The students should be able The students should be able The students should be able
to define ethics in to discuss principles of to explain ethical
communication. ethical communication communication from
unethical communication
A system of moral principles
Deals with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the
rightness and wrongness of certain actions to the goodness and
badness of the motives and ends of such actions
• The principle governing communication, the right
and wrong aspects of it.
• Maintaining the correct balance between the
speaking and listening.
• The legitimacy of fear and emotional appeal
• Degree of criticism and praise
• The moral and immoral dimensions relevant to
interpersonal communication are called the
ethics of interpersonal communication.
• Responsible thinking
• Decision making
• Development of relationships and
communities
o Context
o Cultures
o Channels
o Media
Threatens the quality of all
communication and
consequently the well being
of individuals and the society
• Advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty
and reason as essential to the integrity of
communication
• Endorse freedom of expression, diversity
of perspective, and tolerance of dissent
to achieve the informed and responsible
decision making fundamental to a civil
society.
• Strive to understand and respect other
communicators before evaluating and
responding to their messages.
• Promote access to communication
resources and opportunities as necessary
to fulfill human potential and contribute to
the well-being of families, communities and
society.
• Promote communication climates of caring
and mutual understanding that respect the
unique needs and characteristics of
individual communicators.
• Condemn communication that degrades
individuals and humanity through
distortion, intimidation, coercion and
violence and through the expression of
intolerance and hatred.
• Being committed to the courageous
expression of personal convictions in
pursuit of fairness and justice.
• Advocate sharing information, opinions,
and feelings when facing significant
choices while also respecting privacy
and confidentiality.
• Accept responsibility for the short-and
long-term consequences for our own
communication and expect the same of
others.
Unethical communication It can lead to It can create negative
can lead to missed misunderstandings and impacts on relationships,
opportunities. If you don’t conflict. If you don’t take the both personal and
understand what time to understand professional. This can lead
someone is trying to say, someone’s point of view or if to strained relationships
then you might miss out you don’t communicate and can even cause
on valuable information or clearly, then it can lead to conflicts.
advice. disagreements and hurt
feelings.
• Effective communication is ethical communication.
Communication is ethical only when it is genuine, open,
cooperative and sensitive to one’s cultural and social
beliefs and practices. If there is an intent to conceal the
truth, or bring damage to any organization, group or
individual person, communication is considered
unethical. Even in situations when there is no intent to
harm, but damage to a certain group is inevitable
because of the message or the channel used to relay the
message, it is still considered unethical.
Briefly explain your assessment of the ad, with focus
on the five questions.
Analyze the following print advertisements
and determine if these are ethical or not.
Consider the following guide questions in
your analysis.
1. What is the message of the ad?
2. How is the message underscored? What
semiotics are used (text? images?
others?)
3. Is there any individual or group that may
be offended by the ad?
4. Is there another way of presenting or
delivering the message?
5. Do you think the ad is ethical?
