Trust me, I'm a communicator

Once again, professional communicators have scored near the bottom of the heap in Canada's "Who Do You Trust?" sweepstakes.   Produced by Léger Marketing for The Canadian Press,  the survey, done in February and released today, polled a representative sample of 1,500 Canadians to determine the degree to which they trust members of 22 professions. 

Politicians hung on to their usual spot at the bottom of that list, with just 14% of the population trusting them.  Joining them in the low trust zone are the folks in auto sales, with just 19%. 

Fourth from the bottom, barely squeaking past trade unionists in their battle  for the hearts and minds of Canadians, are PR practitioners.  Only 40% of those polled trust them.  Journalists aren't far behind, trusted by less than half the population.   

I don't pretend to be surprised by this; however, I am saddened.  It's not because I've actually practised both these professions and, despite that, want you and the rest of the world to love and trust me.  It's that both these professions are making a great deal of noise about professionalism,  integrity, honesty, ethics, and all that wonderful stuff - and it just doesn't seem to be working. 

Never before have so many Canadian universities and colleges been offering under- and post-graduate programs in journalism, communication and public relations.  It is almost impossible to get a job in any communication-related industry without such a degree or diploma. 

In addition, organizations such as International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) are enthusiastically pushing professional accreditation.  (I can't speak for the APR, but I know as a one-time testee and, now, a tester, that the ABC is not a cake-walk.  It outranks MBA Finance in the, "Yikes, you have to be smart for this!" department.)

These professional associations, like the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), also have codes of ethical standards that guide their members. In most academic programs and the professional association certifications, the study of ethics is offered, if not mandatory.

So if we're all so smart and filled with integrity, why don't the people trust communicators?

• Is the word not getting out? 
• Is the message just not believable? 
• Are we so busy telling everyone else's story that we don't have the energy or time to tell our own?
• Are we failing to use our hard-won, well-honed skills and, therefore, failing at our own game?
• Is it time we did some advocacy for the communication profession?

I say, "Yes," to all. 

And I'll plead, "Guilty," to the sins of omission.  As a professional communicator, I've quit jobs (in both TV and PR) over sleazy practices, yet rather than take a loud and public stand, I quietly walked away.  As a member of IABC, I've been calling for the organization to do a better job of marketing the profession, yet I haven't been screaming from the rafters, "Hire a communicator!" (Frankly, I haven't even been screaming, "Hire me!")

So, the series begins. "How do communicators earn the public trust?"

Feel free to share your ideas  by posting  comments. 

Comments

[Doug Scott]

Sue:

Came here to your blog from following a link from Warren's blog - as Warren is expected here on the far eastern shores of Canada next week. I was, however, drawn here by your postings about the trust levels of public relations professionals, as I, too, have struggled with the dilemma you identify - whether to walk away from something unseemly or to make some noise about it. Unfortunately, we so often look at the pay cheque, the challenges of the mortgage payment and putting groceries on the table that we so often just walk away. What to do? How can we work together as professional communicators to address the trust factor? I firmly believe that the IABC accreditation process is one avenue worth pursuing. Our little chapter now has 14 ABCs, with two more now in the system of portfolio judging and one just completed the written. We were recognized at the LDW in Charlotte, NC last month as the chapter with the highest percentage of ABCs per member. This after having none before 1999. I dream of the day someone from the media will approach our chapter president and ask: What's the big deal about this accreditation process? Wouldn't that be something? Perhaps we should be issuing news releases whenever we add to our ABC list. In my view, the IABC accreditation and recognition of the value of accreditation is one of the keys to fostering ethical communication - and perhaps, one day, attitudes will start to change. But like the incident you described of the PR person who issued a news release on an event that was supposed to happen - but never did - the rotten apples tend to rise to the top and get noticed. This person may have thought she was doing nothing wrong, and was simply being pro-active. I have experienced situations like that in my own line of work in government relations. But we must not lose heart. The good work of public relations goes on without drawing attention to itself. And in many cases, this is what we are often all about.

Kindest regards,
Doug Scott, ABC
St. John's, NL
Canada

By the way: Now that I know where you are, I'll be a frequent visitor. When we served on the district board together I always found your insight to be both helpful and relevant. Looks like you've kept it up.

[Warren Bickford, ABC]

Oh, its a sad day, Sue. I look forward to hearing your ideas on how we can win back public trust. By the way, did we ever have it?

You are bang on about professional associations needing to step up more and, as the current Chair of IABC, I am in the process of moving forward on a working group to address the advocacy issue. Drop by the IABC Cafe blog for news about it as it comes together.

In the meantime, you go girl!