ICCO launches World PR Report 2018-2019: “Our time in the sun is now -and in the years to come”

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The ICCO World PR Report 2018-2019 released today reveals agency heads in every region of the world predict increased profitability this year compared with last year.

The World PR Report 2018-2019 was launched by International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) Chief Executive Francis Ingham on Tuesday 27th November at a combined ICCO-PRCA Southeast Asia-AMEC conference in Singapore at 12:00 SGT (04:00 GMT); and then at events across the world.

For the past five years, the ICCO World PR Report has surveyed agency heads to take the temperature of the global PR industry, and to identify areas of growth; expectations for investment; and future challenges. The findings are reported both as global trends, but also region-specific results. The Report also includes the Holmes Top 250 Agency Rankings.

Key findings include:
On a scale of 1-10, the global average for optimism is 7.7, on a par with last year (7.8). The most optimistic markets are Africa (7.9) and Asia (7.8). The least are the Middle East (6.6) and Eastern Europe (6.6).

When asked about expectations of profitability, the global average is 6.9, compared to 6.4 last year. Asia came in highest with a score of 7.7, followed by Western Europe at 7.2. Africa came in lowest at 6.1.

Corporate reputation is cited by agency heads as a function set to grow over the next twelve months. 44% also predict growth in digital/online communications; with 39% citing social responsibility as an area of growth.

Social media community management tops the list of areas that should expect increased investment over the next few years, at 43%. This is followed by multimedia content creation (41%), and digital build and production (35%).

On the subject of measurement, the Report reveals that 48% of global respondents do not ever use AVEs, up from 44% in 2017. The main global reason given for the continued minority’s use of AVEs is that it is expected by clients (26%). The existence of AVEs is highest in the Middle East, where only 15% report that they do not ever use them.

The biggest challenges identified were clients not committing sufficient funds (38%) and clients being too short-term focused (34%). Retaining key staff is the top talent specific challenge (61%).

Francis Ingham, Chief Executive, ICCO, said: “In every region of the world, agencies expect to be more profitable this year than last. And given the uncertain times in which we work, that speaks volumes. CEOs continue to increase financial investment in their corporate reputation, while investor activism and social media transparency have intensified the focus on delivering not just good numbers, but doing so with integrity. These trends have helped fuel a demand for senior counsel.

“Clients not committing sufficient funds relates clearly to our inability to still fully prove our value. And that in turn relates to our under-investment in evaluation. But we should also acknowledge progress here. In every region of the world, those saying AVEs are their preferred method of evaluation has fallen. Evaluation becomes more sophisticated with each passing year. While there is more work to be done, much progress has been made.

“All around the world, PR is growing in size and in influence. Our time in the sun is now -and in the years to come.”
Barry Leggetter, CEO, AMEC, added: “Every year the ICCO World PR Report gives us more encouragement that the global education programme to show PR professionals the business benefits of using evaluation is working. AMEC will continue to partner with ICCO and PRCA to persuade the PR industry to invest more in evaluation, because only then will PR firms be able to fully prove their value to clients.”

Sarah Hall, Founder and Editor, #FuturePRoof, commented: “It’s encouraging to see that public relations is booming in every market around the world. Organisations recognise our value in engaging with stakeholders to build trust and reputation, and help organisations tell their story through content.

“ICCO’s analysis shows that agencies have firmly got to grips with the paid, earned, shared and owned media model. Earned and owned media typically lead with paid and shared used to drive amplification or performance.

“However it’s not all good news. Budgets and talent remains a challenge. Agencies need to take an agile approach to managing staff.”

The Global Women in PR (GWPR) survey results are also contained within the report, with family commitments being identified as the biggest barrier to women reaching leadership positions.
“Fundamental to changing this is to have better flexible working policies in place, yet only 67% of organisations allow employees to work from home on a regular basis,” said Angela Oakes, Joint President of GWPR, also citing parental leave as an issue. “Though most organisations have parental leave policies in place, three quarters of those that take this are women.”

Download the World PR Report 2018-2019 here

PR Is Where It Was Always Meant To Be

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Maja Pawinska Sims, Editor, Holmes Report

For the Original article on The Holmes Report, click here.

DUBLIN — The public relations industry has never been closer to being what it was always meant to be, according to Fleishman Hillard global CEO John Saunders.

Speaking at the International Communications Consultancies Organisations (ICCO) Global Summit in Dublin this week, Saunders said he is now frequently told by clients that PR has never been more important than it is today, and impacts on every decision they make: “Time and again I hear that the work we do for our clients is essential. In my opinion our profession is in a very good place.”

In a bullish speech, Saunders said the shift in consumer expectations of business, in particular the requirement for businesses to take a stand on social and political issues, was a major driver of PR’s strong position: “It’s harder and harder to remain neutral. Even if a company wants to stay neutral they should at least be prepared if they are forced to take a stand, and helping them is squarely in PR’s wheelhouse.

“There’s a terrific opportunity to elevate our role: we’re now brand navigators. It’s what PR was always meant to be: we’re guiding companies through how they are going to act, not just messaging and channels.”

Saunders referenced P&G chief marketing officer Marc Pritchard speaking to the Holmes Report in August, when Pritchard said: “There used to be a lot of discussion about having a seat at the table. But I hear that less, because more PR pros are grabbing the wheel and showing their creative brilliance.”

And he said there was no “silver bullet” for public relations: “Advertising is fundamentally changing and the advertising world is in turmoil trying to come to grips with everything from how to price media buying to how the ad world deals with Google and Facebook. All over the place I see people looking for a silver bullet for PR too. There is no silver bullet. Whether you are independent or part of a holding company, the firms that win are the ones with the best talent.”

On the ongoing debate of whether the PR industry needs to find another way of describing itself, Saunders said: “I’m OK with being called a PR guy. It will be very difficult to come up with something that sticks better with clients and the public.”

ICCO announces newest member and reveals location for 2019 Global Summit

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The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) recently unveiled the location for its 2019 Summit at the 2018 ICCO Global Summit in Dublin.

Taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 10th – 11th October, the 2019 ICCO Global Summit will once again bring together CEOs, Directors, business leaders, and agency owners from over 50 different countries to share insights.

Teresea Figueira, Partner, Lift Consulting and Vice President, The Portuguese Association of Business Council in Communication and Public Relations (APECOM), said: “Thank you so much for giving APECOM and Lisbon the opportunity to host such an event. We will work with ICCO to put together a programme as great as the one we have enjoyed here in Dublin.”

The theme for this year’s Summit was ‘shaping the future of public relations’, and featured presentations from global PR and communications leaders such as Alan VanderMolen, President International, WE Communications; Barri Rafferty, Global CEO, Ketchum; John Saunders, Global CEO, FleishmanHillard; and Sinead McSweeney, VP EMEA Communications, Twitter.

The event encompassed discussions around advocacy, combating mistrust and fake news, data science, measurement, creativity, and rethinking how to make businesses as well as campaigns more human.

ICCO also took this opportunity to announce CICOM in Mexico as the latest Member, joining 40 other member associations collectively covering 55 countries.

“CICOM is delighted to join ICCO and bring over 1,600 Mexican communications firms into ICCO membership. It is an important time for the industry to be collaborating more and more across borders and we look forward to exchanging our own knowledge and expertise with that of communicators around the world” said CICOM President, Lorena Carreño

CICOM is the Confederation of the Marketing Communication Industry in Mexico, a leading body that integrates commercial communication across the country. CICOM represents more than 1,200 companies in Mexico.

Elise Mitchell, President, ICCO, said: “After gathering together some of the industry’s greatest leaders for an incredibly insightful and successful Summit in Ireland this year, I’m delighted to announce Lisbon as next year’s location. 2018’s theme was all about looking ahead to the future, and I welcome the opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how the industry has made good on its statements, at the 2019 Summit.

“I also am delighted to welcome Mexico as the latest ICCO member. They join 55 countries across the globe, that collectively represent over 4,000 PR firms.”

Welcome to Innovative Ireland

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Rhona Blake,  Managing Director, FleishmanHillard Ireland and Chairman, Public Relations Consultants Association (Ireland) welcomes PR leaders to the ICCO Summit in Dublin, Ireland, a country punching above its weight and playing its part in shaping the future of PR.

It is my pleasure to welcome our colleagues from across the world to Dublin for the ICCO Global Summit 2018. In our native language, Gaeilge, we say céad míle fáilte – a hundred thousand welcomes.

This Summit takes place within days of the tenth anniversary of what, for many, was the beginning of public awareness of a recession that would leave few, if any, of our nations untouched – the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Ireland was more deeply impacted than many economies, however, ten years on, it is very much back and open for business. The Global Innovation Index, co-published by Cornell University, ranks this small nation fourth in the world in infrastructure, knowledge, and technology outputs, and tenth for market sophistication. We also score highly in areas such as tech exports and foreign direct investment. The number of people at work is now higher than before the crash and our Central Statistics Office recently announced that the number of Irish emigrants moving back to the country has overtaken the numbers leaving, for the first time since 2008.

So, these are times of optimism for our small island. And in our role as advisors to local and global brands and organisations we have a responsibility to avoid complacency and to look ahead to the next decade.

Certainly, we are living in interesting, disrupted and disruptive times. On this island, Brexit is a game-changer, whatever shape it takes. World trade wars reach into our businesses and those of our clients. Shifts in climate, technology, and political ideologies alter the contexts in which we work. There are inter-generational divides in western economies of a nature we have not seen before. We focus a lot on the so-called ‘millennial’ generation but in this country, for example, the over 50s are the fastest growing segment of the population and the most affluent. Indeed, young people in many developed economies no longer expect to be better off than their parents.

These are some of the reasons why the theme of ICCO 2018, Shaping the Future, is so apt. I look forward to sharing and learning from our peers across the world as to how best we can prepare ourselves to help and counsel our clients and to do what we do best, take care of business. As Abraham Lincoln said: ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it’.

I hope you enjoy the 2018 ICCO Global Summit and your visit to Ireland.

 

Rhona Blake, Chairman of PRCA Ireland

#CannesUncovered

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Expert tips and analysis for those contemplating the Lions in 2019

On Wednesday, 12th September, ICCO hosted #CannesUncovered at WE Communications offices in Covent Garden, London. The event encompassed analysis and observations of Cannes Lions 2018 from a variety of perspectives, as well as bold predictions and practical advice for those looking ahead to 2019.

“If you’re looking for inspiration, look no further than Trash Isles”, says Cannes Lions judge Candace Kuss, Social Media Director, H+K Strategies. The campaign went beyond traditional methods, they formed a country recognised by the United Nations! That’s something completely unprecedented in PR and it influenced political debate globally. Brands’ close affinity with politics and purpose was an inescapable trend throughout the festival’s awards and plenaries.

 

Discourse first, awards second?

So much so, Ruth Allchurch, UK Managing Director, WE Communications, challenged the nature of the festival itself, asking if it should be “discourse first, awards second”? Could Cannes become the Davos of the PR industry? The conversations, speeches, and debate have moved the festival in this direction to become a forum for discussion on strategic communication, reputation management, and business topics that stretch beyond the fantastic creativity. Could the thrust of the festival be altered to reflect this push for purpose?

 

Less yachts, more politics

Samantha Fay, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Strategy, Guinness World Records, observed that from a brand perspective, the word of the week was “disruption”. Across the fringe festival, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were at a tech show: with huge beaches hosted by Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others. Beyond this, management consultancy was there in a big way, including IBM and Accenture with a particularly large presence. Having visited the festival for the past seven years, Sam observes that it is growing up, there are less yachts and more serious conversations about global politics, concluding this direction of travel will continue is years to come.

 

Expect FOMO, plan ahead

Dee O’Connell, Director of Insight, FlieshmanHillard, provided some advice for anyone planning to make their Lions debut in 2019. Expect the FOMO, there is so much happening across the festival that you will inevitably feel you have missed out on something big – whether it be a huge moment, event, speech, piece of work, or something massive that everyone seems to be talking about. It’s important for individuals and teams to plan ahead – plan your time realistically and effectively knowing that you can’t do everything. She continued that whilst there is so much great PR work, not enough agencies were entering and with a bit more courage, confidence, and planning, 2019 could be a chance for PR agencies to reclaim territory in space being eaten up by other industries.  A final tip – avoid PowerPoint at all costs, the best sessions were discussions, games, demonstrations, and audience interactions.

 

Fiorenza Plinio, Head of Creative Excellence, Cannes Lions, picked out the three main themes of Cannes 2018 as ‘Politics’, ‘Experience’, and ‘Human’, reflecting both the analysis of the other panellists and the wider industry magnetism towards politics. As Ruth Allchurch put it, a “human first, tech last” approach, and Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry, and now head of the Apple’s retail activities, said in her session: “Apple is in the ‘humanity business’. “

 

ICCO hosts the House of PR at Cannes Lions every year – a hub for the PR industry throughout the festival, hosting networking events, seminars, and interviews, helping PR agencies maximise their time spent at the festival. If you’re interested in either dropping in, hosting an event, or just generally picking up some advice for 2019, contact ICCO General Manager Rob Morbin rob.morbin@iccopr.com.

PRs and communicators should to learn to love AI

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Understand and use AI the right way, learn to love what it can do for you in comms, and it will be an essential ally in your work. 

By Joanna Arnold

We know one of the greatest challenges for PRs and communicators is getting an up-to-date and informed 360 degree view and perception of the brands they work on.

How do you cope with all the external and internal information available to build this picture? In real time?

You need as much relevant data as possible but too much unfiltered, or uncontextualised, information hinders good – and timely – decision making. Particularly when you are at the centre of a media storm.

The challenge of context and communication

Imagine being at the centre of the turmoil surrounding TSB at the moment. A severe IT failure – and ongoing problems – has angered UK consumers and investors, and left TSB CEO Paul Pester facing some difficult questions. How can he and his advisors manage the bank’s reputation, and his own, by keeping on top of the latest news as the story continues to unfold?

This is not just a consumer story, of course. What are the 8,500 or so UK staff at TSB thinking and feeling, let alone saying, on social media? There are the views of regulators and the Government to consider too.

Unfortunately, you don’t have to go far to think of another multi-faceted comms challenge. Think of the stories around the fallout from Sir Martin Sorrell’s departure from WPP in April. It’s not just about what journalists are writing, however. What about other stakeholders, such as investors and clients? Coverage of WPP’s AGM last week highlighted differing views from investors on how Sir Martin’s departure has been handled. And, it’s not just WPP’s reputation that is affected, it is that of Sir Martin, and WPP’s chairman Roberto Quarta.

To plan for, react to and predict the right way to deal with stories like these, you need to know which influencers are receptive to your messaging and content. And those who are hostile. Or likely to be. And are those influencers capable of affecting your, or your client’s, reputation with your key audiences and stakeholders?

You also need to filter out the wrong information – from irrelevant stories to fake news –  and all of this should be available as quickly as possible through a single accessible platform.

Ultimately, you need actionable intelligence to be effective.

And this is where AI comes in. AI sits at the heart of the solution as a powerful way of contextualising and filtering excessive unstructured data.

It can help you react fast to existing issues, find key stakeholders aligning with strategic topics quickly and can help you identify emerging topics and future opportunities and challenges through correlating events and patterns.

Media monitoring is a great example of this. It’s a crucial tool in the communicator’s armoury requiring the consumption, analysis and contextualisation of information from virtually everywhere – not just the media. At Vuelio, monitoring covers all the activity from the UK Parliaments, Government departments and the wider stakeholder community. AI has a massive role to play here – what’s more, it is only just starting to fulfil its potential.

But, of course, AI can help further. It will take on the burden of contact management – whether you are talking about stakeholders or journalists or clients – and boost relationship management in almost every dimension.

Just think about the benefits of true integration, as profiles are enriched by information and feedback from the rest of the platform, your on-going activity and its impact on key audiences. All of this will give communicators actionable, real-time intelligence based on a filter of the world’s millions of news sources and publications.

In short, AI – particularly machine learning – will help us not only react to what has just happened, or been published, Tweeted or Instagrammed, it will help us plan what we should be doing next.

Effective strategic decision-making and predictive PR strategies

Ultimately, this should enable more effective strategic decision-making and gives us the potential to create truly predictive PR and stakeholder strategies.

It’s all about intelligence, and not just the artificial kind. If your relationship management platform is hyper-targeted and contextualised, you will start to get real-time global intelligence at scale and enhance your role. Think of the power and opportunity you will then have at your fingertips.

If we don’t allow the exciting possibilities of AI to help us – as communicators – keep on top of a rapidly changing world, how will we ever keep up with the present, let alone enter the future with confidence?

The CIPR is doing a great job presenting the power of the possibilities new technology offers, but, to realise them fully, more of us need to learn to love AI.

About Joanna Arnold

Joanna is the CEO of Access Intelligence, which owns Vuelio, the leading provider of software for communications, public affairs and stakeholder engagement, and owner of the annual Vuelio Blog Awards, which takes place on November 30 2018. Joanna joined Access Intelligence in December 2008 and has completed three acquisitions and two funding rounds with the business.

Originally written for wadds.co.uk. You can see the original article here.

Author: Joanna Arnold, CEO, Access Intelligence

Flawed news

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A breaking news story this weekend demonstrates how fake news travels thanks to human curiosity, algorithms, and search. Reporting the death of an individual should be an ethical red line, whatever the media.

The death of a senior member of the royal family trended on Twitter over the weekend.

Rather than rebutting the story, traditional media fuelled speculation by publishing the protocol for announcing the death of a member of the royal family.

The combination of these two mechanics shows how easy it is to spread misinformation, and the challenge that social media platforms and mainstream media face in tackling fake news.

Tracing the origin of a fake news story

The death of Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, trended on Twitter for more than 12 hours on Friday and Saturday.

Prince Philip is 97 and has stepped down from public duties. He is recovering from an hip operation but the story is false. It could have been fact checked within 30 seconds by calling the Royal press office.

Mike Wendling from the BBC’s Trending team traced the origin of the story to a far right blog called Knights Templar International. It circulated via Facebook and on WhatsApp before breaking on Twitter.

Prince Philip trended in the UK, and was spotted by journalists. But instead of rebutting the story, mainstream media spotted the opportunity to gain search traffic.

Our typical reaction to spotting a trending topic is to check its authenticity via Google.

Mainstream fuels speculation via search

Several mainstream media outlets reported the protocol for announcing the death of a senior member of the Royal Family. The Manchester Evening News went further and posted a gallery of images of Prince Philip.

The stories in national and regional media appeared in the top of Google searches and fuelled speculation. The topic trended again on Sunday.

Newsrooms track trending topics on social networks nationally and in communities such as business and politics as a way of spotting breaking stories.

Tools such as Trendolizer and Newship enable the level of engagement around a story to be determined. They’re often used as a means of news discovery and prediction.

But fact and fiction spread at equal speed on the web. A study by MIT Sloan School of Management published in Science in March reported that fake news spread significantly further and faster than true news stories.

Facebook pulled trending topics from its platform in June to counter the issue but Twitter has made no such move.

Facebook and Twitter claim to be platforms and not publishers and adhere to their own community standards rather than recognised editorial standards.

Twitter countered the Prince Philip story with a Twitter Moment that showed royal correspondents rebutting the story.

I think that the use of Twitter as source for news means it needs to go further.

Fake news is a form of manipulation that is impacting every area of public discourse from politics to the reputation of individuals and organisations. However speculation about the death of an individual, whether of public significance or not, is an ethical red line and this needs to change.

Rebutting fake news

In my day job at Ketchum we advise organisations to rebut fake news using a combination of integrated media depending on the source and situation. This can include paid (search), earned (blogs and traditional media), shared (communities and influencers) and owned (apps and web).

Buckingham Palace has stopped short of issuing a statement but has briefed media this afternoon about the health of Prince Philip.

Summary: Tackling fake news

#1 Integrated media response

Counter the fake news using an integrated Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned (PESO) media. Typically paid and owned media will lead.

#2 Flag  content with host

Contact the website host or social media site and flag the misinformation and request its immediate take down.

#3 Formal compliant and legal action

Make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Consider legal action for defamation, misuse of private information or breach of copyright or data protection.

Image via Unsplash by Luchenko Yana.

Originally written for wadds.co.uk. You can see the original article here.

Author: Stephen Waddington, Chief Engagement Officer, Ketchum

ICCO challenges industry with #POWERofETHICS campaign

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International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) has challenged the public relations and communications industry to put ethics at the heart of everything it does as it begins the #POWERofETHICS campaign.

To mark the start of ethics month, and further promote #POWERofETHICS, ICCO members will be contributing content including blog posts and highlighting how PR and communications organisations can best apply ethical principles and codes of conduct, how they can live by them, and how they can embed them into agency culture.

Speaking on the campaign launch, Francis Ingham MPRCA, Director General, PRCA, and Chief Executive, ICCO, said:
“The importance of high ethical standards within the PR industry cannot be emphasised enough. Having recently stood with our global sister organisations to defend the free press, and having supported the Global Alliance’s Global Principles of Ethical Practice in PR and Communication in their work to complement the ground-breaking ICCO Helsinki Principles, there has never been a better time to launch the #POWERofETHICS campaign.

“With that in mind, we challenge all PR organisations and practitioners to champion the #POWERofETHICS this September, urging both themselves and their fellow PR professionals to walk the talk when it comes to ethics in PR.”

#POWERofETHICS activities:

ICCO to launch #PowerofEthics campaign highlighting the importance of ethics with PR industry

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The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is launching the inaugural global #PowerofEthics month throughout September.

This global campaign aims to raise awareness of ethical best practice principles, to encourage professionals to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to implementation and self-improvement, and to celebrate PR’s power to expand ethical causes across borders and industries.

Beginning on Monday, 3rd September the campaign will close at the ICCO Global Summit on Friday, 5th October.

ICCO has previously led the charge for promoting ethics within the industry, with 40 member associations having created the first internationally agreed set of ethical PR principles in the form of the Helsinki Declaration in November 2017. This month, ICCO has also supported the development of complimentary guidelines alongside the Global Alliance, to further contribute to the raising of global standards.

ICCO’s messages to the global PR industry are as follows:
1. High ethical standards are critical for PR agencies. Let’s educate other professionals on what those standards are and how best to apply them practically, live by them, and embed them into agency culture and our working lives.

2. PR is a powerful ethical tool. Ethics needs PR in the same way that PR needs ethics. Let’s celebrate and promote the great work PR has done to promote ethics and ethical issues across industries and cultures.

ICCO has also outlined several methods through which associations and agencies can participate in the #PowerofEthics campaign.

Knowledge Sharing:

• Contribute blogs and case studies about ethical practice and the power of PR in ethical causes

• Contribute insights on the latest ethical challenges or campaigns you are proud of in PR, using the #PowerofEthics hashtag

Education:

• Take one of ICCO’s, or your national association’s, training courses on ethics. For example, PRCA will be offering 15% off several ethics training courses throughout September

• Organise an ethics awareness event, bringing attention to the Helsinki Declaration

• Read and circulate some of ICCO’s Ethics Resources, and review your own practices and behaviours

Be an ethical advocate:

• Make your organisation an Helsinki Declaration Advocate and share best practice with employees and stakeholders

• Once added to the database of advocates, download and display this logo on corporate stationary, emails and your company CSR page

• Sign up to the Helsinki Declaration by completing and returning this form to tom.allen@iccopr.com

 

With the #POWERofETHICS campaign marking one year since the Bell Pottinger expulsion from the PRCA on 4th September 2017, Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA, and Chief Executive, ICCO, stressed the importance of a collaborative approach to raising standards:

“The importance of maintaining and promoting a high standard of ethics within the PR industry cannot be emphasised enough. Having recently stood with our global sister organisations to defend the free press, and having supported the Global Alliance’s Global Principles of Ethical Practice in PR and Communication in their work to complement the ground-breaking ICCO Helsinki Principles, there has never been a better time to launch the #ETHICSinPR campaign.

“With that in mind, we ask all PR organisations to participate in championing the #POWERofETHICS this September, by challenging both themselves and their fellow PR professionals to walk the talk when it comes to ethics in PR.”

PRCA and ICCO sign collaborative statement affirming importance of a free press

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The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) have joined a host of communications organisations in making a public statement affirming the importance of a free press.

The statement has been released to express support for the critical role of a free press and the USA’s First Amendment. It attests to the essential value of a free press to inform decision-making, and decrying attacks on the media as an ‘enemy of the people’.

The statement, launched by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), declares: “We collaboratively declare our support for journalists who bravely seek the truth, focus on facts, and hold government, business and other institutions accountable.”

This statement has been released alongside more than 200 newspapers across the U.S. which have commented that ethical journalism and freedom of thought and expression are essential to democracy.

Elise Mitchell, President, ICCO, said: “An open society, freedom of speech and a free press create the context for our profession. These are core tenets of our members’ work on behalf of clients in markets around the world. ICCO is pleased to support this joint statement and the pursuit of truth, facts and open dialogue to serve individuals and society.”

Francis Ingham MPRCA, Director General, PRCA and Chief Executive, ICCO, said: “Without a free press, there can be no real PR industry and profession. More fundamentally though, a free press is integral to a free and democratic society. That is why we stand in absolute unity with our sister organisations from around the world in reaffirming and defending the core values that define any nation that calls itself progressive.”

To read the statement, click here.