PRCA and CIPR Urge Journalists to Verify PR Sources Following Fake Expert Concerns

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) have written a joint letter to journalism membership organisations and media trade titles following concerns that PR professionals have pitched stories to the media using fake “experts”.

The letter, published in full below, follows an investigation by Press Gazette earlier this month, which identified more than 50 fake experts appearing in over 1,000 articles across national and regional newspapers, magazines, and online publications.

In response, the two PR membership bodies - which collectively represent PR professionals, agencies, in-house teams, and freelance practitioners - have called on journalists to use their publicly available membership registers to verify the credentials of PR professionals and expert sources where concerns arise.

The letter highlights the fact that both organisations require members to adhere to their respective codes of conduct that promote accuracy, transparency, and ethical engagement, including with the media. These standards provide journalists with an additional safeguard when assessing the legitimacy of a PR professional, as well as access to a formal complaints process should there be concerns that standards be breached. The use of fake experts would constitute a breach of these codes and could result in public expulsion.

CIPR CEO, Alastair McCapra commented:

“A strong relationship between the media and the PR profession depends on trust, transparency, integrity, and accountability. The deliberate use of fake experts is unacceptable and undermines confidence in legitimate and ethical PR practice. Our registers exist to support journalists by providing a simple way to verify who they are dealing with and our codes of conduct make clear that misleading the media has serious consequences.”

PRCA CEO, Sarah Waddington CBE said:

“Journalists and PR professionals share a common interest in accurate, credible reporting. PRCA members are guided by our Codes of Conduct, which set clear expectations around honesty, transparency and responsible engagement with the media. By working together and making use of tools such as membership directories when questions arise, we can help reduce the risk of misinformation and support high standards for everyone.”

The letter has been sent to the Press Gazette, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Chartered Institute of Journalists, and The British Association of Journalists.