PUBLIC RELATIONS GOES GREEN

This weekend I finally watched Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'. I had been putting it off for a while as I knew that Al would make me feel all kinds of guilt, fear and trepidation. However, seeing as the weather this weekend was dismal and I had become a soccer widow for the day, I decided to dig the DVD out from the back of the cupboard and face my fears.

My fears were confirmed. 'An Inconvenient Truth' left me feeling somewhat anxious and spurred me to race around the entire house frantically switching off lights.

It did have one other effect. It got me thinking about what we should be doing to help solve the ever-escalating global warming problem and what PR's role should be.

In my opinion, there are a number of things that public relations companies can do. Firstly, do not take on a client if you do not agree with how they run their company. If you disagree with their practices and think that they are unethical do not work with them. This is easier said than done if you are a mere account executive but is definitely a stand that owners/directors of PR companies should be taking.

Secondly, encourage your existing clients to take some steps towards becoming more environmentally friendly. Some things that businesses can do include using local products and services, recycling and becoming CarbonNeutral. Increasing numbers of people are deciding whether or not they use a company based on how eco-friendly they are so convince your clients to make environmentalism a part of their brands.

A number of 'green' PR companies, including Green Planet PR in the United Kingdom, have sprung up in recent years. These consultancies only take on green businesses as clients and focus primarily on making people aware of environmental issues. Other agencies, such as Intermediary Communications in New Zealand and MWW Group in the United States, make a special effort to incorporate green PR and corporate social responsibility services into all of their strategies.

I think more businesses should be following this lead. After all, without this planet there would be no business. There would be no public relations consultancies. All of those things that we take for granted would be gone.

ONE BAD PR APPLE REFLECTS BADLY ON US ALL....SO SHOULD PUBLIC RELATIONS BE REGULATED?

The PR consultancy that I work for, along with all of my fellow employees, are members of PRiNZ (Public Relations Institute of New Zealand). PRiNZ members are expected to adhere to a Code of Ethics, a document which asks members to be honest and accurate in all communications. The Code of Ethics also asks members to avoid any conflicts of interest and to embrace the values of advocacy, independence, loyalty and fairness.

Even if a public relations company isn't a member of a public relations organisation, they should stay true to these guidelines. To deviate from them reflects badly on their company, their clients and the industry as a whole.

Yet there is still a significant chunk of the population using the word 'spin doctor' when refering to PR people and, sadly, there are still a number of PR practitioners who deserve this label. Among other things, I have heard stories of certain practitioners blackmailing companies to get a result for their client and I have heard of people spreading malicious rumours about other PR companies and other PR people.

Organisations such as PRiNZ can hold a practitioner to account and freeze their membership but this only works for individuals that are actually members.

So, my question is: What can be done about immoral practitioners that aren't members of a PR organisation?

Should PR be regulated so that any PR practitioner or consultancy that is found to be behaving illegally or unethically can be struck off (as is the case with doctors and lawyers)? This leads on to further questions....If regulation were to take place who would be granted the power to pass judgement on whether or not a PR company/professional was acting in an unacceptable manner?

I still haven't decided what I think would be the best road to go down regarding regulation. If you have the answer then please let me know!