PR Society of America, which spent $945 on “ethics” in 2015, said it’s a “partner” with the Ethisphere Institute in a bid to “elevate business ethics.” This is an odd couple if ever there was one.

Ethisphere

We have urged Ethisphere, a non-profit based in Scottsdale, Ariz., to disentangle itself from the trade group that has been enforcing a boycott against the O’Dwyer Co. and this editor for at least ten years.

One aspect of the boycott is that the O’Dwyer Co. is not allowed to exhibit its five news and informational products at the annual conference attended by about 3,000. O’Dwyer staffers are not allowed to enter the exhibit hall.

The Society, which has two publications and a website, is blocking competition from the O’Dwyer Co. which has two publications and a website. Non-profits are not supposed to compete with tax-paying businesses.

PRSA Maximizes, Ethisphere Minimizes Tie

Timothy ErblichTimothy Erblich

Ethisphere Magazine

An announcement Dec. 7, 2016 on the Society website is headlined, “PRSA and Ethisphere Institute Partner to Elevate Business Ethics.” Subhead is “Cooperative Effort Enhances Relationship Between Compliance and Communications Executives.”

First project was“ A Guide to Increasing Collaboration Between Communications and Ethics Officers,” an eBook.

PRSA CEO Joseph Truncale is quoted as saying both organizations “are committed to helping businesses find ways to communicate and implement effective processes, training and on-going communications that help businesses behave more ethically and engender greater public trust.”

Asked about the PRSA description of the relationship, CEO Timothy Erblich said Ethisphere and PRSA “jointly did a piece on Communications leveraging some of Ethisphere magazine’s work” and a colleague joined a panel at the annual Society conference in Indianapolis last year.

Ethisphere, founded four years ago as “the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success,” has a program that honors the “World’s Most Ethical Companies.” It publishes Ethisphere magazine.

Erblich was formerly president of the New York Stock Exchange Governance Services which includes compliance and board services businesses Corpedia and Corporate Board Member.

His background includes more than 20 years in executive roles at Thomson Legal & Regulatory, now Thomson Reuters. He led efforts to serve the AMLW 100 channel across the Thomson North American Legal businesses.

Ethics Mentioned Prominently at PRSA

Paula Pedene, who was the Society’s “PR Professional of the Year in 2015,” was quoted, as part of the September 2016 Ethics Month observance as saying, “Ethics is central to effective PR. It is core to our daily activities. Yet every day some PR professional, somewhere is being asked to so something unethical…” 

She called for year-long attention to ethics, saying it is the “heart of PR.”

Said PRSA: “The willingness to take the unpopular stand for our organizations is one of the reasons we honored Paula Pedene as PR Professional of the Year.” Every member of the Society “pledges to adhere to the Code of Ethics.”

The Society’s enforced Ethics Code was abandoned in 1999 and replaced with a Code that relies on sanctions by a government body. Tens of thousands of dollars had been spent in many years trying cases brought before the Board of Ethics and Professional Standards. About $200K was spent writing a new Code in 2000-2001. The $945 spent on ethics in 2015 was an all-time low.

Unethical practices were described in a report on the Society's observance of "Ethics Month" in 2014.