Introduction

The German PR Council is an institution of voluntary self-regulation of the PR professionals operating in Germany. It is funded and supported by:

  • Deutsche Public Relations Gesellschaft e.V. (DPRG), [the German Public Relations Association]

 

  • Gesellschaft Public Relations Agenturen e.V. (GPRA), [the Association of Public Relations Agencies]

 

  • Bundesverband deutscher Pressesprecher (BdP) [the Federal Association of German Press Spokespersons]

 

    The German PR Council has a responsibility towards the entire field of public communication. Its area of competence is therefore not bound to individuals or organizations within the profession. It also deals with complaints about PR occurrences caused by non-professionals or by people who are not members of the supporting organizations >> Statutes.

     

    In view of its remit – to punish communicative misconduct towards the public – the PR Council is an institution comparable with the Deutscher Presserat (German Press Council) and the Deutscher Werberat (German Advertising Standards Council). For around ten years it has been actively intervening in PR activities: Like the other councils, it announces public reprimands and warnings, issues behavior guidelines, and takes a public stance on undesirable developments in the field of communication (>> Annual Reports).

     

    Its decisions are based on >> PR Codes, >> behavior guidelines and the codes of the other communication professions.The PR Council always acts publicly. All cases dealt with by the PR Council are publicized (>> Council Decisions).

     

    Due to an increase in the incidence of complaints, the PR Council has established three boards of complaint:

    Board of Complaint Economy and Finances
    Chairman N.N.

    Board of Complaint Political Communication
    Chairman Axel Wallrabenstein

    Board of Complaint Companies and Market
    Chairman Prof. Dr. Alexander Güttler

     

    Coming soon: detailed information on the development, responsibilities, sequence of PR Council proceedings record of judgements, evaluation criteria of the PR Council, moral principles of PR work, perspectives and suggestions for further reading.