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is furthermore characterized in (a) practitioners being guided by professional values
in their work, (b) membership of a professional organization, (c) professional norms
that regulate the practice,(d) an intellectual tradition underpinning it,and (e) a constant
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development of technical skills. Other criteria that have been mentioned by writers
and commentators on professionalism in communications include intellectualism, a
code of ethics, a comprehensive self-governing professional body, greater emphasis
on public service than self-interests such as profits, and performance of a ‘unique and
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essential service based on a substantial body of knowledge’. Judged by these differ-
ent writings, there is no evidently mutually shared understanding or strict definition
of standards of professional performance in communications management. While
there is some overlap and consensus regarding criteria – the familiar troika of
(a) existence of a body of knowledge, (b) a code of ethics to guide the practice, and
(c) certification of the practice being most often mentioned as the defining charac-
teristics of a profession – there is still, as far as academic writings on the subject
go, no strict set of criteria with which to judge the occupation of communications
management and its professional acumen.
Nonetheless, as with other professions (e.g. medicine, law, accountancy) it is rea-
sonable to suggest that an occupation is seen and judged as a profession when it is
socially valued and recognized as such.This generally happens when practitioners in
an occupation address a need or solve a problem through their specific competencies
and skills that are (a) critical (to individuals, organizations, society at large) and there-
fore valued, (b) difficult to substitute or emulate, and (c) recognized, and possibly pro-
tected (by codes of practice, or through certification by the occupation’s governing
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body, state agencies or companies themselves), as such. In other words, professional-
ism is not just about solving problems and executing solutions in a way that others
(outside the occupation) cannot, but also about ‘convincing others about the legiti-
macy of these solutions and the practitioner’s right to deal with the problem in the
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first place’. As such, a fully-fledged and mature profession is characterized by:
1. the articulation of a domain of expertise;
2. the establishment of monopoly in the market for a service based on that
expertise;
3. the ability to limit entry to the field;
4. the attainment of social status and recognition; and
5. systematic ways of testing competence and regulating standards.

Against the background of these five criteria, the occupation of communications
management is indeed acquiring some of the attributes of a profession: its domain of
expertise is gradually being circumscribed, and practitioners have acquired expert
skill sets in a number of different communications specialities and techniques.In fact,
many practitioners have now grown into full masters of communications techniques,
as they know how to secure media coverage, prepare press releases, write speeches,
write and design brochures, produce video news releases, lobby representatives in
government, stage a special event, or prepare an annual report.The body of knowl-
edge of communications management is, however, far less developed, primarily as
theory and formal education are lagging behind, and as practitioners, perhaps
because of historical precedent, continue to regard communications as a vocation.