History
The Public Relations Society of America was formed in 1947 by combining the American Council on Public Relations and the National Association of Public Relations Councils. The society had its first annual conference in Philadelphia, where Richard Falk was given PRSA's first "annual citation" for advancing the field of public relations. Several ethical violations in the field led to discussions about ethics within the society. At the 1952 annual conference, a speaker used Adolf Hitler as an example of the potential abuse of communications. The society published its first code of conduct and its first Anvil awards two years later. The code of conduct was later ratified in 1959 and again in 1963. PRSA merged with the American Public Relations Association in 1961 and started its accreditation program for public relations professionals the next year. The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) was created in 1967 based on suggestions by Professor Walter Seifer of Ohio State University.
In the 1970s to early 1980s, PRSA's female membership base increased, coinciding with more women pursuing a career in the field. PRSA had its first female President in 1972 and a second female President in 1983. In 1981, 78 percent of PRSA's student society were women, up from 38 percent in 1968. The society grew to 9,000 members by 1981, up from 4,500 members in 1960. In 1977, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said PRSA's code of conduct inhibited fair competition by requiring members not to solicit clients from other members. It issued a consent order that required PRSA to remove content from its code of conduct that contained sexist language, discouraged soliciting clients from other members or encouraged price-fixing activities.
PRSA's first definition of public relations was created in 1982 as "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” In 1986, PRSA's then President Anthony Franco resigned from his post after it was revealed he was accused of insider trading by the Securities Exchange Commission.
In 1994 O'Dwyer from the O'Dwyer's PR trade journal alleged that PRSA was violating copyright laws by lending articles from USA Today, The New York Times, O'Dwyer's and others to members. Although O'Dwyer has been a critic of PRSA since the 1970s, this is often considered the beginning of a long-term dispute between PRSA and O'Dwyer that PR News described as a "never-ending back-and-forth." In 1996 and 2011 O'Dwyer criticized PRSA for poor financial transparency, auditing and spending in the context of proposed increases in membership dues. PRSA said the increases were caused by an increase in services to members.
In 2000, PRSA and the Institute of Public Relations signed a mutual declaration saying the two would work together in areas like ethics, education, accreditation, professional development and new media. In 2003 a proposal to amend the society's bylaws to allow non-accredited professionals to run for PRSA's offices was defeated, but the motion passed the following year.
The society started two efforts to revise its definition of public relations in 2003 and 2007, but neither moved forward. In November 2011, PRSA led an initiative called Public Relations Defined, in order to create a crowd-sourced definition of public relations. 927 submissions were made on PRSA's website filling in the blanks to the statement: "Public relations (does what) with or for (whom) to (do what) for (what purpose).” The winning definition was: "a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their bodies." According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) "reactions to the new PRSA definition were mixed and views vigorously debated."
In 2011 PRSA publicized accusations that O'Dwyer had been eavesdropping on PRSA's conference calls. Later that year PRSA started refusing O'Dwyer entrance to their events and sent a 23-page letter to O'Dwyer describing his behavior as disruptive and unethical. The National Press Club tried to negotiate his entrance unsuccessfully.
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