U.K PR Industry Talks Tough On Ethics But Remains Secretive [1]
Submitted by Bob Burton [2] on
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations [3] (CIPR), the peak PR industry body in the United Kingdom, is talking up recent changes to its self-regulatory code of conduct. The CIPR has [4] amended its regulations to enable an ethics investigation to be commenced without having to wait for a complaint from a member. PR Week reports that CIPR President Tony Bradley claimed the changes meant that "the watchdog has finally got some teeth." In March 2000 the CIPR revised its code to move away from what it describes [5] as the earlier "'thou shall not...'approach." Even if CIPR takes action, the public is unlikely to ever hear about it. "All complaints remain confidential. Announcement of a complaint outcome is at the discretion of the Professional Practices Committee," CIPR states. CIPR doesn't even disclose in its annual report [6] how many ethics cases were heard in the previous year.