PRSA APR EXAM LATEST 2025-2026 ACTUAL EXAM
130 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS
WITH RTIONALES (VERIFIED ANSWERS) |ALREADY
GRADED A+
Overview:
The 2025–2026 edition reflects the latest APR standards and PRSA guidelines, ensuring
alignment with current industry practices in strategic communication, research, ethics, and public
relations planning. With a graded A+ test bank, this exam prep provides realistic practice and
serves as an essential study tool for achieving accreditation.
Key Features:
130 carefully designed exam-style questions.
Verified correct answers with detailed rationales for deeper learning.
Covers all APR content domains: research, planning, implementation, evaluation, ethics,
and communication models.
Reflects current 2025–2026 exam updates and PR best practices.
Functions as both a practice exam and study guide.
Purpose:
To prepare candidates for success on the PRSA Accreditation in Public Relations
(APR) Exam.
To strengthen understanding of communication strategies, ethics, and campaign
management.
To identify strengths and weaknesses and improve test-taking skills.
Recommended For:
Public relations professionals seeking APR accreditation.
PR practitioners aiming to enhance credibility and career advancement.
Communication specialists and educators in strategic PR fields.
Candidates looking for a graded A+ verified resource to ensure exam readiness.
You're writing a blog post on repeal and replace of ACA for your company's corporate blog. The post
contains your opinion of an article published in the New York Times. You cite three or four sentences
from the article and state why you think the author of the article is not correct in her assumption of
what will likely occur. The New York Times has asked you to remove your post or risk being sued for
violating their copyright. Which of the following statements is most correct (select one):
a) You must remove your blog post according to statutory copyright law.
,b) You may keep your blog post but remove citations to the article due to potential conflicts with
commercial speech.
c) You keep your blog post citing fair use as your defense against copyright violation.
d) You keep your blog post citing the first amendment as your defense against copyright violation. -
answer-Answer(s): c
Fair use allows use of parts of copyrighted materials without violating copyright laws and without paying
a fee when that use is for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research. APR
Study Guide p. 105.
Your nonprofit has been hosting a casino night fundraiser for several years. Before you created the
event you vetted the idea with your legal counsel because your state has strict gambling laws. Thirty
days before the event, a member of state law enforcement calls about the event, and as a result you
have to cancel it. You send a media release and post an update to your social media pages simply
announcing the cancellation. One member of the public makes a negative comment on social media
implying that your organization has always known the event was illegal but is too unethical to be
"bothered with obeying the law". Your boss wants the comment deleted. What do you do?
A. Delete the post because your boss directed
B. Leave the negative comment but make no reply
C. Delete the post and reply directly to the commenter to explain the situation
D. Create a new social media post to correct the misperception
E. Leave the - answer-Answer: E
Rationale: Transparency and honesty are critical professional values in public relations (study guide page
100). Deleting the post would only make it look as though your company had something to hide and
would risk agitating the commenter who may "raise his/her voice" even louder. Creating new post as a
way to respond would immediately elevate the issue to unaware publics and risk creating a short term
crisis. By responding directly to the post you can appropriately clarify your organization's actions and
allow any new readers to see the full thread.
You are the Communications Director for TLA, a contract agency that provides products and services to
military personnel in the Middle East. Celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger visits troops at Camp Arifjan,
Kuwait while filming a documentary. Schwarzenegger takes photos with anyone willing, including
members of TLA. You post the photo on the company's Twitter account with the comment
"@ArnoldSchwarzenegger Thanks for visiting troops at Camp Arifjan." Your boss would also like to use
the photo on the front of the company's magazine which is distributed to customers and potential
customers, and on the company's website. What do you do? A. Use the photo on the magazine and
website.
B. Explain to your boss that using the photo could cost the company millions of dollars.
,C. Use the photo on the website, but not on the magazine cover.
D. Cut Arnold Schwarzenegger out of the photo and use the photo. - answer-Answer: B. Explain to your
boss that using the photo could cost the company millions of dollars.
Rationale: Trademark Infringement. Misappropriation of personality is a form of trademark
infringement. TLA is a for-profit company and using Arnold Schwarzenegger could imply endorsement of
TLA's products and services. Unless permission and licensing fees were negotiated, TLA should not use
the photo. "The legal doctrine is the right of publicity which gives entertainers, athletes, and other
celebrities the sole ability to cash in on their own fame."
Source: PR Strategies and Tactics, Chapter 12, pg 341.
You are working with a group of local business persons to recruit a new minor league basketball team to
your town. They have hired you to create the brand pitch including team name and full brand identity
package. You brainstormed name ideas, conducted a variety of research to gauge community response
to the name and you are in the process of seeking a trademark. Two weeks after your big name / brand
reveal you receive a cease and desist from a board of education three states away. Their former high
school used the same team mascot and name, and they are claiming you use of the mascot / name is a
legal violation. How should you respond?
A. Work with legal counsel to send a letter explaining trademark law and that you are not violating any
law because that board held no trademark
B. Stop using that mascot / name and move to your second choice
C. Withdraw your trademark application until this issue is resolved
D. Revi - answer-Answer: A
Rationale: EPR International page 164, Part II Chapter 6. During research and registration you should
have checked to see if there was any registered trademark. Also, enforcement is limited to situations
likely to cause confusion in the minds of reasonable persons. Because the complaint is from three states
away and involving a former high school it is unlikely that any reasonable person would be confused by
your brand / name.
You send your photographer out to capture stock footage of New Year's Eve at your town's largest party
"The Oyster Drop". Walking back to his car at the end of the night, he snaps a few last photos of a group
of people toasting in the parking lot. You run one of those photos the next morning in your daily
newsletter. Have you violated anyone's privacy, pick the best legal argument?
A. No, because the photo was in a public place where there is no expectation of privacy
B. No, because holiday celebrations are newsworthy and celebration is not considered a "private or
embarrassing fact"
C. Yes, because that parking lot toast in not newsworthy under this context
, D. Yes, because post celebration those citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy -
answerAnswer: C
Rationale: AP Stylebook 2014 pg 349. One of the three elements of invasion of privacy is "legitimate
public interest". If a published piece of information is newsworthy or of legitimate public interest then
no invasion of privacy has occurred. In this situation, the published information (photo) is not
newsworthy. Your photographer was sent to cover a specific event and you have no way of knowing if
those photographed were associated with the event. Further, the photo was not taken at the event.
Answer D is also correct, but is not a strong legal argument. Answer A is wrong because not all public
places or circumstances constitute privacy. Answer B is true however courts will first rule on the
newsworthy factor, thus it is not the best legal argument. Note, that under certain circumstance a
parking lot toast may be considered "private or embarrassing" depending on who is in the photo (i.e. if
the person was a baptist preacher).
You are the PR manager for an international haute couture fashion house. The board of directors has
decided to expand the company and add a mid-price ready-to-wear line for the Fall 2017 collection.
After conducting some market and audience analysis you decide you want to use an "agenda building"
communication style to promote the new product line. Which of these would you not include as a
tactics?
A. News Releases timed weeks before the launch
B. Social Media posts during the launch
C. Pitch calls to industry journalists
D. Sending sample items from the collection to trendy-setting bloggers
E. Scheduling morning new interviews for your head designer - answer-Answer: B
Rationale: APR Study Guide, page 116. Agenda Building is about influencing the news cycle, and assumes
that new coverage is a manufactured product. To execute this model of communication, you're tactics
will be heavily focused on news outlets and journalists. Social media would be a good way to create
buzz, but not as likely to result in significant news coverage.
You're a PR professional for a publicly held company. You recently experience layoffs of less than 1% of
its workforce during your company's annual performance evaluation period. Most of the layoffs
involved poor performance or a rationalization of existing functions. Some of the furloughed workers
take to social media chat rooms and notifying the local press that the company is replacing American
workers with cheaper labor from other parts of the world. You advise leadership to take a proactive
communications strategy. Which of the following is most correct (select one):
a) Defend your actions denying the false claim in an op-ed in the local paper.
b) Discredit the furloughed employees noting their poor performance.
130 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS
WITH RTIONALES (VERIFIED ANSWERS) |ALREADY
GRADED A+
Overview:
The 2025–2026 edition reflects the latest APR standards and PRSA guidelines, ensuring
alignment with current industry practices in strategic communication, research, ethics, and public
relations planning. With a graded A+ test bank, this exam prep provides realistic practice and
serves as an essential study tool for achieving accreditation.
Key Features:
130 carefully designed exam-style questions.
Verified correct answers with detailed rationales for deeper learning.
Covers all APR content domains: research, planning, implementation, evaluation, ethics,
and communication models.
Reflects current 2025–2026 exam updates and PR best practices.
Functions as both a practice exam and study guide.
Purpose:
To prepare candidates for success on the PRSA Accreditation in Public Relations
(APR) Exam.
To strengthen understanding of communication strategies, ethics, and campaign
management.
To identify strengths and weaknesses and improve test-taking skills.
Recommended For:
Public relations professionals seeking APR accreditation.
PR practitioners aiming to enhance credibility and career advancement.
Communication specialists and educators in strategic PR fields.
Candidates looking for a graded A+ verified resource to ensure exam readiness.
You're writing a blog post on repeal and replace of ACA for your company's corporate blog. The post
contains your opinion of an article published in the New York Times. You cite three or four sentences
from the article and state why you think the author of the article is not correct in her assumption of
what will likely occur. The New York Times has asked you to remove your post or risk being sued for
violating their copyright. Which of the following statements is most correct (select one):
a) You must remove your blog post according to statutory copyright law.
,b) You may keep your blog post but remove citations to the article due to potential conflicts with
commercial speech.
c) You keep your blog post citing fair use as your defense against copyright violation.
d) You keep your blog post citing the first amendment as your defense against copyright violation. -
answer-Answer(s): c
Fair use allows use of parts of copyrighted materials without violating copyright laws and without paying
a fee when that use is for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research. APR
Study Guide p. 105.
Your nonprofit has been hosting a casino night fundraiser for several years. Before you created the
event you vetted the idea with your legal counsel because your state has strict gambling laws. Thirty
days before the event, a member of state law enforcement calls about the event, and as a result you
have to cancel it. You send a media release and post an update to your social media pages simply
announcing the cancellation. One member of the public makes a negative comment on social media
implying that your organization has always known the event was illegal but is too unethical to be
"bothered with obeying the law". Your boss wants the comment deleted. What do you do?
A. Delete the post because your boss directed
B. Leave the negative comment but make no reply
C. Delete the post and reply directly to the commenter to explain the situation
D. Create a new social media post to correct the misperception
E. Leave the - answer-Answer: E
Rationale: Transparency and honesty are critical professional values in public relations (study guide page
100). Deleting the post would only make it look as though your company had something to hide and
would risk agitating the commenter who may "raise his/her voice" even louder. Creating new post as a
way to respond would immediately elevate the issue to unaware publics and risk creating a short term
crisis. By responding directly to the post you can appropriately clarify your organization's actions and
allow any new readers to see the full thread.
You are the Communications Director for TLA, a contract agency that provides products and services to
military personnel in the Middle East. Celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger visits troops at Camp Arifjan,
Kuwait while filming a documentary. Schwarzenegger takes photos with anyone willing, including
members of TLA. You post the photo on the company's Twitter account with the comment
"@ArnoldSchwarzenegger Thanks for visiting troops at Camp Arifjan." Your boss would also like to use
the photo on the front of the company's magazine which is distributed to customers and potential
customers, and on the company's website. What do you do? A. Use the photo on the magazine and
website.
B. Explain to your boss that using the photo could cost the company millions of dollars.
,C. Use the photo on the website, but not on the magazine cover.
D. Cut Arnold Schwarzenegger out of the photo and use the photo. - answer-Answer: B. Explain to your
boss that using the photo could cost the company millions of dollars.
Rationale: Trademark Infringement. Misappropriation of personality is a form of trademark
infringement. TLA is a for-profit company and using Arnold Schwarzenegger could imply endorsement of
TLA's products and services. Unless permission and licensing fees were negotiated, TLA should not use
the photo. "The legal doctrine is the right of publicity which gives entertainers, athletes, and other
celebrities the sole ability to cash in on their own fame."
Source: PR Strategies and Tactics, Chapter 12, pg 341.
You are working with a group of local business persons to recruit a new minor league basketball team to
your town. They have hired you to create the brand pitch including team name and full brand identity
package. You brainstormed name ideas, conducted a variety of research to gauge community response
to the name and you are in the process of seeking a trademark. Two weeks after your big name / brand
reveal you receive a cease and desist from a board of education three states away. Their former high
school used the same team mascot and name, and they are claiming you use of the mascot / name is a
legal violation. How should you respond?
A. Work with legal counsel to send a letter explaining trademark law and that you are not violating any
law because that board held no trademark
B. Stop using that mascot / name and move to your second choice
C. Withdraw your trademark application until this issue is resolved
D. Revi - answer-Answer: A
Rationale: EPR International page 164, Part II Chapter 6. During research and registration you should
have checked to see if there was any registered trademark. Also, enforcement is limited to situations
likely to cause confusion in the minds of reasonable persons. Because the complaint is from three states
away and involving a former high school it is unlikely that any reasonable person would be confused by
your brand / name.
You send your photographer out to capture stock footage of New Year's Eve at your town's largest party
"The Oyster Drop". Walking back to his car at the end of the night, he snaps a few last photos of a group
of people toasting in the parking lot. You run one of those photos the next morning in your daily
newsletter. Have you violated anyone's privacy, pick the best legal argument?
A. No, because the photo was in a public place where there is no expectation of privacy
B. No, because holiday celebrations are newsworthy and celebration is not considered a "private or
embarrassing fact"
C. Yes, because that parking lot toast in not newsworthy under this context
, D. Yes, because post celebration those citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy -
answerAnswer: C
Rationale: AP Stylebook 2014 pg 349. One of the three elements of invasion of privacy is "legitimate
public interest". If a published piece of information is newsworthy or of legitimate public interest then
no invasion of privacy has occurred. In this situation, the published information (photo) is not
newsworthy. Your photographer was sent to cover a specific event and you have no way of knowing if
those photographed were associated with the event. Further, the photo was not taken at the event.
Answer D is also correct, but is not a strong legal argument. Answer A is wrong because not all public
places or circumstances constitute privacy. Answer B is true however courts will first rule on the
newsworthy factor, thus it is not the best legal argument. Note, that under certain circumstance a
parking lot toast may be considered "private or embarrassing" depending on who is in the photo (i.e. if
the person was a baptist preacher).
You are the PR manager for an international haute couture fashion house. The board of directors has
decided to expand the company and add a mid-price ready-to-wear line for the Fall 2017 collection.
After conducting some market and audience analysis you decide you want to use an "agenda building"
communication style to promote the new product line. Which of these would you not include as a
tactics?
A. News Releases timed weeks before the launch
B. Social Media posts during the launch
C. Pitch calls to industry journalists
D. Sending sample items from the collection to trendy-setting bloggers
E. Scheduling morning new interviews for your head designer - answer-Answer: B
Rationale: APR Study Guide, page 116. Agenda Building is about influencing the news cycle, and assumes
that new coverage is a manufactured product. To execute this model of communication, you're tactics
will be heavily focused on news outlets and journalists. Social media would be a good way to create
buzz, but not as likely to result in significant news coverage.
You're a PR professional for a publicly held company. You recently experience layoffs of less than 1% of
its workforce during your company's annual performance evaluation period. Most of the layoffs
involved poor performance or a rationalization of existing functions. Some of the furloughed workers
take to social media chat rooms and notifying the local press that the company is replacing American
workers with cheaper labor from other parts of the world. You advise leadership to take a proactive
communications strategy. Which of the following is most correct (select one):
a) Defend your actions denying the false claim in an op-ed in the local paper.
b) Discredit the furloughed employees noting their poor performance.
