Public relations,professionalism, and the public interest

The public interest statement contained in the PRSA Code of Professional Standards is unduly vague and provides neither a working definition of public interest nor any guidance for the performance of what most professions consider to be a primary value. This paper addresses the question of what might constitute public relations service in the public interest, and calls for more stringent guidelines to be developed whereby the profession may advance its service goals more clearly.Thomas H. Bivins, is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon where he teaches public relations and mass media ethics. He received his Ph.D. in 1982 in telecommunication and taught for three years at the University of Delaware before returning to the U of O. Bivins received a B.A. in English and an M.F.A. in creative writing and has nearly twenty years of professional media experience, including work in radio, television, advertising, public relations and editorial cartooning.