and you don’t need a license to practice it. Anyone can claim the title “PR specialist” without proving competence.

The CPA, on the other hand, must complete a 5-year college program in accounting and pass a rigorous 4-part exam. Passing these exams and meeting requirements for job experience eventually lead to a licensure and the right to put the letters CPA after one’s name.

The closest PR gets to such a “credential” is the APR (from PRSA) or the ABC (from IABC). Professor Simon saluted those efforts, but pointed out that only 10% of those who practice PR are members of PRSA or IABC. And fewer than 25% of those members ever earn accreditation. Those percentages haven’t changed much in 23 years.

While accreditation efforts in PR are laudable, they have little impact on the business. As for licensing, it’s unlikely to happen in PR because of 1st Amendment issues that arise when you try to control who can “communicate for a living.” The Bill of Rights says we all can.

4. Professions require continuing education. CPAs must complete 40 hours a year of continuing education per year or risk losing the license. PR has no such requirement, nor does it have a structure to verify CPE.

5. Professions adhere to an enforceable codes of ethics. Both PRSA and IABC have codes of ethics to guide professional conduct. But those codes apply only to the 10% of practitioners — those who opt for memberships. Neither organization has the ability to sanction those who violate the code.

We’re 0 for 5

I always considered myself as a “PR professional,” and I still use that term on this blog and in my classrooms. But as it turns out, I’m just a PR guy. The term “professional” doesn’t apply to any of us — at least not by definition.

But does it really matter? The debate over “PR as profession” is more a semantic one. Rather than debate the issue, Ray encouraged us to simply ACT as professionals in all that we do.

Follow the PRSA Code of Ethics whether you’re a member or not. Mentor up-and-coming practitioners and interns, encouraging them to act professionally. Support a “professional organization” that attempts to elevate the status of the field. And do the right thing, because “true” professionals act autonomously, always placing the public interest ahead of client interest.

But my evening with Ray Simon came down too one simple message: You become a professional in this business by acting like one.

Here’s how I know.

ToughSledding finally earned me some money last week — a $546 annual raise. Not much, but it’s cold, hard cash. Real ROI.

How does one get a raise for blogging? It’s tough work. I spent hours crafting a 3-page memo loaded with data and generous dollops of persuasion. I submitted my proposal in the “research and creative activity” category of our “faculty excellence awards” competition. My colleagues reviewed that proposal and voted me the raise.

Truth is, I didn’t do so hot, finishing 10th among 15 applicants. But I’ll take what I can get in this economy. And yeah, I know it’s completely insane for coworkers to vote on each others’ raises — especially when the ballots are open for anyone to review. I think it’s part of management’s divide-and-conquer strategy!

Can one’s work in social media ever be deemed “scholarship”? Traditional academics will say “no” to that question. And I see their point. Some blogs contain useful content and generate a lot of traffic. But they’re not reviewed by a “jury of peers” — at least not academic peers.

One could argue that this blog reaches a larger and broader audience than the PR academic journals. It’s been quoted by or linked to by hundreds of other bloggers, and the Technorati numbers are higher than any other PR academic in 2.0. But in the end, ToughSledding doesn’t present original research, and it doesn’t follow the scientific method. It’s just a blog.

But no matter. Blogging keeps me immersed in social media. And as social media continue to take a central role in public relations practice, I’ll be in the thick of it — connecting, sharing, debating, and occasionally ranting.

What’s important here is that I’ve resolved the ROI issue. I finally have a definitive answer when my wife sneers and asks: “Tell me again, how much do they pay you to write that thing?”

Exactly one dollar and 55 cents per post, sweetie. And you can take that to the bank.

It's a long walk to the bathroom, but worth it for the view.

It usually hits me at about 4 a.m. Like clockwork, Mother Nature reminds this 52-year-old body that the bladder is smaller or the prostate larger. Not sure I want to know which, but the result is the same.

I rise to walk the 22 steps to “my” bathroom at the far end of the house. Yeah, we have a master bath right off the bedroom, but I promised my wife if she bought me this house on the lake, I’d never set foot in that space. She has a clean bathroom, and I go kayaking anytime I want. Still seems like a helluva deal to me.

Anyhow, when you walk that far in the wee hours (pun intended), your circulation gets to pumping and your mind wakes up a good bit. When I return to the sack — and this has happened every night since I started this blog — I begin thinking of new ideas for blog posts.

First I envision the lead paragraph (owing to my training as a journalist, I suppose). Then I outline the content in my head, I rearrange it, then I go back to ponder the lead once more. I revise and I rewrite, all in my head.

Meanwhile, the clock radio is pushing 4:45, maybe 5 a.m., and I’m wide awake. A little yoga breathing will usually send me back to a slumber, but if I do that I’ll lose the ideas. So I get up again, traipse to the kitchen and jot down the basics.

I know, keep a pen by the bed. Everybody tells me that. But if I turn on the light at 4:45 to take notes each night, my wife will almost certainly invite me to move to that bedroom (next to the bathroom) down the hall. Worse yet, she may invite me to move out altogether.

To say that blogging has affected my life is an understatement, and I’ve been at it less than three weeks. It is, as several blogger friends warned, highly addictive. I know that’s true, as I crave the rush that comes with publishing a killer post. And I maintain the buzz by reading the posts of others.

I also know I’m not unique. A Google search of “addicted to blogging” pulled up 1.3 million hits. So it could be we’re all freakin’ nuts.

My blogger friends assure me the addiction will fade over time. I tell myself, “You just can’t keep posting in-depth, meaningful content day after day if you have a family, a real job, hobbies — you know, a life.”

But I blog on.

I consulted my doctor about this problem. He wasn’t much help, but then he doesn’t know doodly about blogging. He assures me, however, that the 4 a.m. nature calls are probably a permanent thing. I’m old.

What’s a blogger to do?

*          *          *

I still spend way too much time blogging, but it never disturbs my sleep. But those 4 a.m. trips down the hall remain part of my routine!

Add me to their list of supporters.

The petition asks PRSA’s National Assembly to remove a longstanding obstacle that blocks 80% of the society’s membership from holding national office: a requirement that officeholders first earn the “APR” designation. The restriction was put in place in middle 1970s.

Richard Edelman

Among those leading the task force are: Richard Edelman, CEO of the world’s largest independent PR firm; Bill Doescher, former president of the PRSA Foundation; Art Stevens, a former national officer and past president PRSA-NY; and Deborah Radman, last year’s president of PRSA-NY and former chairman of the Counselors Academy.

Here is the committee’s statement:

We are calling on PRSA to abandon the decades old requirement that its national officers and board members be accredited.

Less than 20% of PRSA members are accredited meaning that 80% of the 21,000 members cannot become PRSA leaders unless they choose to become APR.

We do not believe that democracy is being served in PRSA so long as a small minority of its members can hold elective office. We believe that many worthy members of PRSA who meet national leadership criteria in many other ways are being deprived of the opportunity to serve the organization.

We believe that accreditation is a hallmark for professional improvement but not for governance. If PRSA is to become the relevant professional organization it can be then this accreditation requirement must end here and now.

If you follow PRSA politics, you know that Stevens published a strongly worded editorial on this topic last fall, soon after the National Assembly voted down a move to dump the APR rule.

It’s not a debate about the APR. PRSA accreditation has value to many. Preparation for the exam, when handled by competent mentors, is a crash course in PR theory, process, history and ethics. It’s background every PR pro should have.

What you learn during APR prep makes you a better professional, even if it doesn’t do much for your job prospects. Most employers don’t know what the APR is, nor do they care. That hasn’t changed in 50 years and no amount of “PR for PR” is likely to change it now.

Point is, the APR should not be an obstacle that blocks competent professionals from leadership positions. The APR just isn’t that big a deal, and it does nothing to enhance one’s leadership abilities. I believe excluding non-APRs from leadership may actually hurt PRSA and its potential to advance the profession.

For more on this story, see Jack O’Dwyer’s blog post.

Disclosure: I earned the APR in 1986 and was elected to PRSA’s College of Fellows 10 years later. After 27 years, I decided to take a year off from PRSA membership in 2010. If I miss it, I’ll be back.

Sadly, every time I write about PRSA politics on this blog, my readership numbers head for the Mendosa line. But someone has to talk about this issue.

But let’s say, just for fun, that Rupert Murdoch offers Kent State $10 million to endow “The Fox News School of Journalism…fairness, balance, accuracy, truth.”

Do we take the money and put that slogan above the door? After all, Murdoch and Fox have violated every tenet of journalism we embrace here, including all 4 words in the proposed tagline. Even if the money comes with no strings attached, what would the new “brand” do to our reputation?

When PR = Partner Relationships

An online discussion these past few weeks raises ethical questions about corporate partnerships in the nonprofit world. I picked up on it thanks to an excellent post by Geoff Livingston.

Geoff Livingston's graffiti tells you where he stands on this partnership. How about you?

Geoff’s essay involves a decision by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to partner with KFC.

“Pink” chicken? Yeah, it’s weird, but if it brings a ton of cash to fight breast cancer, what’s the problem?

That’s the question Geoff and others focus on. Check his links for some good discussion, but also search “KFC Komen” if you need more.

Partnerships like Komen-KFC raise questions about the charity’s motivation. Is it about finding a cure for breast cancer, or is it about fundraising? And why can’t it be both?

Geoff’s sees the partnership as a bad idea, and places the blame squarely on the Komen Foundation, not KFC. The fried-food giant, he says, is using the partnership to offset damage its product does to public health. Komen earns cash by “dancing with the devil.”

So in my mind the ills in the KFC/Komen partnership lie with a faulty campaign that supports product — fried chicken — which causes breast cancer. It tarnishes the Komen brand and causes more harm than good. Shame on Komen for not managing the use of their brand in a more intelligent fashion. While nonprofits desperately need cash, sacrificing your brand integrity in this fashion represents a major strategic error.

The ethical dilemma is pretty clear.

On the one hand, it is morally defensible for Komen to link with monied partners that provide the cash necessary to fight cancer. On the other hand, the KFC partnership aligns Komen’s popular pink ribbons with a product that contributes to the problem and actually promotes consumption of that product.

In the class, “Ethics & Issues in Mass Communication,” my students spend a lot of time discussing the morality but also the efficacy of business partnerships. We talk of how these partnerships might corrupt the system. But we also acknowledge that nonprofit organizations like Komen are businesses, too. They must raise money to pursue their goals, and partners with deep pockets can help.

Will the KFC-Komen partnership benefit both parties? In the short run, it will. KFC will sell fried chicken in pink buckets, and Komen will earn a tidy sum. Win-win.

But what about long-term damage to the Komen brand? Or are we all just over-reacting. Some, including social-media thought leader Jason Falls, seems to think we are. And he has a point. Jason posted this tweet just last night.

With his challenge, Jason helps us focus on the ethical dilemma. He helps bring us back to center on the issue.

Is fried chicken the best partner for a breast-cancer charity? Probably not.

But if KFC wants to join the fight against a horrible disease, should we slam the door in Colonel Sanders’ face? What should be the litmus test for these partnerships? Or should we rule them out entirely?

Geoff’s concerns are more long-term, and go to the fidelity of the Komen brand. Geoff concludes his post with a list of 7 suggestions to help nonprofits protect their brand value. If you work for one of those nonprofits, read it.

Rupert Murdoch

Back to the hypothetical. Do we accept Rupert’s generosity and rename our school? In the short term, we’d be swimming in money, and all of our students would benefit. But in the long run, what’s the fallout from putting fairness, balance, accuracy and truth up for sale?

Maybe it’s not an apt parallel to the Komen-KFC case. But maybe it is.

Photo courtesy of BP

There’s a good chance President Obama’s plan to expand offshore drilling won’t go smoothly. You all know why.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a classic triggering event, and not a welcome one if your future is staked to the oil business. People are certain to change their views about offshore drilling as a result of this incident.

History is full of triggering events. Three Mile Island, in 1979, triggered enough fear and anxiety to kill the expansion of American nuclear power. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 triggered legislation mandating double-hull construction for supertankers.

The Kent State shootings, which occurred 40 years ago tomorrow on my campus, galvanized America’s opposition to the war in Southeast Asia.

Most people know the term, “triggering event.” But wise PR practitioners know to anticipate them — and even create them. Pat Jackson’s behavioral model of public relations gives the triggering event a central role in strategy. The key, says Jackson, is to understand what people are able, willing and ready to do. Then make it possible.

In public relations, behavior is the only evaluation that counts…Yet too many practitioners think of themselves as communicators. They believe their objective is to move information, facts, data or feelings. And they evaluate success by the number of clips, attendance, reach, or similar measures. To all of which knowledgeable employers ask: So what? What has changed because of this? Never mind what our publics are thinking; the question is, what are they doing?

Public Relations Practices: Managerial Case Studies and Problems (Center & Jackson)

Jackson’s simplified behavior model looks like this:

Jackson's behavioral communication model.

In the communication process as Jackson presents it, awareness and knowledge of an idea creates a predisposition to act on the message. Of course, not everyone pays attention or is moved to the stage of “latent readiness.” But those who are may be moved along by the triggering event.

There’s nothing sinister going on here, just simple persuasion aimed at people predisposed to take action anyway. It aligns public need with opportunity to fulfill that need.

Jackson told us that successful PR practitioners build triggering events into their plans, shifting the emphasis to behaviors instead of communication. Those behaviors are the measurable outcomes that often elude the people who focus on impressions, reach, ad equivalency and other nonsense.

Behaviors are the bottom-line outcomes CEOs understand.

Some examples to illustrate:

Harnessing a news event. A fire department, following the death of a local family from carbon monoxide poisoning, creates “CO Action Week.” The department enlists the gas company, a local retailer and a manufacturer of CO detectors to help.

By week’s end, 2,000 homeowners install CO detectors for the first time — CO detectors bought (at a discount) from the sponsoring manufacturer through the sponsoring retailer.  It’s a public service with a measurable and profitable outcome. Win-win. Just be careful your campaign isn’t seen as exploiting tragedy.

Update 5-5-2010: Here’s another example, and germane to this post. It’s how P&G involves it’s “Dawn” brand in oil-spill cleanup. Some will be cynical, but this is a fine example of corporate social responsibility.

Aligning with nature’s issues. It’s spring in the Midwest, and homeowners are again dealing with the arrival of Canada geese. What better time to position “Goose-B-Gone.” Your staff ornithologist will make a fine resource for media. And let’s not forget the interest you might drum up among gardening bloggers or HGTV producers.

If you’ve worked with your marketing staff, you’ll have in-store displays in place and co-op money for retailers who want to participate. You’ll owe your increased sales to a triggering event called spring migration.

Creating your own triggers. PR people are experts at staging events, but too often we label them as “awareness weeks.” You can’t make payroll with awareness, folks. Behaviors, on the other hand, make a business case for your program every time.

So as you plan your next “really cool” event or campaign, think about tangible outputs first, communication second. How will the event directly boost sales, recruit members or raise money? You can measure those outputs.

Yeah, you can measure awareness, too. But it’s tough to do, and no one in the C-suites really cares.

Intermediate behaviors. Not all PR campaigns can lead to specific behaviors, so don’t forget to measure the intermediate steps such a literature requests, telephone inquiries or Web traffic. But when you do, be sure to capture information that helps you to match intermediate behaviors to end results. It’s not tough if you keep good records.

I know what you’re thinking: What the hell got into Sledzik this week? He’s gone all preachy on us. The answer is simple: business got into me.

Too many PR campaign are still measured on communication outcomes that don’t translate to a good business case.

Sure, not everything we do leads directly to a sale, or a vote, or a donation. But wouldn’t we win a lot more friends if it did?

It started in 1973 when my J-school professor insisted I spell “employe” with just one “e.” AP opted for the conventional spelling a few years later, but I still carry a grudge. Nevertheless, I enforce AP Style in the classroom. Always.

Since most PR professionals target mainstream media from time to time, it’s important they speak the language. On the blog, I still thumb my nose at AP, but only to be obstinate. I don’t spell out numbers under 10 here, and I use the word “website,” not AP’s preferred “Web site.”

Stop the presses! “Web site” WAS the preferred spelling until Friday, April 16, when the grand poohbahs of AP joined the rest of the world. “Website” is one word now, and with a lower-case “w.”

I know what you’re thinking. Who gives a s*@t, right?

In fact, a lot of people do. Some are happy with the change, others are not. But the real writers understand the value of a consistent style.

Yahoo! There’s a new stylebook in town!

It’s fitting that AP’s decision on “website” came 3 days after Yahoo!’s Senior Editorial Director visited Kent State. In at least 3 of his 6 sessions with students, Chris Barr poked fun at AP’s “Web site” affectation.

What's a tweet without a typo?

Chris visited Kent State to introduce the first real first competitor to the AP Stylebook in my professional life — and that’s a loooog time. It goes on sale in June.

The Yahoo! Style Guide tosses aside some of AP’s conventions, but the changes are subtle. For example, e-mail becomes email and the % sign, vs. “percent” is acceptable, so long as you’re consistent. No big deal.

Me and my advance proof of The Yahoo! Style Guide

Chris gave me an advance proof, and what I discovered was way more than a reference book. The Yahoo! Style Guide is a fairly comprehensive manual on writing for the Web.

Section I covers the fundamentals of writing for the online audience. The focus in on developing clear, compelling prose for the Web.

Section II shows you how to write inclusive copy that serves a worldwide audience as well as Internet users with disabilities.

Section III helps you with writing effective messages for interactive channels such as e-newsletters, email and mobile devices.

Section IV includes the nuts-and-bolts mechanics that AP does so well, but Yahoo!’s organization makes items easier to find. The book includes the usual sections on punctuation, abbreviations, capitalization and numbers.

Section V presents three chapters on editing and polishing to make copy clear, concise and correct. Those are important considerations for any writer, but are especially so when serving impatient online readers.

Section VI. The book concludes with a “Resource” section that offers lessons on HTML coding, search engine optimization, and U.S. legal issues related to online content.

As an educator, I see see a textbook, not a reference guide. And I can use it in any basic course on writing and editing for the online audience. PR students, I also see a book that can replace the AP Stylebook, even if the mechanics section isn’t quite as comprehensive.

Do we really need a style book?

Dumb question. Of course we do.

With the explosion of blogging over the past 5-6 years, the good old AP Stylebook was scorned by many journalist wannabes. Maybe they viewed it as a tool of mainstream conformity. Who knows?

But the real writers out there know that a style guide, be it AP’s or Yahoo!’s, brings a consistency and a professionalism to our work. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but a necessary one.

No one who values good writing should argue that last point. But I suspect someone will.