COMMUNICATION ETHICS

Communication Ethics

■ Communication – the use of available resources to convey

information, to move, to inspire, to persuade, to enlighten, to
connect – is an inherently ethical undertaking
■ Regardless of context, communication involves choice,
reflects values, and has consequences.
■ These three key elements form the basis of its ethical
makeup
Ethics

❑are moral values of good conduct that guides one’s

actions, whether or not they are governed by laws or
policies
❑ is the study of values, what is more or less
important, the “good,” of behavioral guidelines and
norms
Importance of Ethical Communication

➢ Ethical communication is important to responsible thinking,

decision-making, and the development of relationships and
communities within and across contexts, cultures, channels,
and media.

➢ enhances human worth and dignity by fostering

truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and
respect for self and others
Consequence of Unethical
Communication
■ Threatens the quality of all communication and
consequently the well-being of individuals and the society in
which we live in
Positive Effects of Digital Age on
Communication Ethics

• creates valuable opportunities to foster shared

understanding cross culturally, to facilitate peace, to achieve
justice, and to serve humanity
Examples:
▪ Through the Internet and other communication
technologies, vast reserves of information and widely
divergent perspectives are delivered to people
NegativeEffects of Digital Age….
❑access to reliable information may prove increasingly
difficult
❑speed of transmission prevents the kind of scrutiny
and reflection
❑enhanced tools for manipulating messages pose
additional challenges
❑growing disparities between the “haves” and “have-
nots” (characteristics of today’s global economy), will
likely exacerbate these and related risks
To reiterate the importance of ethics in
communication
■ Communication in today’s globally interdependent world has both
extraordinarily creative and devastatingly harmful potential.

■ In such an environment, the relationship of communication to ethics

takes on special importance.

■ Discerning more or less ethical pathways for communication in any

given context will prove key to meaningful relationships, to responsible
participation in the global economy, to the understanding and
resolution of complex social and political issues, and to responsive
civic engagement
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
Characteristics of Ethical Communication
1. Truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason are essential to
the integrity of communication
2. Endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and
tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible
decision making fundamental to a civil society
3. Strive to understand and respect other communicators
before evaluating and responding to their messages
4. Access to communication resources and opportunities are
necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the
well-being of families, communities and society
Characteristics of Ethical Communication
5. Promote communication climates of caring and mutual
understanding that respect unique needs and characteristics
of individual communicators

6. Condemn communication that degrades individuals and

humanity through distortion, intolerance, intimidation,
coercion, hatred, and violence.

7. Commit to the courageous expression of personal

convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice.
Characteristics of Ethical Communication
8. Advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when
facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and
confidentiality

9. Unethical communication threatens the quality of all

communication and consequently the well-being of individuals and
the society which we live.

10. Accept the responsibility for the short- and long-term

consequences for our own communication and expect the same of
others.
ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY THEORIES
RELEVANT TO COMMUNICATION ETHICS
Principal Theories of Ethics
❑Social Contract Theory (Socrates, Hobbes and
Locke)
- is the view that persons' moral and/or political
obligations are dependent upon a contract or
agreement among them to form the society in which
they live.
- postulates that people in society have an unwritten
agreement with one another (as cited in Staubhaar et
al., 2014)
Principal Theories of Ethics
■ Nicomachean Ethics (by Aristotle)
- a philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good
life for a human being.
- an approach to moral responsibility and the best way
to live
Main Points of Aristotle's Ethical Philosophy
➢ The highest good and the end toward which all human activity
is directed is happiness, which can be defined as continuous
contemplation of eternal and universal truth.
➢ One attains happiness by a virtuous life and the development
of reason and the faculty of theoretical wisdom. For this one
requires sufficient external goods to ensure health, leisure,
and the opportunity for virtuous action.
■ Moral virtue is a relative mean between extremes of excess
and deficiency, and in general the moral life is one of
moderation in all things except virtue. No human appetite or
desire is bad if it is controlled by reason according to a
moral principle. Moral virtue is acquired by a combination of
knowledge, habituation, and self-discipline.
■ Virtuous acts require conscious choice and moral purpose
or motivation. Man has personal moral responsibility for his
actions.
■ Moral virtue cannot be achieved abstractly — it requires
moral action in a social environment. Ethics and politics are
closely related, for politics is the science of creating a
society in which men can live the good life and develop their
full potential.
Principal Theories of Ethics
■ Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you”)
- both from the Bible and Confucius
- everyone must treat each other fairly and
respectfully
Principal Theories of Ethics
■ Principle of Honesty
✓ dictates that human beings should not deceive
each other
✓ Telling a lie or lying is one way of deceiving people
Contemporary Theories

■ The Greatest Good Principle (by John Stuart Mill)

- contends that you avoid doing things that can inflict
harm on others or damage their property
Contemporary Theories
■ Commitment Principle

o to fulfill all the commitments made and consequently fulfill

the special obligations attached to them
Contemporary Theories
■ Situation Ethics

- considers moral principles to be relative to the

situation at hand, urging consideration of alternate
frameworks depending on the situation
FACTORS INFLUENCING ETHICAL
COMMUNICATION
Factors Influencing Ethical
Communications

■ Influences can be categorized into ethical aspects and

ethical context
Consideration in Ethical Aspects
■ the complexities in the communication process that discerns
what to disclose and what not to disclose; thus, facing three
simple choices: to speak, to listen or to remain silent

■ timing : information disclosed at one point may be considered

unethical in another period of time (Strike & Moss, 2008).

■ mode of communication
Considerations in Ethical Context

■ Context of Who, What, When and Where

Ethical Dilemmas in Communication
1. Gossip/Rumor
2. Lying
3. Plagiarism
4. Selective misquoting
5. Misrepresenting Numbers
6. Distorting visuals
How to Resolve Ethical Dilemmas

❖ Focus on the importance of the information to be conveyed rather

than the person or group to whom it is conveyed
❖ Distinguish clearly between personal emotions and professional
conduct: “choose the lesser evil”
❖ Determine available alternatives
Conclusion

■ To act ethically is to strive to act in ways that do not

hurt the other people; that respect their dignity,
individuality and uniquely moral value; and that treat
others as equally important as oneself (Pfeiffer &
Forsberg, 1993)