By David Meeker, APR, Fellow PRSA

Advocacy Chair

Here's what PRSA National says about Advocacy:

"Advocacy at PRSA is a broad-based public affairs program for members and the profession. PRSA researches, tracks and speaks out on current issues impacting your professional practice, principles and reputation. Monitoring legislative, regulatory and public policy issues, Advocacy also promotes PRSA Code of Ethics values, including the free flow of accurate and truthful information essential to a democratic society."

The PRSA Advocacy Advisory Board (AAB) drives the program and at the Akron chapter level the Advocacy Committee has responsibility to deliver the value of thought leadership and public advocacy.

Chapter members interested in serving on the Advocacy Committee should contact Dave Meeker at dmeekerdm1@aol.com. Members who have ideas or suggestions on advocacy issues are urged to share them with the committee.

Here are a few examples of Advocacy in Action:

Issue: The Federal Trade Commission issued a Call for Comments on rule changes restricting the use of testimonials and endorsements in advertising.
Action: PRSA submitted comments calling for further clarification of the rules.

Issue: CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” aired an opinion segment by commentator Andrew Cohen roundly attacking the public relations profession.
Action: PRSA recorded a video to set the record straight. CBS later aired a defense of the public relations function by its vice president of communications.