Resumes and full disclosure

News came out today the the CEO of Radio Shack has resigned following questions about his resume's accuracy. This news comes as PR News released results from a survey saying that PR Professionals have largely ignored calls for full disclosure from the Federal government.

While these two items are not directly related I think they are symptomatic of a larger issue--the need to disguise the truth and to make things (companies or people) look better than reality.

According to the AP news story, Radio Shack CEO David J. Edmondson worked nearly 11 years with the company.

He stepped down on Monday after less than a year at the helm.

The company's board said it had accepted Edmondson's resignation and promoted Claire Babrowski - executive vice president and chief operating officer - to acting CEO.

"One of the most important things we have as a corporation is integrity and trust and we know we have to restore that back to the public,'' Executive Chairman Leonard Roberts said.

If a CEO can get away with lying on a resume for 11 years it's no wonder we have Sarbanes-Oxley in place in an attempt to try and keep our CEOs honest.

Once again it is time for us as PR professionals to remember that PR is not about "spin" it is about telling the truth. As Radio Shack learned today, sometimes the truth hurts.