Rp, quale accountability? La seconda puntata

Un messaggio ai colleghi dell'Ipra e della Global Alliance: Toni Muzi Flaconi interviene nel vivace dibattito sui temi dell'accountability...

La scorsa settimana ho dato conto di un intenso dibattito internazionale svoltosi nel forum dell'Ipra in merito alla questione dell'accountability (leggi qui). Riprendiamo la questione con un testo che ho inviato ai colleghi dell'Ipra e per conoscenza alla Global Alliance:
The intense and stimulating Ipra debate on the balanced score card indicates the world wide growth of professional attention and ‘quest' towards accountability.This, in my view, is a healthy sign as it is increasingly clear that ‘enlarged' professional accountability is today's major challenge for public relations .Accountability is to be interpreted on at least two different (and even potentially conflicting) levels:

pressures from employers, clients and other management functions in an organizations -as investments in public relations grow- to comply with advanced out-put, out-take measurement, out-come and out-growth evaluation as well planning and procurement policies and instruments;
pressures from other stakeholder groups such as regulators, media, activist groups who demand that public relations professional practice be socially responsible as it increasingly impacts on public interest in such practice areas as political consultancy, lobbying, consumer, financial, marketing and media relations.
These two levels of accountability may also sometime enter in conflict, in the sense that employer/client pressure for accountability (i.e.: demonstrable and visible short or medium term results) may also imply professional practices which are not necessarily sustainable.In short, and for the health and the better name of the profession, it is paramount for associations, role models and educators from the worldwide public relations community to quite clearly and openly advocate that while both levels of accountability are equally important and to be fully pursued, should  any conflict arise between the two, it is the public interest which takes priority over the client/employer's.Toni Muzi Falconi