Ethics in Communication Studies
As we know, ethics are the moral principles that govern one’s behavior or the conducting of an activity. However, Communication Ethics is much more than that. According to The National Communication Association, otherwise known as NCA, ethical communication is “fundamental to responsible thinking, decision making, and the development of relationships and communities within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media.” Of course, it still takes into account the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior. However, it is much more than just being honest. For example, questions of right and wrong would emerge when people communicate with each other. In fact, “right and wrong” is at the heart of the NCA credo. Going further, the NCA states that “ethical communication enhances human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for self and others.”
To further explain, communication ethics are very rich as they value truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, integrity, respect, fairness, and justice. They encourage freedom of expression and diversity of perspective. They strive to understand others, while promoting access to communication resources and opportunities. They also encourage us to be caring and courageous. Nonetheless, communication ethics is much more complex than that. It’s essential to share information, opinions, and feelings, while also respecting privacy and confidentiality. It’s even important to accept our own consequences for our own communication. More importantly, not endorsing these principles can threaten the quality of all communication. As reported by the NCA, “unethical communication threatens the quality of all communication and consequently the well-being of individuals and the society in which we live.” It is exceptionally crucial to understand that by disregarding these rules, it puts a major dent in the communication process. I strongly believe in the importance of communication ethics, so it’s significantly imperative that we are committed to following these principles.
On the other hand, communication ethics can vary across different communication contexts. While all of these morals should still be kept in place, “communication ethics are expressed in different ways within different contexts”. For instance, research communication values honesty and credibility. Within communication, they value respect and listening. Interpersonal and public communication may also value respect and honesty compared to organizational and rhetoric communication. Though all principles are still important, some play a bigger role for certain contexts.
Over the time and courses I’ve taken at SF State as a Communication Studies major, I’ve been exposed to ethical communication standards. I’ve learned the true importance of respecting others’ and their opinions, especially when it doesn’t correspond with your own. It has also reinforced the very important idea of being honest, truthful, and fair, as well as understanding the importance of integrity. More importantly, I learned it’s more than just deciding right from wrong. Furthermore, it encourages freedom of expression and diversity of perspective. It strives to understand others, while promoting access to communication resources and opportunities. It also includes the ability to share information, opinions, and feelings, while also respecting privacy and confidentiality. Of course, it also encompasses the idea of taking responsibility for our own communication consequences.
But not only has my communication classes showed me ethical communication standards, but more importantly, it has given me the opportunity to practice those ethical standards. The example that I’ll be sharing that required me to use ethical communication was from a semester-long project I did in my Dialogue Across Differences class. This project was a facilitation project, in which two other members and I had to collectively choose a topic, then facilitate a dialogue of about 6 people discussing the issue at hand. We chose a very heavy topic, however, instead of focusing on Euthanasia (assisted suicide), we discussed the quality of life for terminally ill patients instead. Still, euthanasia came up. This being a heavy topic and all, made it much more important to be very mindful in our ethical communication, thus ensuring I learned a lot. We also made ethical considerations in choosing the topic.
First, we had to come up with ground rules. This was the first step in practicing ethical communication. The rules that we decided on include the following: be respectful, safe place for everyone to say their opinion, no interrupting, equal speaking time, be open minded, don’t get upset at others with different opinion, *BE RESPECTFUL!* As you may have noticed, these rules directly correspond with some of the ethical communication standards I mentioned earlier. We thought these rules were important in order to have a successful dialogue. We believe that by abiding those rules, we’d have a successful dialogue as those rules pretty much practice great ethical communication. And as I learned through this project, practicing ethical communication seriously improves the direction of the dialogue.
Aside from making and having the rules, having to follow through with them is the real
goal. When we conducted the facilitation, I was put in a really tricky spot. It was incredibly hard for me to just be a facilitator and not engage in the dialogue. However, being that I couldn’t engage in the conversation is in fact what taught me the most. Not only did we have to ensure participants were following the rules, but we especially had to follow them. This is where I was able to practice ethical communication the most. I learned not to get angry when others had a different opinion or perspective from me (mostly because I couldn’t respond anyway). Still, this taught me a lot. It also showed the importance of being respectful, because without respect, we wouldn’t have had a successful dialogue. Being open minded was super crucial, too. I learned the value of not being stuck in your own opinions as you can really learn a lot from listening to someone else’s perspective. In fact, this project showed me just how important being open minded can be. So, by practicing these ethical standards, I learned how much it improves a dialogue.
Overall, being a facilitator has greatly improved my communication skills, especially when it comes to ethical standards. Being the type of person I am, it was very hard for me to just be a facilitator and not engage in the conversation (especially when a point that I didn’t agree with would come up). Still, I followed the rules and remained very level headed through out. By being a facilitator in this project, I had no choice but to learn a lot about ethical communication standards as I had to be the one enforcing them. By being a facilitator, I was able to take a few steps back and see the bigger picture. Instead of just saying my opinion whenever I wanted to, I was forced to take in all the other perspectives as well, without defending my own. It was really tricky, but by participating in this project, I definitely learned a lot about what it means to communicate through dialogue, which highly values ethical communication standards.
Image source: https://www.shutterstock.com/
To further explain, communication ethics are very rich as they value truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, integrity, respect, fairness, and justice. They encourage freedom of expression and diversity of perspective. They strive to understand others, while promoting access to communication resources and opportunities. They also encourage us to be caring and courageous. Nonetheless, communication ethics is much more complex than that. It’s essential to share information, opinions, and feelings, while also respecting privacy and confidentiality. It’s even important to accept our own consequences for our own communication. More importantly, not endorsing these principles can threaten the quality of all communication. As reported by the NCA, “unethical communication threatens the quality of all communication and consequently the well-being of individuals and the society in which we live.” It is exceptionally crucial to understand that by disregarding these rules, it puts a major dent in the communication process. I strongly believe in the importance of communication ethics, so it’s significantly imperative that we are committed to following these principles.
On the other hand, communication ethics can vary across different communication contexts. While all of these morals should still be kept in place, “communication ethics are expressed in different ways within different contexts”. For instance, research communication values honesty and credibility. Within communication, they value respect and listening. Interpersonal and public communication may also value respect and honesty compared to organizational and rhetoric communication. Though all principles are still important, some play a bigger role for certain contexts.
Over the time and courses I’ve taken at SF State as a Communication Studies major, I’ve been exposed to ethical communication standards. I’ve learned the true importance of respecting others’ and their opinions, especially when it doesn’t correspond with your own. It has also reinforced the very important idea of being honest, truthful, and fair, as well as understanding the importance of integrity. More importantly, I learned it’s more than just deciding right from wrong. Furthermore, it encourages freedom of expression and diversity of perspective. It strives to understand others, while promoting access to communication resources and opportunities. It also includes the ability to share information, opinions, and feelings, while also respecting privacy and confidentiality. Of course, it also encompasses the idea of taking responsibility for our own communication consequences.
But not only has my communication classes showed me ethical communication standards, but more importantly, it has given me the opportunity to practice those ethical standards. The example that I’ll be sharing that required me to use ethical communication was from a semester-long project I did in my Dialogue Across Differences class. This project was a facilitation project, in which two other members and I had to collectively choose a topic, then facilitate a dialogue of about 6 people discussing the issue at hand. We chose a very heavy topic, however, instead of focusing on Euthanasia (assisted suicide), we discussed the quality of life for terminally ill patients instead. Still, euthanasia came up. This being a heavy topic and all, made it much more important to be very mindful in our ethical communication, thus ensuring I learned a lot. We also made ethical considerations in choosing the topic.
First, we had to come up with ground rules. This was the first step in practicing ethical communication. The rules that we decided on include the following: be respectful, safe place for everyone to say their opinion, no interrupting, equal speaking time, be open minded, don’t get upset at others with different opinion, *BE RESPECTFUL!* As you may have noticed, these rules directly correspond with some of the ethical communication standards I mentioned earlier. We thought these rules were important in order to have a successful dialogue. We believe that by abiding those rules, we’d have a successful dialogue as those rules pretty much practice great ethical communication. And as I learned through this project, practicing ethical communication seriously improves the direction of the dialogue.
Aside from making and having the rules, having to follow through with them is the real
goal. When we conducted the facilitation, I was put in a really tricky spot. It was incredibly hard for me to just be a facilitator and not engage in the dialogue. However, being that I couldn’t engage in the conversation is in fact what taught me the most. Not only did we have to ensure participants were following the rules, but we especially had to follow them. This is where I was able to practice ethical communication the most. I learned not to get angry when others had a different opinion or perspective from me (mostly because I couldn’t respond anyway). Still, this taught me a lot. It also showed the importance of being respectful, because without respect, we wouldn’t have had a successful dialogue. Being open minded was super crucial, too. I learned the value of not being stuck in your own opinions as you can really learn a lot from listening to someone else’s perspective. In fact, this project showed me just how important being open minded can be. So, by practicing these ethical standards, I learned how much it improves a dialogue.
Overall, being a facilitator has greatly improved my communication skills, especially when it comes to ethical standards. Being the type of person I am, it was very hard for me to just be a facilitator and not engage in the conversation (especially when a point that I didn’t agree with would come up). Still, I followed the rules and remained very level headed through out. By being a facilitator in this project, I had no choice but to learn a lot about ethical communication standards as I had to be the one enforcing them. By being a facilitator, I was able to take a few steps back and see the bigger picture. Instead of just saying my opinion whenever I wanted to, I was forced to take in all the other perspectives as well, without defending my own. It was really tricky, but by participating in this project, I definitely learned a lot about what it means to communicate through dialogue, which highly values ethical communication standards.
Image source: https://www.shutterstock.com/
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