Xenophon Strategies

Code of Ethics

Xenophon Strategies is a member of the Council of Public Relations Firms, and CEO David A. Fuscus sits on the group’s Board of Directors. As a member firm, Xenophon is committed to the highest industry standards, as outlined in the Council’s Code of Ethics and Statement of Principles.

Council of Public Relations Firms

Code of Ethics

Member firms will serve their clients by applying their fullest capability to achieve each client's business objectives, and charging a fair price for that service. Members will avoid representing any conflicting or competing client interests without the expressed approval of those concerned. Council firms and their employees will respect client confidences and the privacy of client employees, and will refrain from recruiting employees of their clients.

In communicating with the public and media, member firms will maintain total accuracy and truthfulness. To preserve both the reality and perception of professional integrity, information that is found to be misleading or erroneous will be promptly corrected and the sources of communications and sponsors of activities will not be concealed.

Council members will respect the personal rights of their employees and former employees. They will provide employees the necessary tools to serve their clients and opportunities to develop their professional skills. They will safeguard the privacy and protect the professional reputation of current and former employees.

Commercial relationships with business partners and vendors will be handled in a businesslike manner, and credit will be given for ideas and services provided by others.

Statement of Principles

1. We adhere to the highest standards of ethics in the public relations profession.  The employees of public relations firms are members of a profession which has well-established guidelines for ethical behavior. We expect each of our employees to commit themselves to those guidelines, and advise our clients' communications professionals to do so as well.
    
2. We are committed to accuracy.  Accuracy is fundamental to our business. There may be different points of view about issues and or products, but standards for factual accuracy are clear. We dedicate ourselves to accuracy - the spirit of it as well as the letter of it. We will advise our clients to be transparent and willing to engage in debate and discussion.
    
3. We believe that our clients and the public are best served when third party relationships with spokespeople, partners and allies are open and transparent.  Our bias in counseling clients is toward disclosure, which we believe is appropriate as a principle and effective as a communications tool. Third-party spokespersons, such as scientists, economists, scholars, celebrities, online media “influencers” such as bloggers, or other third party content experts who are involved in word of mouth communications, enrich the public discourse. Third-party organizations such as alliances or coalitions may be created to promote our clients' interests. When a spokesperson, expert or organization is paid for participation we will be transparent. Our clients and the public are best served when any relationship between third-party organizations and our clients is fully disclosed and when the sponsors of public relations tools such as video news releases and web sites are clearly identified.
    
4. Working for Federal, state and local governmental entities involves a unique responsibility as it is paid for by taxpayers' dollars and, like the rest of our work, must uphold the public trust at all times. We are conscientious stewards of taxpayer dollars.  Members of the Council of Public Relations Firms are proud to play a vital role in the development and implementation of these programs. We recognize and accept this responsibility and act in accordance with the highest degree of ethical and financial conduct. We strictly adhere to government rules and regulations regarding procurement and execution of government business and maintain the necessary training programs and physical infrastructure necessary to deliver on that commitment.
   We believe that the public is entitled to know the identity of our government clients. We encourage government agencies and their communications agency partners to publicly disclose all contractual relationships.
   
   
5. We are committed to agency practices that increase society's confidence in the practice of public relations.  When we engage with journalists or other organizations, we disclose who we represent. We respect the opinions of journalists and other spokespeople as their own. We do not retain journalists to represent client interests in their media. We will implement policies within our firms to carry out these principles, and we will train our employees about the imperative of upholding them and effectively communicating their importance to clients.

Additionally, The Council of Public Relations Firms, as part of its membership in the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), participated in the development of the ICCO Stockholm Charter which was adopted in 2003. Firms must adhere to this charter as a part of the criteria of membership into the Council.