OCON, CRIZHAE C.

December 09,2020

BSA 2 4:00-5:00 pm

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION

Communication is constant, especially in the information age. Some communication

guidelines are only applicable to certain situations, while others could be understood as ethical in one
situation and unethical in another. Every aspect of ethical communication should be considered within
the boundaries of the issue at hand. Ethical communication includes all relevant information, it is true in
every sense, and is not misleading in any way. 1Ethical communication is prudent in both the society
and the organizations. The society can remain functional if every person acted in a way that defines
and satisfies who they are. However, this could be short lived because of the high probability of
making unethical decisions and consequently, a disordered society. For this reason, it would be
essence to make ethical rules based on a set guidelines and principles. As a student, we all learn the
basic mannerisms that we should abide by; these all being representative of acting ethical. Things
including stealing, cheating, lying and what one must to do are all things that teach what an ethical
standard is. In that sense, ethical communication is all about maintaining integrity and honesty,
restraining on the confidentiality of the information. It also involves keeping the privacy of self and
other people’s private life. In the contemporary world, it is important to be sensitive to
your communication, since it affects the way you do your business activities and relationship with other
people. 2In addition, it calls for interest and being sensitive of the personal differences that exist in an
audience. A communication that locks out others from contributing as well as one that has a lot of
assumptions creates many gaps in a speech leading to illogicality. In addition, it does not provide an
environment where people can contribute freely.

Honesty is not just about telling the truth. It's about being real with yourself and others
about who you are, what you want and what you need to live your most reliable
life. Honesty promotes openness, empowers us and enables us to develop consistency in how we
present the facts. The whole and unchangeable thing in ethics or moral discipline is what we
call honesty. Yes, honesty is one of the greatest virtues that we should adhere to in our life with the
belief that it is an important aspect of human character. Thus, honesty is a great human virtue that
plays vital roles in every aspect of human life. From childhood most parents teach their children to be
kind, generous and honest. It is so because these are great human values. In the absence of such
quality’s individuals cannot make progress and family and social relations cannot flourish. Honesty is
a discipline that enriches a person with purity while dishonesty is the outcome of polluted minds. So,

1
Adler, Ronald B. and Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst. Communicating at Work. 9th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.
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(Johnson, 2012, p88)
it is always better to choose purity over pollution and making living worthy. There is no other virtue
that can replace this great human virtue. Honesty teaches a person to respect self and be genuine to
others. Ethical and practical, and responsible, as well as prudent, and successful are all a part of what
politicians need to inference, when dealing with the ignorant masses right to know and their ability to
support logical and coherent government policy. I am personally aware of my ignorance, in terms of
how the world works, what horrors are out there, as well as the need to be protected from the
insanity that are out there in the “field” of world politics. Judging from the way many of them speak
these days, politicians seem totally unconscious to what the world thinks about them and how they
communicate. Our President Rodrigo Duterte, a man of and for the people. Yes, he is vulgar, foul-
mouthed, and says what he thinks without a filter. He has a sense of humor to boot. Despite his
rough rhetoric and unpolished behavior, he is intelligent and clever and he thinks and plans
strategically.

We all know politicians are storytellers and steals and yet we listen and some even
worship them. It is obvious that media companies grow their empire through advertising, and when a
blue-chip company pay millions to the media, then their reporting is already compromised.  These are
the first two things that come to my mind when this subject is brought up. Breaking confidentiality or
purposely communicating lies about a person or an organization, for example, can be considered a
legal issue as well as an ethical issue. Legal violations of communications, such as slander, can result
in sanctions by governing bodies or criminal ramifications. Because it helps them get what they want.
And they might believe that this unethical way is the easiest, the fastest or even the only way to get
what they want. Sometimes people know that they are not ethical when they do what they do, other
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times they do not. Unethical behavior has serious consequences for both individuals and
organizations. You can lose your job and reputation, organizations can lose their credibility, general
morale and productivity can decline, or the behavior can result in significant penalties and/or financial
loss. Yet, no matter what, it is up to each of us to understand what ethical behavior is, think about it
each and every time we make a decision, and to alert our leaders when we see it happening. We
cannot afford as a society to let unethical behavior become normalized.

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Winnipeg Free Press (Barbara Bowes)