As reported last month, according to a written reprimand from its nearly all-male Executive Committee during its so-called #EthicsMatter Month, the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management (GA) -- of which PRSA is a member organization -- officially banned me from ever contacting them directly again.
And what manner of "civil disobedience" merited such a ban?...
I revealed on an #EthicsMatter Twitter thread that I had directly asked ethical-compliance policy questions of the GA -- which they had failed (or refused) to answer for months (and note: the questions still remain unanswered, now going into a third month).
In the wake of the ban -- easily perceived as an intimidation tactic from the GA's nearly all-male Executive Committee (which includes as its Treasurer PRSA's former CEO who abruptly left PRSA in July 2019 and also is not even a member of PRSA, even though he is PRSA's appointed representative) -- fellow PRSA member Kelly Fletcher and I have dedicated an episode of our podcast, "Ms. InterPReted," to break down the ethical hypocrisies of #EthicsWashing . . . a.k.a., when industry authorities tout codes of conduct that they themselves reject in practice.
Podcast Episode Link: "#EthicsWashing: The New Authenticity Fail?"
While the GA touts an ethics code that requires of its member organizations (like PRSA) such values as "freedom of speech," "freedom of media," "honesty, truth and fact-based communication," and "transparency and disclosure" -- the GA has chosen to apply its code only selectively to its own policy-making, when it comes to answering basic questions about whether or not it holds its member organizations accountable to these standards.
On the podcast, Kelly and I discuss transparency and authenticity issues that plague the public relations profession and how industry groups let down their stakeholders through censorship, secrecy and obstructed channels of communication, when they refuse to disclose basic information that their own members rightfully request and should receive.
The GA’s and PRSA’s stonewalling (including PRSA’s recent policy decision to start concealing the members of its own Audit Committee) stands in stark contrast to their joint-campaign in 2018 that touted the virtues of “a free press” and the right to “speak honestly and fearlessly on behalf of ourselves...”
What are the implications of the GA’s and PRSA’s credibility and leadership posture in the PR industry?
Will the GA accept our invitation to appear on a future episode of #MsInterPReted, to clarify their viewpoints?
Stay tuned!
Mary Beth West, MPRCA, is a past national board member of PRSA and co-host of Fletcher PR's "Ms. InterPReted" podcast. She is an activist in the PR industry for ethics-accountability standards.