By: Kenn Dixon, M.A., CDMP, APR
The Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) is supposed to represent more than professional achievement; it’s a public promise. Those three letters say we’ve embraced a higher standard: that we’ll ground our counsel in research, think strategically, act ethically, and lead with integrity. Yet too many practitioners earn the credential, frame the certificate, and then carry on exactly as before, still reacting instead of planning, still mistaking output for outcome.
That failure is more than disappointing; it’s dangerous. When someone who holds the APR ignores its principles, they weaken the very trust they were trained to build. Executives don’t need cheerleaders; they need strategic counselors who can clarify complexity, weigh risks, and tell hard truths. When an “accredited” professional offers advice without evidence, data, or reflection, they betray not only their organization’s confidence but also the credibility of every communicator who truly practices the craft.
Strategic thinking is not a style; it’s a discipline. The APR process teaches us to slow down, ask questions, analyze stakeholders, and measure what matters. Abandoning those steps because “we already know what works” is professional arrogance disguised as experience. It tells leadership that public relations is decoration, not direction. And that’s how reputations crumble; slowly, from the inside.
The truth is, accreditation doesn’t make us experts. It calls us to become better experts, continually. To live up to the standards we pledged to uphold means using those principles when it’s inconvenient, when the room is tense, when it would be easier to say what people want to hear.
Those three letters only matter if they shape our daily work, our counsel, and our courage. The APR isn’t a finish line; it’s a vow. If we stop living by its values, then all we’ve earned is another frame on the wall, and the quiet erosion of trust that follows.