UNIT 1: Chapter III.

Ethics in Communication
Lesson A: Ethical Considerations in Communication

Despite our best efforts, we face the risk of offending others too frequently when we speak. As was already
mentioned, communication technology has advanced at a rate that was unheard of ten years ago, giving rise to
platforms and forms that have turned the once passive consumer of information into an active creator of content.

Pre-lesson Activity:
A. Directions: Discuss in 5 sentences on a one half sheet of paper what you are going to do in the following
situations below.
1. Your bestfriend confided to you that he/she is already in a relationship but wanted you to keep this as a
secret since his/parents do not allow him /her yet to get involved in a romantic relationship. One day
your bestfriend’s mother called you up to confirm a rumor about your bestfriend having a
boyfriend/girlfriend. What answer will you give your bestfriend’s mom? What do you think is the best
thing to do?
2. Some of your classmates have spread bad rumors about one of your close friends. You are not sure
whether the gossip is true or not. What would you tell your classmates? How about your close friend?
3. One of your friends is ranting on FB and is trying to harshly hot on someone he/she happens to dislike a
lot. You wanted to support your friend’s statement by simply liking the post knowing that this can only
be seen by your group of friends and that you are not saying anything in addition to your friend’s
offensive post. Is it acceptable to “like” the post? Is this a form of cyber bullying? Explain your answer.

What is Ethics?
What is right or bad is decided upon or judged in the field of ethics. It refers to communication within
particular ethical dimensions that pose the questions: Is the message constructive or destructive? Could it
possibly cause harm or even just distress? Is it truthful and equitable? Is it accurate?
Tom Rosentiel and Bill Kovach established standards and norms for their profession, praising the ideals
and qualities of accuracy, independence, fairness, and candor.
Ethical communication supports decision-making by assisting us in structuring our communications and
selecting language that are appropriate for any given context (How do you communicate unpleasant news to
someone going through a personal crisis?)
Whatever a person's moral principles may be, ethics in communication can adopt a universal
perspective. This can be demonstrated in a number of ways, including but not limited to the following:

Ethical Considerations in Communication

 Ethical communicators are respectful of their audiences.

When we communicate, we should keep in mind that the person on the other end of the line is a living,
breathing human being with feelings and emotions. In other words, the person on the other end of the
 communication process is a living, breathing human being with intrinsic dignity and worth, a person
with a field of experience. They are actual living things with the ability to feel pain; they are not merely
cogs in the communication wheel.

To put it another way, ethical communication carefully considers the WHO. We examine audience
demographics, experience, and even current mental and psychological state.

For example, a person who just lost a loved one could require more time to process tragic news than
someone going about their daily business. Here, we adhere to the Golden Rule: we treat others with the
same respect as we would like to be treated.

 Ethical communicators weigh the consequences of their actions.

The phrase "Think before you click" and the necessity to carefully consider our words before sharing
them have both been reiterated to us. This is due to the fact that every message we put out and every
missile we launch has some sort of effect on or influence on the lives of our audience.

Since we do not and should not communicate on vacuums, it is crucial to understand context before we
speak.

Any form of communication is not a singular event unrelated to others. Our responses at home and in
public are directly influenced by how we behave at school.

We must think more deeply about how our communication will affect both our audience and ourselves
after taking into account the characteristics of our audience. For instance, before we criticize a group
member who isn't performing, we should find out why they are acting that way. Knowing the context is
important since we can be unnecessarily hurting relationships just because we neglected to be
diplomatic.

 Ethical communicators are all about the truth.

Honor the truth. The terms "fake news" and "revisionism" are well known. The former discusses news
or information that is blatantly erroneous but is sold as fact. The latter involves changing a truth,
typically one from history, in order to sanitize less desirable aspects of the past.

Since truth, or at least some semblance of it, is the essence of communication itself, or "an inherent end
of speech is the communication of belief," ethical communication respects the truth.
Lack of credibility can result from a lack of truth, and losing credibility might cause us to lose the trust
of our audience. We cannot expect people to believe the accuracy of our data if we repeatedly get caught
lying or disseminating false information.

Truth is consequently a fundamental value and key currency in communication. It is what "sells" us as
good communicators. For this reason, honesty has always been regarded as a necessary component of
human civilization, regardless of how laxly other moral precepts are observed.

 Ethical communicators know how to properly use information.

When used appropriately, information can be of two types: adequate and accurate.
 Those who are adequately informed and properly equipped to communicate are ethical communicators.
Nothing is more aggravating than, say, a social justice activist who doesn't know enough about the
subject at hand. A journalist who is worth their salt should know better than to offer comments or an
opinion on a subject they have not thoroughly investigated.

If a salesperson is knowledgeable with all the subtleties of the product, they can persuade a customer to
buy a particular brand. If a server is sufficiently knowledgeable about the menu, he can propose the
house specialty and describe how it was prepared (if it was made with peanuts or not, and with what sort
of oil?).

One of the worst communication sins is spreading false information, which violates all communication
norms.

Accurate communicators also uphold ethics. Is it precise and true? If the answer to both questions is yes,
accuracy has been attained. The location of the decimal point can make a difference between life and
death in some communication situations.

Constant checking and cross-checking can lead to accurate data. People often overestimate how much
they contributed to a project. Yellow journalism, or news that has been heavily sensationalized, is
another issue.

Additionally, we have observed that certain vendors of herbal dietary supplements tend to exaggerate
the benefits of their goods (e.g., cure cancer, reverse death, clear skin). This brings us to the next
guideline or principle.

 Ethical communicators do not falsify information.

“Truth is what we are all about. Not hype. Not spin. But truth” - Thomas Harris

Making things up is different from distorting the truth. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's minister of propaganda,
is internationally recognized for his Big Lie theory, which holds that a lie repeated often enough
becomes the reality. Misrepresenting your educational background or professional experience to sound
like you are qualified for a position is one way to falsify information.
Another method of information falsification is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a type of intellectual dishonesty
in which the creator of a work of art, a piece of writing, or a photograph takes credit for it without giving
credit to the source.

Plagiarism, often known as intellectual theft, is the act of not citing your sources. In addition to hearing
about musicians getting sued for stealing the songs of another artist, we have seen governmental
officials called out for neglecting to credit the source of their material.

The foundation of ethical communications is honesty and trust. In light of this, it would be reasonable to
argue that moral communication is a key indicator of how a group regards interpersonal relationships. In
business, whether it's a big or small corporation, communication ethics offers information that is consistent and
easy to understand.