ethics in communication

In a previous edition of the text, your author had separate sections focused on ethical considerations. Now he's moved the discussion of ethics into the chapters providing a more integrated view of ethics, rather as an afterthought. In Chapter 4, Griffin refers to the National Communication Association's Credo for Communication Ethics. I discuss NCA's principles in Public Speaking: The Evolving Art, recently published by Wadworth. The ethical principles apply across the broad range of communication contexts, from interpersonal communication to organizational communication to public speaking.

Adopted nearly 10 years ago in the early years of the digital age, the principles resonate with communicators today. The first one is especially relevant during a presidential campaign year: "We advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of communication."

Sometimes a communicator's truthfulness, accuracy, and honesty are difficult to determine, particularly with public figures. As election day draws nearer, a useful site to visit to find out just how accurate candidates' ads and statements are is FactCheck.org. The site is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, whose director is communication professor Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson. FactCheck.org is completely nonpartisan and scrutinizes statements made by representatives of all political parties. To maintain its independence, the project doesn't accept any funding from corporations, lobbyists, labor unions, or others who might try to influence what's investigated. Check it out. You might be surprised by what you learn.

~ Professor Cyborg