Advice from the PR Pros: Jack Felton

The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication has conducted oral history interviews with dozens of the nation’s most influential public relations practitioners. The Page Center website features a vast collection of transcripts and videos of these interviews. On this blog, we will highlight some of the advice given by professionals on attaining positions in the field of public relations.

John (Jack) Felton was vice-president of corporate communications at McCormick Spice Company in Baltimore MD from 1977 to 1994. Following his retirement from McCormick, Felton became The Institute for Public Relations (IPR) chief executive. Prior to his corporate career, he served as a first lieutenant with the U.S.A.F. Strategic Air Command during the Korean War.

Felton joined the University of Florida faculty in 1993 as the Freedom Forum Distinguished Visiting Professor. He is a former two-term president of PRSA and winner of its highest award, the Gold Anvil, in 1992. In 2002, Felton received the Arthur W. Page Society’s Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his contributions to strengthening the role of public relations.

Strong ethical education needed for future PR Pros

“I think any of the sequences the students take in college in the field of public relations needs to have a very strong ethics course. And it needs to be taught by someone who has some pretty hard and fast ground rules about what’s allowable and what isn’t.”

“We take great care and teach them PR and the law, so they don’t get in trouble… But we lack, I think lots of times the ethical question of, is this the right thing to do? Is this the right way to do it? Am I doing something good for bad reasons? Or am I doing something bad for good reasons and I think we need to sort that out.”

“Any course at any college that has a curriculum for public relations needs to have a very, very strong [course] that everyone has to take. And I think by having the students have that kind of a focus we say to them, look it’s important in PR that we tell the truth… That we do the Arthur Page Principles because that’s what it’s about.”

“With consumers, with your shareholders, with your employees, if you lose the trust, you’ve just lost the battle practically. It’s so hard to get it back.”