User:Webb.Zach02/Communication ethics

Lead
For definition, see Communication Communication Ethics is how a person uses language, media, journalism, and creates relationships that are guided by an individual's moral and values. These ethics consider being aware of the consequences of behavior and consequences; it's to “respect other points of view and tolerate disagreement ”. Principles of ethics include being honest, being fair, as well as integrity of one's own words. James Chesebro describes Communication Ethics to be, "[E]thical standards in communication should reflect more universal, humanistic perspective of humans... consistent with the principles which ensure the development and expanded opportunities for the individuals." Communication Ethics can be different based upon different perspectives throughout the world; any perspective can have "Codes, procedures, and standards can conceptually and behaviorally frame communication in varying contexts." Ethical communication is crucial due to its emphasis on the responsibility of people to keep society civil.

History
Historically, communication ethics begun with the concerns correlated with print media and has advanced towards digital technologies. Critics began assessing the harms of unregulated press in North America and Europe during the 1890s, which forced the creation of principles in the United States during the 1920s. Four major books that emerged from this decade were: Who's Who of journalism luminaries: Nelson Crawford's Ethics of Journalism (1924), Leon Flint's The Conscience of the Newspaper (1925), William Gibbons's Newspaper Ethics (1926), and Albert Henning's Ethics and Practices in Journalism (1932). These authors left a legacy on the meaning behinds communication ethics and confronted in their books of issues with ethics. Perpetual issues have always been with the concerns of privacy and confidentiality and have progressively been debated with the freedom of speech.

Philosophy/Philosophers
Ethics can be traced back to the philosopher, Socrates (circa 470-399 B.C.E), who probed deep and broad concepts of goodness and justice. He believed that anyone, "given time to think and question, could gain insight into universally accepted rules of moral conduct".

His disciple, Plato (circa 428-348 B.C.E.), expanded on the concepts of goodness and justice, and argued that justice is achieved through wisdom. He also claimed that "good" was a value of what's moral to achieve a higher good.

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E), who studied under Plato, developed the definition of virtue ethics, which is that a virtuous person will do the right thing primarily because he or she is of good character.

These philosophers defined the meaning behind "good and justice" that is now integrated into the ethics of communication. In modern society, "good and justice" are discussed through media and news and what is considered right from wrong. Communication deals with these matters through everyday reports, interviews, and professional situations, as well as human morals in situations that deal with other people.

Hannah Karolak- "philosophy of communication ethics working from three assumptions: (1) through philosophy of communication one can discern, learn, and engage various communication ethics; (2) a multiplicity of communication ethics exist; and (3) in a postmodern moment characterized by multiple narratives, philosophy of communication ethics offers a space for the renewal of communication ethics scholarship." The first assumption explains that communication ethics can always be changing through time and evolution of society. The second assumption describes that there are multiple different views on communication ethics. The third assumption is a result of a combination of the first two assumptions of communication ethics.

Two other philosophers by the name of Ronal C Arnett and Pat Arneson explain that philosophy of communication ethics looks to get rid of bias views, expose expectations and understand virtues. This forces us to examine, respond, and learn from multiple perspectives in the philosophy of communication ethics.

Ten Basics of Communication Ethics
These basic principles give professions and reporters a guideline on how to distribute information to the public without offending other people. It focus' on respecting information that people give and provides structure on how to ethically use the information.


 * 1) Seek to “elicit the best” in communications and interactions with other group members.
 * 2) Actively Listening. ("Listening is a complex process that is performed but perceived behaviorally." Understanding the message should not be enough, an active and engaging response should be involved with active listening.)
 * 3) Speak non-judgmentally. Meaning you should keep an open mind on what other people do and view in the world.
 * 4) Speak from your own experience and perspective, expressing your own thoughts, needs, and feelings.
 * 5) Understand others even though they may be different. ("The understanding of ourselves and others as persons develops through a gradual process of self-other differentiation during which one comes to appreciate one’s perspective on the world as one among many." Understanding others should take note of different perspectives within the world.)
 * 6) Avoid speaking for others, for example by characterizing what others have said without checking your understanding, or by universalizing your opinions, beliefs, values, and conclusions, assuming everyone shares them.
 * 7) Manage your own personal boundaries: share only what you are comfortable sharing.
 * 8) Respect the personal boundaries of others.
 * 9) Avoid interrupting and side conversations. "Slow listening is defined here as a practice that requires the listener to pause and pay attention, or to tune-in to the mode of address, the scene, gesture and tone, the language used and the broader political or social context within which the speaking occurs."
 * 10) Make sure that everyone has time to speak, that all members have relatively equal “air time” if they want it.

Fake News
With the concern of fake news becoming more noticeable in today's society, the importance with ethical communication has been significant. Fake news has always been prevalent, it has just been shown in different types of channels of news, such as radio stations. "Now that online platforms, particularly social media, are becoming the main sources of news for a growing number of individuals, misinformation seems to have found a new channel." Due to the rise of social media, misinformation is easier to be put out in the world nowadays.